Sports 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 .
Schedule and results [ edit ]
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 Unser A 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 [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] See also [ edit ]
Seasons Indianapolis 500s National Champions Tracks