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.

Schedule and results

RndDateRace NameTrackLocationTypePole PositionWinning Driver
1April 9 Trenton 100Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyPaved Tony Bettenhausen Eddie Sachs
2May 30 International 500 Mile SweepstakesIndianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, IndianaPaved Eddie Sachs A. J. Foyt
3June 4 Rex Mays ClassicMilwaukee MileWest Allis, WisconsinPaved Dick Rathmann Rodger Ward
4June 18 Langhorne 100Langhorne SpeedwayLanghorne, PennsylvaniaDirt Al Keller A. J. Foyt
NCJuly 4 Pikes Peak Auto Hill ClimbPikes Peak HighwayPikes Peak, ColoradoHill Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
5August 20 Tony Bettenhausen 200Milwaukee MileWest Allis, WisconsinPaved Don Branson Lloyd Ruby
6August 21 Tony Bettenhausen MemorialIllinois State FairgroundsSpringfield, IllinoisDirt Parnelli Jones Jim Hurtubise
7September 4 Ted Horn MemorialDuQuoin State FairgroundsDu Quoin, IllinoisDirt Jim Hurtubise A. J. Foyt
8September 9 Syracuse 100New York State FairgroundsSyracuse, New YorkDirt Rodger Ward Rodger Ward
9September 16 Hoosier HundredIndiana State FairgroundsIndianapolis, IndianaDirt A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt
10September 24 Trenton 100Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyPaved Eddie Sachs Eddie Sachs
11October 29 Golden State 100California State FairgroundsSacramento, CaliforniaDirt Rodger Ward Rodger Ward
12November 19 Bobby Ball MemorialArizona State FairgroundsPhoenix, ArizonaDirt Al Keller Parnelli Jones

Final points standings


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