1961 USAC Championship Car season

Races12

Start dateApril 9

End dateNovember 19

National champion

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
← 1960 1962 →

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.

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.

v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

v t e USAC Championship Cars (1956–1970)
Seasons	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
Indianapolis 500s	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
National Champions	Mario Andretti (three times) Tony Bettenhausen Jimmy Bryan (twice) A. J. Foyt (five times) Al Unser Bobby Unser Rodger Ward (twice)
Tracks	Arizona State Fair Atlanta Brainerd California State Fair Continental Divide Darlington Daytona Dover DuQuoin State Fair Hanford Illinois State Fair Indianapolis Indianapolis Raceway Park Indiana State Fair Lakewood Langhorne Michigan Michigan State Fair Milwaukee Missouri State Fair Mont-Tremblant Mosport Nazareth New York State Fair Ontario Phoenix Pikes Peak Riverside Stardust Sears Point Seattle Trenton

1961 USAC Championship Car season

Final points standings

References

See also

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