In celebration of the 50th year of USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Racing, we are reviewing the past 49 years of series history.
ANDRETTI RETURNS WITH WIN AT SPRINGFIELD
Springfield, Illinois………Mario Andretti made a highly successful return to the USAC Championship Dirt circuit with a victory at Springfield on August 19.
Andretti drove a new dirt car built by Grant King with a Ford engine to a 20-second victory over his Viceroy teammate, Al Unser, in the opening 100-miler at the Illinois State Fairgrounds dirt mile.
But it was young Johnny Parsons who really made the crowd of more than 15,000 fans sit up and take notice.
Starting from the outside position in the front row in the A.J. Watson-prepared Lodestar Ford-powered machine, Parsons took the lead on the first lap and held it through lap 28 before being passed by Andretti.
But Parsons got back around Andretti on the 56th circuit and built his lead up to about four seconds – the biggest anyone had enjoyed in the race so far – before the caution flag came out on lap 85 when Joe Saldana lost a wheel and tagged the wall in the first turn. Saldana was not hurt.
As the cars came out of the fourth turn to get the green for a restart at the end of lap 91, Parsons punched the throttle – and nothing happened. An apparent fuel problem made him falter and seven cars blew by him before the starting line.
Al Unser took over the lead at that point with Andretti in close pursuit.
But Al had to make a fuel stop after 95 laps. That allowed Mario to take over the front spot and he won with ease.
A pit stop for fuel dropped Parsons to a sixth-place finish behind Bill Puterbaugh, Tom Bigelow and Mel Cornett.
Others in the top-ten were Arnie Knepper, seventh; Sammy Sessions, eighth; Bob Evans, ninth, and Billy Engelhart, 10th.
The only accident besides that of Saldana’s occurred when Jim McElreath hit the fence in turn three on the seventh lap. He was not hurt.
Andretti leads the Championship Dirt standings with 200 points. Al Unser has 160 and Puterbaugh 140. Bigelow has 120, Cornett 100 and Parsons 80.
USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 19, 1973 – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, Illinois – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Al Unser, 2, Vel's Parnelli Jones-33.31; 2. Johnny Parsons, 98, Leader Card-33.38; 3. Greg Weld, 22, King-33.67; 4. Mario Andretti, 15, Vel's Parnelli Jones-33.91; 5. Jerry Miller, 65, Miller-33.95; 6. Joe Saldana, 11, Federal Engineering-34.32; 7. Jimmy Caruthers, 28, Caruthers-34.40; 8. Mel Cornett, 36, Rogala-34.41; 9. A.J. Foyt, 1, Foyt-34.41; 10. Arnie Knepper, 3, CHEK-34.42; 11. Jim McElreath, 23, McElreath-34.47; 12. Sammy Sessions, 9, MVS-34.51; 13. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-34.55; 14. Pancho Carter, 81, Rieder-34.55; 15. Billy Vukovich, 24, UCR-34.67; 16. Billy Engelhart, 64, Conklin-34.71; 17. Jigger Sirois, 38, Riley-34.92; 18. Billy Shuman, 31, Mataka-34.94; 19. Tom Bigelow, 4, Gehlhausen-35.06; 20. Bill Puterbaugh, 70, Smith-35.07; 21. George Snider, 16, Bettenhausen-35.09; 22. Johnny Rutherford, 73, Elkins-35.29; 23. Gary Bettenhausen, 14, Bettenhausen-35.35; 24. Don Nordhorn, 54, B & J-35.43; 25. Bob Evans, 99, Hunt-35.51; 26. Larry Dickson, 69, McClure-35.79; 27. Ralph Liguori, 85, Flynn-35.80; 28. Bob Harkey, 19, Harkey-35.81; 29. Karl Busson, 58, Reynolds-36.32; 30. John Hubbard, 95, Vatis-NT; 31. Darl Harrison, 91, Harrison-NT; 32. Billy Cassella, 29, Seymour-NT; 33. Gary Ponzini, 25, Snow-NT; 34. Curt Waters, 21, Crower/Beck-NT; 35. Lee Kunzman, 12, RB-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Mario Andretti (3), 2. Al Unser (1), 3. Bill Puterbaugh (19), 4. Tom Bigelow (18), 5. Mel Cornett (7), 6. Johnny Parsons (2), 7. Arnie Knepper (9), 8. Sammy Sessions (11), 9. Bob Evans (24), 10. Billy Engelhart (15), 11. Joe Saldana (5), 12. Johnny Rutherford (21), 13. Don Nordhorn (23), 14. Ronnie Burke (12), 15. Gary Bettenhausen (22), 16. Jerry Miller (4), 17. Jimmy Caruthers (6), 18. Billy Vukovich (14), 19. Pancho Carter (13), 20. Billy Shuman (17), 21. Jigger Sirois (16), 22. George Snider (20), 23. A.J. Foyt (8), 24. Jim McElreath (10). 1:02:53.00
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-27 Johnny Parsons, Laps 28-55 Mario Andretti, Laps 56-90 Johnny Parsons, Laps 91-96 Al Unser, Laps 97-100 Mario Andretti.
