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3/12/20 1:27 PM 1971 USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON REVIEW

http://usacracing.com/news/silver-cr...-season-review



In celebration of the 50th year of USAC Silver Crown Champ Car racing in 2020, we are reviewing the past 49 years of series history.* Please enjoy the season recap and results from each years of the series from its inaugural year in 1971 through 2019.

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1971 USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON REVIEW

Literally, USAC’s Championship Dirt Division is one year old.* Figuratively, it is the oldest regular form of auto racing in existence.

The “big cars,” as they generally are known, have set the style for the sport of speed since the early part of the century.* Until the advent of the rear-engined pavement cars during the 1960s, their front-engine models exclusively dominated the championship circuit.

From the days of Harry Harkness in 1902 to Al Unser in 1970, the ability to drive a bucking, front-powered open cockpit racer around mile-long dirt fairgrounds tracks was a prime requisite for a national driving champion.

Such AAA (the forerunner in sanctioning bodies) and USAC champions as Earl Cooper, Wilbur Shaw, Rex Mays, Ted Horn, Tony Bettenhausen and A.J. Foyt had been acknowledged masters of the art of dirt track racing.

Technically, the cars are restricted to a minimum 96-inch wheelbase.* Power limits are the same as those for the shorter sprint cars, which campaign basically on the half-mile tracks.* An engine utilizing an overhead camshaft design is restricted to 256.284 cubic inches; stock block engines are permitted to go as high as 305.1 cubic inches.

In 1971, what with the complexities of racing, the emergence of more and more paved speedways and an ever more crowded, sometimes expensive schedule to meet, the dirt cars were taken from the Championship picture and assigned a division of their own.

Only four races, each a 100-mile race, comprised the schedule.* Yet, capacity crowds turned out at each of the four stops – Nazareth, Pennsylvania; Springfield, Illinois; Du Quoin, Illinois, and the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana – attesting to the perennial popularity of the sliding, thundering and extremely colorful dirt cars.

Each of the four events had a different winner.* Jim McElreath captured the opener at Nazareth, Foyt scored at Springfield, George Snider won at Du Quoin and Unser at Indianapolis.

Snider, who also registered second-place finishes at Springfield and Indianapolis, clinched the driving championship of the division.* McElreath, with the original win and a third place at Springfield, led the point standings until the Du Quoin result.* He ultimately finished as runner-up to Snider.

Public response to the Championship Dirt Division, as reflected in the large attendances, contributed to a total purse of $152,664.* It also encouraged a growing schedule for the 1972 season.* Before the new year dawned, two races each were on the schedule for the Indianapolis, Springfield and Du Quoin tracks and preliminary negotiations were also underway at other sites.

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Champion Driver

George Snider, USAC’s newly crowned national dirt track champion, matured swiftly in auto racing.* He drove in the first of his 22 Indianapolis 500 races at age 24, in 1965.

Dirt racing, however, remains the specialty of the Bakersfield, California, native.* It is where he has shown to his best advantage, whether it be in the big cars, the slightly smaller sprinters or in the midgets.

Snider, at 31 and the father of three, has placed among the top-three in nine of ten major USAC races.* These were 100-mile dirt races on all but one of the occasions.

The husky, dark-haired former garage owner didn’t register a major score, however, until last Labor Day, September 6, when he came forth to pass Greg Weld with nine laps remaining and go on to win a 100-miler at Du Quoin, Illinois.

Snider also finished second to A.J. Foyt at Springfield, Illinois, and to Al Unser at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, in earning his dirt track championship.* He twice led the Springfield race before surrendering the spoils to Foyt in a fierce battle.

This hard-charging product of East Bakersfield High School drove in his first race, a stock car event, at the age of 20.* The baptism occurred at Kearney Bowl in Fresno, California.* It was at the same track a year later, in 1961, that Snider registered his first feature triumph, also in a stocker.

Kearney Bowl, a famed San Joaquin Valley short track, also provided him with his first USAC victory.* It came in midget competition, shortly after George was introduced to the ranks in a similar race at San Jose (California) Speedway.

The year 1971 – despite its rewards in the dirt track division, the sprints where he earned victories at Cincinnati, Ohio, and Terre Haute, Indiana, and the midgets, where he registered an early season win at Corona, California – was not without its monumental frustration to Snider.

