The 1971 NHRA Winternationals were a

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a 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 motorsport sanction ...

(NHRA)

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

event, held at

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

on 7 February.

Background

The Funny Car Eliminator title at the 1971 Winternats would go to

Roland Leong Roland Leong (1945 – December 29, 2023) was an American drag racer from Honolulu, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Car races. "Hawaiian" cars Top Fuel Dragsters Leong's "Hawaii ...

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over eight generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. In the United Sta ...

, ''Hawaiian'',. with

Butch Maas Butch may refer to: People * Butch (nickname), a list of people * Barbara Butch, French lesbian DJ and activist * Butch Patrick, American child actor Patrick Alan Lilley (born 1953), best known for his role as Eddie Munster in ''The Munsters'' ...

at the wheel.

Don Garlits Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Born in Tampa, Florida, Garlits is considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pion ...

' 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 Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

broke in the final. The last Top Gas Eliminator crown, before NHRA abolished the class, went to Walt Stevens, 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 conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

. Don Enriquez (in

Gene Adams In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: prot ...

' A/FD) won

Competition Eliminator Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...

, turning in a pass of 7.34 at , quicker and faster than

Steve Woods Stephen John Woods (born 15 December 1976) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Chesterfield, Plymouth Argyle, Stoke City and Torquay United. Career Woods was born in Davenham, Cheshire and began his career a ...

hemi Hemi may refer to: People Surname * Jack Hemi (1914–1996), New Zealand freezing worker, rugby union and league player, shearer * Ronald Hemi (1933–2000), New Zealand rugby union player Given name * Hemi Bawa, Indian painter and sculptor * ...

-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 Angli ...

; 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), B ...

, with a dragster powered by a pair of injected 427 "Cammer" (

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

) engines. (

Hank Westmoreland Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nickna ...

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 J ...

. "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

(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 Herman Petersen (13 December 171313 August 1765) was a Swedish merchant and director of the Swedish East India Company, amassed significant wealth through copper trade with France. He was part of the 'Skeppsbroadel' and owned several notable pr ...

. 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 an inside forward. Playing career Allen started his playing career at amateur club Briggs Sports where he helped them to reach the s ...

qualified #21 and was beaten by

Don Moody Don Moody (born March 16, 1962) is the executive producer and creator of several children's television shows including ''Mia & Codie,'' an animated preschool series about coding, and ''WordWorld'', a three-time Emmy Award winning animated series ...

, who qualified #5. #32 qualifier Bill Dunlap lost to #16 qualifier Dennis Baca. #19 qualifier Ronnie Martin (later partner with

Ronnie Sox Willard Ronald Sox (December 17, 1938 – April 22, 2006 in Richmond, Virginia) was an American drag racer. His family ran a Sinclair (SOX SINCLAIR) station on Church St. in Burlington, North Carolina, where got his start in drag racing in th ...

) 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 3.641 second ...

Funny Car was only a 16-car field.

Round one

Jake Johnston qualified #1 in the 1971

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 documenta ...

. Qualifying #12, Kenny Goodell lost to

's ''Hawaiian'', driven by

. Dave Condit qualified #13 and lost to #5 qualifier

Larry Reyes Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

(driving a 1971

Plymouth Barracuda The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Chrysler Corporation from 1964 through 1974 model years. The first-generation Barracuda was based on the Chrysler A platform, Chrysler A-body and was offered from 1964 unti ...

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 The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

(owned by Harry Schmidt) lost to the Ramchargers 1971

Dodge Challenger The Dodge Challenger is the name of three generations of automobiles produced by the American automobile manufacturer Dodge. However, the first use of the Challenger name by Dodge dates back to 1959 for marketing a "value version" of the full- ...

of Leroy Goldstein. Low qualifier Don Schumacher went out to

Rich Siroonian Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated communi ...

'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 (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) 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 Australia at the time. Caree ...

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

Dave Strickler Dave Strickler (born 1944) is an American reference librarian noted for his compilation of ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index'', regarded as a major reference work by researchers and historians of newspaper comic ...

(qualified #20), Jim Pettit (qualified #30), and Cecil Yother (qualified #31); none actually raced.

Round one

Top qualifier

'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 sha ...

. #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 Australian politician, architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor. Private life John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Too ...

qualified #3, and defeated #19 qualifier Ken Van Cleve. Bobby Yowell, #8 qualifier, lost to #24 qualifier

Bill Tanner William Tanner is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel series. Tanner is an employee of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) who acts as M's chief of staff. Novels In Ian Fleming's novels, Bill Tanner is MI6's chief of staff ...

. Low qualifier Ed Terry was eliminated by #16 qualifier

Wally Booth Wally may refer to: People and fictional characters * Wally (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Wally the Green Monster, mascot of the Boston Red Sox * Water Wally, mascot of the Singapore's Public Utilities Board * Wally ...

(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 at Pomona, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, California. History The National ...

NHRA Winternationals 1971 in motorsport