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ANDRETTI WINS Du QUOIN; NEARS DIRT TITLE
Du Quoin, Illinois………Mario Andretti, winner of his second straight Championship Dirt race on Labor Day, September 3, at Du Quoin, was a surprise winner when his Viceroy/Ford teammate, Al Unser, ran out of fuel as he came down to take the white flag at the end of 99 miles.
The mishap dropped Al all the way to a fifth-place finish and was severely costly in the point battle. Mario holds a lead of 140 points over both Al Unser and Tom Bigelow, the third-place finisher at Du Quoin, as the cars move over to Hoosier soil for the finale on September 15.
Andretti is in position to nail down an undisputed title with a sixth-place finish or better at the Indianapolis event, even if Unser or Bigelow should win it.
Al Unser started on the pole at Du Quoin by virtue of a new track record speed of 107.271 mph.
Andretti passed Unser on the first lap and led for the first 51 laps, with Unser nipping at his heels most of the way.
Al managed to get around Mario on the 52nd lap and then started pulling away. He boosted his margin to 8.4 seconds by the 80-mile mark and appeared home free until the tank ran dry.
Billy Engelhart, a rookie on the dirt circuit, drove a beautiful race to finish second, 16.7 seconds behind Andretti. Tom Bigelow was third and Lee Kunzman fourth, also on the same lap with the leaders.
Pancho Carter, defending USAC National Midget champion, escaped with a bruised shoulder in a wild flip over the third turn guard rail in qualifications. Curt Waters also went through the fence in that turn during the feature, causing a red flag. The yellow flew for laps 54-62 because of rain.
Johnny Parsons again had bad luck. He had to make a pit stop for fuel after running third all the way. That dropped him to an eighth-place finish.
USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 3, 1973 – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Du Quoin, Illinois – Ted Horn Memorial
QUALIFYING: 1. Al Unser, 2, Vel's Parnelli Jones-33.56; 2. Mario Andretti, 15, Vel's Parnelli Jones-34.17; 3. Billy Vukovich, 24, UCR-34.43; 4. Johnny Parsons, 98, Leader Card-34.45; 5. Curt Waters, 21, Crower/Beck-34.67; 6. Billy Engelhart, 64, Conklin-34.86; 7. A.J. Foyt, 1, Foyt-35.00; 8. Billy Cassella, 29, Seymour-35.07; 9. John Hubbard, 95, Vatis-35.10; 10. Lee Kunzman, 12, RB-35.10; 11. Tom Bigelow, 4, Gehlhausen-35.14; 12. Billy Shuman, 31, Mataka-35.24; 13. Pancho Carter, 81, Rieder-35.26; 14. Bill Puterbaugh, 70, Smith-35.44; 15. Mel Cornett, 36, Rogala-35.51; 16. Arnie Knepper, 3, CHEK-35.53; 17. Gary Bettenhausen, 16, Bettenhausen-35.60; 18. Joe Saldana, 11, Federal Engineering-35.61; 19. Bob Evans, 99, Hunt-35.63; 20. Jerry Miller, 65, Miller-35.81; 21. Larry Dickson, 69, McClure-35.96; 22. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-35.97; 23. Darl Harrison, 91, Harrison-36.00; 24. Don Nordhorn, 54, B & J-36.03; 25. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-36.07; 26. George Snider, 73, Elkins-36.08; 27. Bob Harkey, 19, Harkey-36.17; 28. Jimmy Caruthers, 28, Caruthers-36.26; 29. Sammy Sessions, 9, MVS-36.30; 30. Ralph Liguori, 85, Flynn-36.41; 31. Mike Gregg, 84, Gehlhausen-36.57; 32. Gary Ponzini, 25, Snow-36.64; 33. Karl Busson, 58, Reynolds-36.70; 34. Gary Bettenhausen, 14, Bettenhausen-NT; 35. Jim McElreath, 23, McElreath-NT; 36. Jigger Sirois, 38, Riley-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Mario Andretti (2), 2. Billy Engelhart (6), 3. Tom Bigelow (11), 4. Lee Kunzman (10), 5. Al Unser (1), 6. Arnie Knepper (15), 7. Bill Puterbaugh (13), 8. Johnny Parsons (4), 9. Gary Bettenhausen (16), 10. Johnny Rutherford (21), 11. Jerry Miller (19), 12. Joe Saldana (17), 13. Darl Harrison (22), 14. Bob Evans (18), 15. Mel Cornett (14), 16. Ronnie Burke (24), 17. Billy Vukovich (3), 18. A.J. Foyt (7), 19. Billy Shuman (12), 20. John Hubbard (9), 21. Larry Dickson (20), 22. Billy Cassella (8), 23. Don Nordhorn (23), 24. Curt Waters (5). NT
**Pancho Carter flipped during qualifying.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-51 Mario Andretti, Laps 52-99 Al Unser, Lap 100 Mario Andretti.
