1971 California 500

In 1971, the Pocono 500 was added to the IndyCar schedule, beginning IndyCar racing's Triple Crown of 500 mile races. The three races became the highest-paying events in American motorsports and carried 1000 points for the winner on the USAC Championship standings.[1]

In March 1971, Ontario was the site of the Questor Grand Prix, a non-championship race for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars on the infield road course. Because of the smaller fuel tanks of the F5000 cars, the race was run in two heats of 32 laps, and the final result decided by a points system. Mario Andretti was declared the winner; with Jackie Stewart in second place and Denny Hulme third. Swede Savage suffered critical head injuries after a broken suspension sent him into the wall. Savage was near death for several days but made a full recovery and returned to racing at the California 500.[1]

In May, Al Unser won the 1971 Indianapolis 500. It was his second consecutive win in the Memorial Day event.

Practice began on Saturday, August 21. Only three cars participated in the first day of practice, with Bud Tingelstad posting the fastest speed at 149.350 mph.[2] On Sunday, defending pole-sitter Lloyd Ruby ran a speed of 167.107 mph, with a total of six drivers making practice runs.[3] Steve Krisiloff was fastest on Monday with a speed of 172.413 mph.[4] Day four of practice saw Al Unser up the fastest speed to 177.409 mph.[5] Bobby Unser was the first driver to go faster than 180 mph when he ran a lap speed of 180.977 mph on Wednesday. John Cannon crashed in turn one but was uninjured.[6] In Thursday's practice, Mark Donohue set the fastest speed at 182.394 mph before crashing in turn three. Donohue's car suffered damage to the rear suspension but was repairable.[7] Despite 101 degree temperatures on Friday, Bobby Unser ran the fastest speed all week at 182.593 mph. USAC scheduled a special qualifying session on Friday for McLaren drivers Peter Revson and Denny Hulme who planned to compete in the Can-Am Series race at Road America. Mechanical problems forced the cancelation of the session. As a result, Hulme withdrew from the California 500 and flew to Road America. Revson remained at Ontario to qualify on Saturday and would start the Can-Am race from the rear of the field on Sunday.[8]

168,420 spectators attended the race.[11] A pre-race parade of celebrities around the track included Hugh Downs, Anthony Quinn, Hugh O'Brian, Glen Campbell, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Greg Morris, Karen Valentine, Craig Breedlove, and Gary Gabelich. The National Anthem was sung by The Supremes. Shortly after the release of his 1971 film, Le Mans, Steve McQueen gave the command to start engines. Dan Gurney drove the Datsun 510 pace car.

From his position in the middle of the front row, Bobby Unser took the lead at the start. Before completing one lap, Mario Andretti had a distributor shaft break and retired.[12] Donohue took the lead on lap four and continued to lead the next 49 laps. On lap six, George Snider hit the wall in turn two. Greg Weld crashed on lap 29.

Around lap 50, Donohue's team-owner Roger Penske signaled him to pit. Donohue failed to notice the pit board three times and ran out of fuel on the backstretch. He was towed back to the pits but the damage to the engine led to burnt piston later in the race. Donohue accepted blame, saying "anyone who doesn't have the sense to see a pit sign deserves to get knocked out of a race."[13]

Peter Revson lost 20 laps in the pits when his McLaren team was forced to change his turbocharger. After repairs, Revson was the fastest car on track and drove to a 7th-place finish, 17 laps behind the leader.[14] Johnny Rutherford's crew chief, Mike Devin, suffered first and second degree burns to his face when a flash fire occurred on a pit stop.[15]

While running a close second to his brother on lap 118, Bobby Unser crashed in turn one when he suffered a broken rear wing support.[13]

On lap 160, Al Unser retired from the race with a broken gearbox. Unser's teammate, Joe Leonard, inherited the lead. Unlike his teammate, Leonard was forced to run the inferior Ford engine instead of the more powerful Offenhauser.

Former Daytona 500 champion, Cale Yarborough, had a strong run and had climbed to third when he suffered clutch failure after completing 162 laps. After completing 166 laps, Swede Savage suffered suspension failure and brushed the wall, spinning into the infield.

Joe Leonard led the final 40 laps and drove to an easy victory. He earned $134,437 and won the Triple Crown points title, carrying a prize of $1,000 and a gold ring. For the second straight year, Art Pollard finished second, a lap behind Leonard.