In the “Triple Crown” series of 500-milers on pavement he complied an unenviable record.* He was 33rd and last at both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Pocono International Raceway.* In the series finale at California’s Ontario Motor Speedway, an early crash relegated him to 32nd position in a 33-car field.

George’s chief hobby is motorcycling, and he often enters weekend hill climbs and amateur cross-country events.

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Champion Owner

Ralph Wilke, carrying on the winning car owner tradition of his late father, Bob, saw his G.C. Murphy Special earn the championship of USAC’s dirt track division in 1971 under the capable hands of George Snider.

Wilke’s father, an owner of first-class racing machinery since 1938, died in 1970.* His cars had reached the pinnacle of success during a long reign that saw Rodger Ward drive them to Indianapolis 500 victories twice.

Ralph, now 40, was well equipped to take over not only the racing enterprise but the Milwaukee-based Leader Card concern, which produces all types of card materials.

In his racing background, Wilke owned and maintained his own championship division roadster, driven by Bobby Grim, for four years.* “It was an era when the roadsters were fading out,” he notes, “but Bobby got us a third once at Trenton.* That was our best showing.”

The younger Wilke is equally proud of a midget he owned and maintained through the years from 1959 through 1967.* It was driven to many a victory by Ward, Parnelli Jones, Don Branson, Len Sutton, Jim Hurtubise and Bob Tattersall.

Wilke, a resident of Franklin, Wisconsin, kept the Leader Card team together upon his father’s death, with the famed A.J. Watson continuing his reign as chief mechanic.* The crew suffered genuine misfortune when it lost its number one driver, Mike Mosley, to injury for much of the championship season.* Mosley, a winner at Trenton in the spring, crashed during the Indianapolis race and did not return to action until the final race of the season at Phoenix.

Mosley missed the entire dirt racing campaign, but Snider filled in amply, steering the white Offenhauser-powered No. 4 to the championship.

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USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 20, 1971 – Nazareth National Speedway – Nazareth, Pennsylvania

QUALIFYING: 1. Larry Dickson, 40, STP-36.51; 2. Al Unser, 1, Vel's Parnelli Jones-36.93; 3. Greg Weld, 60, STP-36.99; 4. George Snider, 4, Leader Card-37.19; 5. Joe Saldana, 39, Seymour-37.23; 6. Gary Bettenhausen, 24, Gerthoffer-37.37; 7. Tom Bigelow, 84, Gehlhausen-37.72; 8. Billy Vukovich, 36, Rogala-37.90; 9. Jim McElreath, 14, McElreath-37.91; 10. Bob Harkey, 52, Harkey-37.95; 11. Carl Williams, 70, Smith-38.09; 12. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-38.11; 13. Rollie Beale, 25, Kilman-38.76; 14. Arnie Knepper, 44, CHEK-39.00; 15. Ralph Liguori, 58, Flynn-39.24; 16. Don Hawley, 22, Senter-39.32; 17. Jerry Karl, 31, Mataka-40.10; 18. Karl Busson, 48, Hart-40.58; 19. Dick Tobias, 17, Ruppert-42.23; 20. Bill Puterbaugh, 64, Conklin-51.13; 21. Sammy Sessions, 98, Agajanian/Faas-NT; 22. Jim Reynard, 75, Reynard-NT; 23. Lee Kunzman, 57, Brenn-NT.

FEATURE: (88 laps) 1. Jim McElreath, 2. Arnie Knepper, 3. Don Hawley, 4. Billy Vukovich, 5. Gary Bettenhausen, 6. Bob Harkey, 7. Jerry Karl, 8. Ralph Liguori, 9. Sammy Sessions, 10. Al Unser, 11. Dick Tobias, 12. Jim Reynard, 13. Greg Weld, 14. Karl Busson, 15. Carl Williams, 16. Johnny Rutherford, 17. Tom Bigelow, 18. George Snider, 19. Rollie Beale, 20. Bill Puterbaugh, 21. Larry Dickson, 22. Joe Saldana, 23. Lee Kunzman. 1:01.658

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-32 Al Unser, Laps 33-41 Gary Bettenhausen, Laps 42-69 Al Unser, Laps 70-88 Jim McElreath.