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AL UNSER WINS 4TH HOOSIER HUNDRED, DIRT TITLE
Indianapolis, Indiana………Al Unser, driving the No. 2 Viceroy/Ford, dominated the 21st annual running of the Hoosier Hundred September 15 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, winning the race for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time.
Al’s victory also enabled him to snare the 1973 USAC Dirt Track Championship away from Viceroy teammate Mario Andretti.
Mario came into the final race of the 1973 Dirt Track series with an unblemished record, having won at both Springfield and Du Quoin. But he burned a piston during early morning practice and was forced to start the race on only seven cylinders. He dropped back drastically at the start from his seventh starting spot and retired from the race on lap 33. Two laps earlier, Al had lapped him.
Johnny Parsons finished second to Al as he drove a beautiful race to finish in front of third-place Tom Bigelow, 1973 Hoosier Hundred Rookie of the Year Pancho Carter and Arnie Knepper.
The 24-car starting field, determined in qualifications the preceding weekend before rains washed out the race and postponed it, included two alternates, George Snider and Joe Saldana. They replaced Jimmy Caruthers and Bob Harkey who both had problems during practice on race day and were unable to start. Snider drove the car qualified originally by Johnny Rutherford. Snider dropped out at the halfway point, but Saldana drove a steady race to finish sixth.
Pole-sitter Greg Weld, in the Grant King-prepared Dave McIntyre Chevy, led the field into the first turn and held off Al’s charge. On lap 6, Jim McElreath spun in turn thee while running sixth and clipped the inside wall bringing out the yellow flag. The green was reissued on lap 10, and two laps later, on the backstretch, Al shot past Greg in turn three and his race was over. Al led the rest of the way with no serious threats.
Weld and Lee Kunzman continued to run second and third until lap 27 when Parsons passed Kunzman, and two laps later, Knepper also passed Lee. Another lap and A.J. Foyt got around Lee as Lee dropped out of the race with a broken plug.
The top five then remained the same until A.J. passed Knepper on lap 56. Arnie got back around on lap 72, and two laps later, Weld pitted for fuel, moving everybody up one spot. Greg dropped out with rocker arm problems on lap 84, and on the following lap, A.J. pulled out with rear-end trouble.
Knepper passed Parsons on lap 94 for second spot, but the next lap, he pitted for fuel and dropped to fifth.
Al’s final margin of victory over Parsons was 16 seconds, about half a lap. His victory gave him a 60-point edge over Andretti and Bigelow for the 1973 Dirt Track title.
USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 15, 1973 – Indiana State Fairgrounds – Indianapolis, Indiana – Hoosier Hundred
QUALIFYING: 1. Greg Weld, 22, King-35.51; 2. Al Unser, 2, Vel's Parnelli Jones-35.81; 3. Lee Kunzman, 12, RB-36.04; 4. Johnny Parsons, 98, Leader Card-36.08; 5. Arnie Knepper, 3, CHEK-36.35; 6. A.J. Foyt, 1, Foyt-36.56; 7. Mario Andretti, 15, Vel's Parnelli Jones-36.57; 8. Jimmy Caruthers, 28, Caruthers-36.60; 9. Jim McElreath, 23, McElreath-36.75; 10. Tom Bigelow, 4, Gehlhausen-36.80; 11. Billy Engelhart, 64, Conklin-36.83; 12. John Hubbard, 95, Vatis-36.84; 13. Gary Ponzini, 73, Elkins-36.93; 14. Pancho Carter, 17, Glessner-36.93; 15. Sammy Sessions, 9, MVS-36.98; 16. Jerry Miller, 65, Miller-37.01; 17. Billy Shuman, 31, Mataka-37.05; 18. Mel Cornett, 36, Rogala-37.11; 19. Ralph Liguori, 85, Flynn-37.20; 20. Bob Harkey, 19, Harkey-37.23; 21. Karl Busson, 58, Reynolds-37.31; 22. Larry Dickson, 69, McClure-37.32; 23. Darl Harrison, 91, Harrison-37.34; 24. Mike Gregg, 84, Gehlhausen-37.47; 25. Johnny Rutherford, 18, Delrose-37.51; 26. Joe Saldana, 11, Federal Engineering-37.54; 27. Billy Cassella, 29, Seymour-37.55; 28. Merle Bettenhausen, 16, Bettenhausen-37.60; 29. Curt Waters, 21, Crower/Beck-37.87; 30. Bill Puterbaugh, 70, Smith-37.95; 31. Ronnie Burke, 33, Burke-38.10; 32. Gary Bettenhausen, 14, Bettenhausen-38.20; 33. Bob Evans, 99, Hunt-38.49; 34. Billy Vukovich, 24, UCR-NT; 35. Don Nordhorn, 54, B & J-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Al Unser (2), 2. Johnny Parsons (4), 3. Tom Bigelow (9), 4. Pancho Carter (13), 5. Arnie Knepper (5), 6. Joe Saldana (24), 7. Darl Harrison (21), 8. Gary Ponzini (12), 9. Mel Cornett (17), 10. Karl Busson (19), 11. Mike Gregg (22), 12. Ralph Liguori (18), 13. A.J. Foyt (6), 14. Greg Weld (1), 15. Jerry Miller (15), 16. George Snider (23) (#18), 17. Larry Dickson (20), 18. Billy Shuman (16), 19. John Hubbard (11), 20. Billy Engelhart (10), 21. Mario Andretti (7), 22. Lee Kunzman (3), 23. Sammy Sessions (14), 24. Jim McElreath (8). 1:05:29.07
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Greg Weld, Laps 12-100 Al Unser.
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1973 USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINTS
1. (460) Al Unser, Albuquerque, N.M.
2. (400) Mario Andretti, Nazareth, Pa.
3. (400) Tom Bigelow, Whitewater, Wis.
4. (290) Johnny Parsons, Indianapolis, Ind.
5. (240) Arnie Knepper, Belleville, Ill.
6. (200) Bill Puterbaugh, Indianapolis, Ind.
7. (190) Billy Engelhart, Madison, Wis.
8. (140) Mel Cornett, Wauwatosa, Wis.
9. (120) Lee Kunzman, Guttenberg, Iowa
10. (120) Pancho Carter, Huntington Beach, Calif.
11. (110) Joe Saldana, Lincoln, Neb.
12. (60) Darl Harrison, Tiffin, Ohio
13. (50) Sam Sessions, Nashville, Mich.
14. (50) Gary Ponzini, Morgan Hill, Calif.
15. (40) Bob Evans, Seal Beach, Calif.
16. (40) Johnny Rutherford, Fort Worth, Texas
17. (40) Gary Bettenhausen, Monrovia, Ind.
18. (30) Karl Busson, Toledo, Ohio
19. (20) Jerry Miller, Albuquerque, N.M.
20. (20) Mike Gregg, Vancouver, Wash.
21. (10) Ralph Liguori, Tampa, Fla.
1973 USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANT POINTS
1. (460) Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing, Torrance, Calif. (#2)
2. (400) Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing, Torrance, Calif. (#15)
3. (400) Carl Gehlhausen, Jasper, Ind. (#4)
4. (290) Leader Cards, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis. (#98)
5. (240) CHEK Racing, Belleville, Ill. (#3)
6. (200) Ray Smith, Eaton, Ohio (#70)
7. (190) Harry Conklin, Denver, Colo. (#64)
8. (140) Don Rogala, Erie, Pa. (#36)
9. (120) R.B. Racing Associates, Rolling Meadows, Ill. (#12)
10. (120) Lee Glessner, Wheeling, W.Va. (#17)
11. (110) Federal Automotive Associates, Detroit, Mich. (#11)
12. (60) Lee Elkins, Kalamazoo, Mich. (#73)
13. (60) A.L. Harrison, Parma Heights, Ohio (#91)
14. (50) MVS, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind. (#9)
15. (40) Joe Hunt, Los Angeles, Calif. (#99)
16. (40) Bettenhausen Racing, Monrovia, Ind. (#16)
17. (30) T.D. Enterprises, Joliet, Ill. (#18)
18. (30) William Reynolds, Elmore, Ohio (#58)
19. (20) Wayne Miller, Albuquerque, N.M. (#65)
20. (20) Carl Gehlhausen, Jasper, Ind. (#84)
21. (10) Walt Flynn, Indianapolis, Ind. (#85)