The 1971 USAC National Dirt Car Championship was the first season of the newly formed USAC National Dirt Car Championship. The inaugural champion was George Snider. The Dirt Car championship was created after dirt races were dropped from the schedule of the USAC Championship Car series following the 1970 season. [1]
The existing USAC National Championship was a mixture of road courses, hill climbs and paved or dirt oval races. For the 1971 season this championship switched exclusively to paved ovals. Especially on the paved ovals rear-engined cars dominated the races whereas on the dirt ovals the front-engined cars were superior.
The cars' construction mainly stayed with front engines as established after World War II. The cars with wheelbase of at least 96 inches. Overhead camshaft engines were restricted to 256.284 cubic inches (4.2 liters) and stock block engine could use up to 305.1 cubic inches (5.0 liters).
| Team / Owner | Chassis | Engine | No | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agajanian-Faas Racers | Watson 64 | Ford | 98 | Sammy Sessions | 1 |
| Offenhauser | 2–4 | ||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Meskowski 69 | Foyt | 9 | A. J. Foyt | 2–4 |
| Bob Harkey | Meskowski 59 | Offenhauser | 52 | Bob Harkey | All |
| Carl Gehlhausen Racing | Kurtis 4000D 343 | Offenhauser | 84 | Tom Bigelow | 1 |
| Jim Malloy | 2–4 | ||||
| CHEK Inc. | Turner 62 | Chevrolet | 44 | Arnie Knepper | All |
| Danny Burke | Moore 65 | Offenhauser | 33 | Ronnie Burke | 2–4 |
| Don Rogala | unknown | Offenhauser | 36 | Billy Vukovich Jr. | 1 |
| Jimmy Caruthers | 2–4 | ||||
| Federal Engineering | Meskowski 64 | Offenhauser | 3 | Johnny Parsons | 4 |
| Gerhardt Racing | unknown | Plymouth | 16 | Gary Bettenhausen | 2–4 |
| Harry Conklin | unknown | Offenhauser | 64 | Bill Puterbaugh | 1 |
| Helen Reynard | Kuzma | Offenhauser | 75 | Jim Reynard | All |
| Jim McElreath | McElreath 69 | Chevrolet | 14 | Jim McElreath | All |
| Joe Hunt | Lesovksy 58 | Offenhauser | 99 | Merle Bettenhausen | 2–4 |
| Jordan | unknown | Chevrolet | 69 | Duke Cook | 3–4 |
| Ken Brenn | Meskowski 62 | Offenhauser | 57 | Lee Kunzman | All |
| Leader Card | Watson 62 | Offenhauser | 4 | George Snider | All |
| Lindsey Hopkins | Meskowski 61 | Offenhauser | 6 | Roger McCluskey | 4 |
| Louis Senter | Meskowski 63 | Offenhauser | 22 | Don Hawley | All |
| Louis Seymour | Meskowski 61 | Chevrolet | 39 | Joe Saldana | 1 |
| Offenhauser | Bruce Walkup | 2–4 | |||
| Mataka Brothers | Blum 62 | Offenhauser | 31 | Jerry Karl | 1 |
| Joe Saldana | 2–4 | ||||
| MVS Racing | Ward 67 | Offenhauser | 19 | Bill Puterbaugh | 2, 4 |
| Ray Smith | Ward 68 | Chevrolet | 70 | Carl Williams | 1 |
| Tom Bigelow | 2–4 | ||||
| Richard Blacker | Cannon 70 | Chevrolet | 47 | Larry Cannon | 2–4 |
| Ron Hart | Cedoz 70 | Chevrolet | 48 | Karl Busson | All |
| Ron Kilman | Meskowski 60 | Offenhauser | 25 | Rollie Beale | All |
| Russ Ruppert | Meskowski 58 | Offenhauser | 17 | Dick Tobias | All |
| Steck | unknown | Chevrolet | 30 | Billy Thrasher | 2–4 |
| STP Racing | Kingfish 69 | Plymouth | 5 | Mario Andretti | 2–4 |
| Kingfish 70 | Chevrolet | 40 | Larry Dickson | All | |
| Kingfish 70 | Gurney Weslake | 60 | Greg Weld | 1–3 | |
| Kingfish 69 | Plymouth | 4 | |||
| Tim DelRose Enterprises | Kuzma 60 | Offenhauser | 18 | Johnny Rutherford | All |
| Two Jacks | Gerhardt 66 | GM Allison Turbine | 29 | Art Pollard | 3–4 |
| United Championship Racers | Dunlop 64 | Offenhauser | 24 | Gary Bettenhausen | 1 |
| Billy Vukovich Jr. | 2–4 | ||||
| Vatis Enterprises | Vollstedt 59 | Offenhauser | 94 | Carl Williams | 2–4 |
| Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing | Kingfish 69 | Ford | 1 | Al Unser | 1, 4 |
| Walmotors | Meskowski 59 | Offenhauser | 77 | Salt Walther | 2–4 |
| Walt Flynn | Flynn 64 | Offenhauser | 58 | Ralph Liguori | All |
| Wib Spalding | Meskowski | Chevrolet | 15 | Bill Puterbaugh | 3 |
| Don Nordhorn | 4 |
The season consisted of four 100 mile dirt races. [2]
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location | Winning Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 20 | Nazareth 100 | Nazareth National Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | Jim McElreath |
| 2 | August 22 | Tony Bettenhausen 100 | Illinois State Fairgrounds | Springfield, Illinois | A.J. Foyt |
| 3 | September 6 | Ted Horn Memorial | Du Quoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, Illinois | George Snider |
| 4 | September 11 | Hoosier Hundred | Indiana State Fairgrounds | Indianapolis, Indiana | Al Unser |
The driver's championship was won by George Snider of 26 classified drivers. The entrants championships went to the #4 car of Leader Card, Inc. [3]
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