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USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 22, 1971 – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, Illinois – Tony Bettenhausen 100

QUALIFYING: 1. Greg Weld, 60, STP-34.86; 2. Gary Bettenhausen, 16, Gerhardt-35.03; 3. Larry Dickson, 40, STP-35.40; 4. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-35.61; 5. Mario Andretti, 5, STP-35.64; 6. Jim McElreath, 14, McElreath-35.83; 7. George Snider, 4, Leader Card-35.91; 8. Rollie Beale, 25, Kilman-36.02; 9. Bill Puterbaugh, 19, MVS-36.17; 10. A.J. Foyt, 9, Foyt-36.25; 11. Billy Vukovich, 24, Gerthoffer-36.27; 12. Bob Harkey, 52, Harkey-36.29; 13. Lee Kunzman, 57, Brenn-36.38; 14. Joe Saldana, 31, Mataka-36.40; 15. Don Hawley, 22, Senter-36.51; 16. Sammy Sessions, 98, Agajanian/Faas-36.61; 17. Jim Malloy, 84, Gehlhausen-36.73; 18. Merle Bettenhausen, 99, Hunt-36.81; 19. Karl Busson, 48, Hart-37.01; 20. Jimmy Caruthers, 36, Rogala-37.06; 21. Arnie Knepper, 44, CHEK-37.07; 22. Carl Williams, 94, Vatis-37.33; 23. Ralph Liguori, 58, Flynn-37.59; 24. Salt Walther, 77, Walther-37.77; 25. Dick Tobias, 17, Ruppert-37.99; 26. Larry Cannon, 47, Blacker-38.28; 27. Jim Reynard, 75, Reynard-39.54; 28. Billy Thrasher, 30, Steck-44.21; 29. Tom Bigelow, 70, Smith-NT; 30. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. A.J. Foyt, 2. George Snider, 3. Jim McElreath, 4. Don Hawley, 5. Jimmy Caruthers, 6. Rollie Beale, 7. Merle Bettenhausen, 8. Bob Harkey, 9. Carl Williams, 10. Larry Dickson, 11. Arnie Knepper, 12. Mario Andretti, 13. Salt Walther, 14. Greg Weld, 15. Karl Busson, 16. Johnny Rutherford, 17. Bill Puterbaugh, 18. Joe Saldana, 19. Gary Bettenhausen, 20. Jim Malloy, 21. Billy Vukovich, 22. Lee Kunzman, 23. Ralph Liguori. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-23 Larry Dickson, Laps 24-29 George Snider, Laps 30-51 A.J. Foyt, Laps 52-92 George Snider, Laps 93-100 A.J. Foyt.

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USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 6, 1971 – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Du Quoin, Illinois

QUALIFYING: 1. Greg Weld, 60, STP-34.73; 2. Larry Dickson, 40, STP-35.16; 3. Mario Andretti, 5, STP-35.34; 4. George Snider, 4, Leader Card-35.71; 5. Arnie Knepper, 44, CHEK-35.73; 6. Lee Kunzman, 57, Brenn-35.81; 7. Jimmy Caruthers, 36, Rogala-35.83; 8. Billy Vukovich, 24, Gerthoffer-35.97; 9. Merle Bettenhausen, 99, Hunt-36.13; 10. A.J. Foyt, 9, Foyt-36.13; 11. Sammy Sessions, 98, Agajanian/Faas-36.30; 12. Tom Bigelow, 70, Smith-36.31; 13. Bill Puterbaugh, 15, Spalding-36.35; 14. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-36.36; 15. Joe Saldana, 31, Mataka-36.43; 16. Don Hawley, 22, Senter-36.48; 17. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-36.50; 18. Bob Harkey, 52, Harkey-36.50; 19. Bruce Walkup, 39, Seymour-36.52; 20. Larry Cannon, 47, Blacker-36.61; 21. Ralph Liguori, 58, Flynn-36.67; 22. Jim Malloy, 84, Gehlhausen-36.68; 23. Carl Williams, 94, Vatis-36.68; 24. Salt Walther, 77, Walther-36.71; 25. Dick Tobias, 17, Ruppert-36.90; 26. Gary Bettenhausen, 16, Gerhardt-36.96; 27. Art Pollard, 29, Two Jacks-36.98; 28. Karl Busson, 48, Hart-37.26; 29. Billy Thrasher, 30, Steck-38.00; 30. Jim Reynard, 75, Reynard-40.93; 31. Duke Cook, 69, Jordan-NT; 32. Jim McElreath, 14, McElreath-NT; 33. Rollie Beale, 25, Kilman-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. George Snider, 2. Greg Weld, 3. Billy Vukovich, 4. Bill Puterbaugh, 5. Arnie Knepper, 6. Don Hawley, 7. Bob Harkey, 8. Johnny Rutherford, 9. A.J. Foyt, 10. Ronnie Burke, 11. Joe Saldana, 12. Salt Walther, 13. Lee Kunzman, 14. Merle Bettenhausen, 15. Larry Cannon, 16. Jimmy Caruthers, 17. Mario Andretti, 18. Carl Williams, 19. Jim Malloy, 20. Tom Bigelow, 21. Larry Dickson, 22. Ralph Liguori, 23. Sammy Sessions, 24. Bruce Walkup. 1:03:24.82

