The 1971 NHRA Winternationals were a
National Hot Rod Association
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...
(NHRA)
drag racing event, held at
Pomona, California
Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Pol ...
on 7 February.
Background
The Funny Car Eliminator title at the 1971 Winternats would go to
Roland Leong's
Dodge Charger,
''Hawaiian'',. with
Butch Maas at the wheel.
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field o ...
' novel rear-engined dragster, ''
Swamp Rat XIV'', appeared at the Winternats, qualifying with 6.8; his best time of the meet was a 6.70, over
Jim Dunn's 7.58, in the semi-final: Garlits would win, when
Kenny Safford broke in the final. The last
Top Gas Eliminator crown, before NHRA abolished the class, went to
Walt Stevens
Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include:
People Given name
* Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer
* Walt ...
, at the wheel of
Ken Theiss' twin-engined
''Odd Couple'' TG/D. Canadian Barrie Poole repeated his 1970 Winternats win in Super Stock, in a
Sandy Elliot Mustang
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, the ...
.
Don Enriquez
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
(in
Gene Adams
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
' A/FD) won
Competition Eliminator, turning in a pass of 7.34 at , quicker and faster than
Steve Woods'
hemi-engined BB/Gas
Ford Anglia
The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...
; the field also included twin-engine straight-six-cylinder-powered D/Ds, and AA/FAs.
The year's award for Best Engineered Car went to
Jim Busby
James Franklin Busby (January 8, 1927 – July 8, 1996) was an American center fielder and coach in Major League Baseball who played with the Chicago White Sox (1950–52, 1955), Washington Senators (1952–55), Cleveland Indians (1956–57), Ba ...
, with a dragster powered by a pair of
injected 427 "Cammer" (
SOHC) engines. (
failed to qualify the car, and it never ran again.)
The meet was marred by the death of
"Sneaky Pete" Robinson, who wrecked his TF/D in qualifying, with a 6.77 pass, which would have been #4 qualifier.
Results
Top Fuel Dragster
The field was 32 cars.
Ron Rivero Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald.
Ron or RON may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character
* Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character
*Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
,
Larry Dixon,
Jim Paoli,
Gary Cochran, and
John Mitchell attended, but failed to qualify.
Round one
Top qualifier
Norm Wilcox (driving for
Ted Gotelli) went out to #17 qualifier
Jimmy King
Jimmy Hal King (born August 9, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. King played in the NBA and other leagues. He is most famous for his time spent on the famed University of Michigan Wolverines Fab Five along with Ray Ja ...
.
"TV Tommy" Ivo, qualified #13, lost to
Glen Woosley, who qualified #29.
Larry Hendrickson qualified #24, losing to #8 qualifier
Gerry Glenn.
Jerry "The King" Ruth qualified #14, and was eliminated by #30 qualifier
Carl Olson. #6 qualifier
Rick Ramsey eliminated #22 qualifier
Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.
Don Cook
Don Kirby Cook (born May 25, 1949) is an American record producer and songwriter whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Artists who recorded Cook's material include Barbara Mandrell, John Conlee, Mark Collie, Wade Hayes and Brooks ...
qualified #28 and fell to
Tom "Mongoo$e" McEwen. #31 qualifier
Bill Alexander lost to #15 qualifier
Kenny Safford (driving for
Larry Bowers).
Mike Tarter qualified #27 and lost to
Jim Davis (qualified #11). #26 qualifier Tom Allen was eliminated by
Don "Big Daddy" Garlits, who qualified #10 (in ''
Swamp Rat XIV''). #25 qualifier
Denver Schutz lost to #9 qualifier
Herman Petersen.
Chris "The Greek" Karamesines qualified #7 and eliminated
Paul Schoenfeld, who qualified #23. #22 qualifier
Don Prudhomme
Don Prudhomme (born April 6, 1941 in San Fernando, California), nicknamed "The Snake", is an American drag racer.
He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.
Racing career
Prudhomme crewed for "TV Tommy" Ivo on Ivo's ...
was eliminated by #6 qualifier
Rick Ramsey (in the Keeling & Clayton
dragster).
Les Allen
Leslie William Allen (born 4 September 1937) is an English former football player and manager who played as a inside forward.
Playing career
Allen started his playing career at amateur club Briggs Sports where he helped them to reach the ...
qualified #21 and was beaten by
Don Moody, who qualified #5. #32 qualifier
Bill Dunlap lost to #16 qualifier
Dennis Baca. #19 qualifier
Ronnie Martin (later partner with
Ronnie Sox) was eliminated by #3 qualifier
Henry Harrison in the
Ewell & Bell dragster.
Jim Warren qualified #18, losing to #2 qualifier
John Nichols (driving for
Jerry Dee Hagood). Low qualifier
Jim Dunn defeated #20 qualifier
Ed Renck.
Round two
Dunn beat McEwen. Woosley was defeated by Moody. Glenn eliminated Baca. Davis lost to Harrison. King defeated Petersen. Safford lost to Karamesines. Olson defeated Ramsey. Nichols fell to Garlits.
Round three
Garlits defeated Olson. Moody fell to King. Glenn lost to Dunn. Safford eliminated Harrison.
Semi-final
Dunn was eliminated by Garlits, King by Safford.
