1961 USAC Championship Car season

The 1961 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Trenton, New Jersey on April 9 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on November 19. There was also one non-championship event at Pikes Peak, Colorado. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The season was marred by the deaths of 1951 and 1958 season champion Tony Bettenhausen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Al Keller at Phoenix.

1961 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	12
Start date	April 9
End date	November 19
Awards
National champion	A. J. Foyt
Indianapolis 500 winner	A. J. Foyt

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	April 9	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Tony Bettenhausen	Eddie Sachs
2	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Eddie Sachs	A. J. Foyt
3	June 4	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Dick Rathmann	Rodger Ward
4	June 18	Langhorne 100	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt	Al Keller	A. J. Foyt
NC	July 4	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Bobby UnserA	Bobby Unser
5	August 20	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Don Branson	Lloyd Ruby
6	August 21	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt	Parnelli Jones	Jim Hurtubise
7	September 4	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	Jim Hurtubise	A. J. Foyt
8	September 9	Syracuse 100	New York State Fairgrounds	Syracuse, New York	Dirt	Rodger Ward	Rodger Ward
9	September 16	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
10	September 24	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Eddie Sachs	Eddie Sachs
11	October 29	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt	Shorty Templeman	Rodger Ward
12	November 19	Bobby Ball Memorial	Arizona State Fairgrounds	Phoenix, Arizona	Dirt	Al Keller	Parnelli Jones

  Paved/Dirt Oval

  Road Course/Hill Climb

  Non-championship race

^A No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb.

Final points standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos Driver TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN MIL2 SPR DQSF SYR ISF TRE2 SAC PHX Pts 1 A. J. Foyt 5 1 22 1 3 2 1 18 1 14 12 15 2150 2 Eddie Sachs 1 2 Wth 3 5 DNS 3 DNQ DNQ 1 DNQ 6 1760 3 Rodger Ward 18 3 1 19 6 17 1 17 3 1 2 1680 4 Shorty Templeman 4 DNQ 10 5 2 2 5 16 16 12 1190 5 Al Keller 5 2 15 12 18 5 4 16 5 18 17 1000 6 Jim Hurtubise 2 22 5 8 7 1 18 3 18 2 14 DNS 939 7 Len Sutton DNQ 19 4 2 10 9 9 4 11 4 8 860 8 Bobby Marshman  RY  17 7 19 11 15 9 8 7 2 19 3 11 769 9 Parnelli Jones 15 12 2 23 11 12 5 12 9 2 1 750 10 Dick Rathmann 4 13 3 6 4 3 DNQ 10 20 750 11 Lloyd Ruby 8 21 1 16 16 11 DNQ 18 DNQ 670 12 Don Branson 16 33 6 14 24 15 6 17 8 4 7 3 530 13 Elmer George 8 8 4 DNQ 8 14 6 15 6 9 470 14 Chuck Stevenson 6 400 15 Roger McCluskey 6 27 17 5 DNQ 15 8 14 7 11 7 370 16 A. J. Shepherd 11 26 DNQ 6 4 7 15 DNQ 360 17 Chuck Hulse 12 DNQ 14 18 17 13 4 DNQ 6 6 DNQ 14 302 18 Jim McElreath  R  3 21 10 4 290 19 Al Farmer DNQ DNQ DNQ 16 7 13 16 DNQ DNQ 5 5 260 20 Jack Brabham  R  9 200 21 Johnny Boyd 21 7 8 DNQ 15 160 22 Norm Hall  R  10 DNQ DNQ DNQ 150 23 Troy Ruttman 3 20 16 140 24 Don Davis 29 DNQ 13 13 14 10 12 13 8 8 DNQ 140 25 Ronnie Duman  R  DNQ 15 DNS 11 DNQ DNQ 10 DNQ 13 9 DNQ 128 26 Bob Christie 17 20 9 10 110 27 Gene Hartley 11 100 28 Red Riegel  R  DNQ 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 13 18 60 29 Ralph Liguori DNQ DNQ 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 60 30 Len Duncan 7 60 31 Jiggs Peters 9 12 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 50 32 Danny Jones DNQ 14 9 DNQ 40 33 Don Freeland DNQ 9 DNQ 40 34 Allen Crowe  R  16 17 13 DNQ 12 DNQ 10 40 35 Bruce Jacobi 14 DNQ DNQ 10 30 36 Wayne Weiler DNQ 15 10 30 37 Bob Cleberg 10 DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 38 Rex Easton DNQ DNQ 9 DNQ 22 39 Bud Tingelstad DNQ DNQ 14 DNQ 11 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 20 40 Eddie Johnson 18 11 DNQ DNQ 20 41 Bob Mathouser  R  DNQ 11 DNQ DNQ 20 42 Dempsey Wilson 16 12 20 DNQ DNQ DNQ 15 DNQ 10 43 Jack Turner 25 21 12 DNQ DNQ 10 - Bill Cheesbourg 28 13 DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Horvath  R  13 DNQ 0 - Leroy Neumayer  R  DNQ 13 0 - Paul Goldsmith 14 18 0 - Keith Rachwitz  R  DNQ 16 0 - Jack Rounds 20 DNQ 17 0 - Bob Veith DNQ 25 17 0 - Ray Wearne  R  DNQ 17 DNQ 0 - Leon Clum  R  DNQ DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 0 - Tony Bettenhausen 19 DNQ 0 - Tommy Copp  R  21 DNQ 0 - Johnny Coy  R  22 DNQ 22 0 - Ernie Koch DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ 0 - Ebb Rose  R  23 26 0 - Cliff Griffith 24 0 - Jim Rathmann DNQ 30 DNQ DNQ 0 - Jimmy Daywalt 31 0 - Bobby Grim 32 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Beau Clerke DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Jim McWithey DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Jim Hemmings DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Harry Beck DNP DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Tony Bonadies DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Vern Harriman DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Ray Crawford DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Bill Randall DNQ DNQ 0 - Bert Brooks DNQ DNQ 0 - Jack Conely DNQ DNQ 0 - Ed Kostenuk DNQ DNQ 0 - Chuck Arnold DNQ DNQ 0 - Al Pombo DNQ DNQ 0 - Tony Romit DNQ 0 - Duane Carter DNQ 0 - Russ Congdon DNQ 0 - Jack Ensley DNQ 0 - Mike Magill DNQ 0 - Chuck Rodee DNQ 0 - Paul Russo DNQ 0 - Bud Sterrett DNQ 0 - Bob Wente DNQ 0 - Chuck Weyant DNQ 0 - Cliff Spalding DNQ 0 - Ray Brown DNQ 0 - Hal Rettberg DNQ 0 - Bill Hyde DNQ 0 - Russ Long DNQ 0 - Jimmy Davies DNQ 0 Pos Driver TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN MIL2 SPR DQSF SYR ISF TRE2 SAC PHX Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1961". Driver Database. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• "1961 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 272-273)

See also

• 1961 Indianapolis 500