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-91 Greg Weld, Laps 92-100 George Snider.

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USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 11, 1971 – Indiana State Fairgrounds – Indianapolis, Indiana – Hoosier Hundred

QUALIFYING: 1. Al Unser, 1, Vel's Parnelli Jones-33.75; 2. Mario Andretti, 5, STP-34.43; 3. Art Pollard, 29, Two Jacks-34.58; 4. Larry Dickson, 40, STP-34.60; 5. Arnie Knepper, 44, CHEK-34.71; 6. George Snider, 4, Leader Card-34.77; 7. Bill Puterbaugh, 19, MVS-34.99; 8. Johnny Parsons, 3, Federal Engineering-35.16; 9. Carl Williams, 94, Vatis-35.19; 10. Sammy Sessions, 98, Agajanian/Faas-35.23; 11. Jim McElreath, 14, McElreath-35.24; 12. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-35.26; 13. Karl Busson, 48, Hart-35.27; 14. Roger McCluskey, 6, Hopkins-35.29; 15. Jimmy Caruthers, 36, Rogala-35.40; 16. Don Nordhorn, 15, Spalding-35.54; 17. A.J. Foyt, 9, Foyt-35.57; 18. Joe Saldana, 31, Mataka-35.60; 19. Gary Bettenhausen, 16, Gerhardt-35.61; 20. Bruce Walkup, 39, Seymour-35.62; 21. Bob Harkey, 52, Harkey-35.64; 22. Billy Vukovich, 24, Gerthoffer-35.71; 23. Merle Bettenhausen, 99, Hunt-35.91; 24. Jim Malloy, 84, Gehlhausen-36.03; 25. Dick Tobias, 17, Ruppert-36.07; 26. Tom Bigelow, 70, Smith-36.10; 27. Lee Kunzman, 57, Brenn-36.25; 28. Larry Cannon, 47, Blacker-36.27; 29. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-36.36; 30. Billy Thrasher, 30, Steck-36.45; 31. Rollie Beale, 25, Kilman-36.48; 32. Don Hawley, 22, Senter-36.51; 33. Salt Walther, 77, Walther-36.71; 34. Jim Reynard, 75, Reynard-37.25; 35. Ralph Liguori, 58, Flynn-NT; 36. Greg Weld, 60, STP-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Al Unser, 2. George Snider, 3. Larry Dickson, 4. A.J. Foyt, 5. Billy Vukovich, 6. Jim McElreath, 7. Sammy Sessions, 8. Bill Puterbaugh, 9. Arnie Knepper, 10. Merle Bettenhausen, 11. Bob Harkey, 12. Don Nordhorn, 13. Jim Malloy, 14. Carl Williams, 15. Johnny Parsons, 16. Joe Saldana, 17. Mario Andretti, 18. Gary Bettenhausen, 19. Karl Busson, 20. Johnny Rutherford, 21. Jimmy Caruthers, 22. Bruce Walkup, 23. Roger McCluskey, 24. Art Pollard. 1:01:52.85

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Mario Andretti, Laps 3-100 Al Unser.