Final
Garlits defeated Safford, when Safford broke. The win earned Garlits US$8,625.
Top Fuel Funny Car
Top Fuel
Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 second ...
Funny Car was only a 16-car field.
Round one
Jake Johnston qualified #1 in the 1971
Dodge Charger owned by
Gene Snow, and eliminated #9 qualifier
Tom Prock. Snow qualified #2 in a 1971 Charger, beating Jim Dunn.
Tom Hoover, qualifying #7, was eliminated by #15 qualifier
Mike Snively
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
. Qualifying #12,
Kenny Goodell lost to
Roland Leong's
''Hawaiian'', driven by
Butch Maas.
Dave Condit qualified #13 and lost to #5 qualifier
Larry Reyes (driving a 1971
Plymouth Barracuda owned by
"Big John" Mamazian).
Don "The Snake" Prudhomme qualified #14, and was eliminated by #6 qualifier
Stan Shiroma. #3 qualifier
Dick Tharp's 1971
Ford Mustang (owned by
Harry Schmidt Harry Schmidt may refer to:
* Harry Schmidt (USMC) (1886–1968), commanded the Fourth Marine Division in the Pacific during World War II
* Harry Schmidt (mathematician) (1894–1951), German applied mathematician
* Harry Schmidt (pentathlete) (191 ...
) lost to the
Ramchargers 1971
Dodge Challenger of
Leroy Goldstein. Low qualifier
Don Schumacher
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
* Don (river), a river in European Russia
* Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
* Don, Benin, a town in Benin
* Don, Dang, a ...
went out to
Rich Siroonian's Mamazian-owned 1971 Barracuda.
Round two
Snively lost to Goldstein. Maas defeated Siroonian. Reyes was defeated by Johnston. Snow eliminated Shiroma.
Semi-final
Snow was eliminated by Maas. Johnston fell to Goldstein.
Final
Maas took the win over Goldstein, for a prize of US$8625.
Top Alcohol Dragster
Round one
Round two
Semi-final
Final
Top Alcohol Funny Car
Round one
Round two
Semi-final
Final
Top Gas
The field included 16 qualifiers.
Round one
Top qualifier
Larry Van Unen lost to #9 qualifier
Walt Stevens
Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include:
People Given name
* Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer
* Walt ...
(driving
Ken Theiss' twin-engined
''Odd Couple'' TG/D). Low qualifier
Chuck Beal lost to #5 qualifier
Bill Mullins
William Mullins (born 30 January 1948 in Campsie, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played during the 1960s and 1970s in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, the major rugby league competition in A ...
.
Round two
Mullins beat #10 qualifier
Gene Brasel, and Stevens eliminated #6 qualifier
Ray Hadford.
Semi-final
Jerry Goddard, #8 qualifier, lost to Mullins.
Don Hampton, qualified #7, was eliminated by Mullins.
Final
Mullins lost to Stevens in the final, earning Stevens US$7125.
Pro Stock
The
Pro Stock field was 16 cars. Attendees included
Herb McCandless (qualified #2 in a 1970
Plymouth Barracuda),
Dave Strickler (qualified #20),
Jim Pettit (qualified #30), and
Cecil Yother (qualified #31); none actually raced.
Round one
Top qualifier
Ronnie Sox's Barracuda defeated #17 qualifier
Dick Brannan.
Rich Miracki, qualified # 27, lost to #11 qualifier
"Dyno Don" Nicholson. #29 qualifier
Ed Schartman lost to #13 qualifier
Bill Jenkins' 1971
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro ...
. #12 qualifier
"Dandy Dick" Landy defeated #28 qualifier
Hubert Platt.
Bob Lambeck qualified #9 and eliminated #25 qualifier
John Livingston. #22 qualifier
Ed Miller lost to #6 qualifier
Arlen Vanke.
John Petrie
John Petrie (15 January 1822 – 8 December 1892) was a Scottish-born politician,
architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor.
Private life
John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Toowong Cemetery ...
qualified #3, and defeated #19 qualifier
Ken Van Cleve.
Bobby Yowell, #8 qualifier, lost to #24 qualifier
Bill Tanner. Low qualifier
Ed Terry was eliminated by #16 qualifier
Wally Booth
Wally may refer to:
Music
* Wally (band), British prog rock band
** ''Wally'' (album), a 1974 album by Wally
* ''La Wally'', an opera by Alfredo Catalani
Other uses
*Wally (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*WALLY, a propose ...
(driving a 1970 Camaro).
Round two
Tanner lost to Booth. Nicholson was eliminated by Petrie. Sox overcame Lambeck.
Semi-final
Jenkins was eliminated by Sox. Booth defeated Landy. Vanke was defeated by Booth. Petrie lost to Sox.
Final
Booth lost to Sox, who earned US$11,625 in prize money.
Ultimateracinghistory
(retrieved 24 September 2018)
Super Stock
Round one
Round two
Semi-final
Final
Notes
{{reflist
NHRA Winternationals
The NHRA Winternationals (commonly called the Winternats) are an annual drag racing event held by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.
In 1962, under pressure from Peggy Hart (wife of track owner " ...
NHRA Winternationals
1971 in motorsport