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dropped oil in turn two. Donohue slipped and was passed by Joe
Leonard, who led for the next three laps. On lap 194, Donohue passed Leonard on the frontstretch to regain the lead. The Pennsylvania driver led for the final seven laps and beat Leonard by 1.6 seconds. The race was slowed by six cautions
444:
In addition to $ 87,874 in prize money, Donohue was awarded the 1971 Chevy Camaro SS pace car, a 14k gold ring, the
Autosprint trophy for completing the fastest lap of the race, and 100 pounds of beef from Hungry Ed's Market in Blakeslee. The Pocono 500 victory bruncheon was held at the Mount Airy
229:
Plans for a
Pennsylvania superspeedway extended as far back as 1957. The site picked was a large spinach farm in Long Pond, one farmed by German prisoners of war during World War II. In 1965, ground was broken and the triangular design was unveiled. Construction first began on a three-quarter mile
294:
For the first time, USAC officials returned the pace car to the track to pace the field during caution flags. At
Indianapolis in 1971, cars would pace themselves under caution. At Pocono, cars were allowed to bunch up behind the pace car and the leader's advantage was erased at caution flags.
237:
and Pocono
Raceway signed a sanctioning agreement to host a 500-mile Indy car race and 500 mile stock car race. As part of the agreement, USAC agreed not to hold any other 500 mile races in 13 nearby states and would not hold any races within a 200-mile radius of Pocono. It was said that more
290:
set the fast time early with an average speed of 171.847 mph. At 5:00 in the afternoon, Mark
Donohue eclipsed Unser's speed with an average of 172.393 mph. Al Unser qualified third with a time of 170.365 mph.
282:
Mark
Donohue's McLaren car, owned by Team Penske, was destroyed in a crash at the Indianapolis 500 and a new one was constructed for Pocono. In Thursday's practice, Donohue posted the fastest speed at 172 mph.
387:
brought out the caution on lap 18 when his engine blew and the car stopped in turn two. After 32 laps, Indianapolis 500 champion, Al Unser, was black-flagged by officials for leaking oil and fell out of the race.
406:
spun in oil and hit the turn one wall. Allison then flew to
Daytona Beach, Florida where he had won the pole for NASCAR's Firecracker 400. Allison finished fifth there the following day.
286:
The first day of qualifying was held on
Saturday, June 26. Like at Indianapolis, qualifying was a four-lap, 10-mile average. An estimated crowd of 30,000 spectators was on hand.
448:
Prior to the race, officials expected over 100,000 spectators. While the event would reach that figure in following years, the crowd in 1971 was estimated at 75,000.
430:
The final of six caution flags was thrown on lap 183 for oil on the track. This allowed Joe
Leonard to catch up to Mark Donohue. The green flag returned on lap 189.
1062:
441:
Donohue flew to Brainerd, MN and competed in the Trans-Am race the following day. Donohue won on the road course to claim his second win in 27 hours.
399:
left his pit stall too early and left with the fuel hose still attached. He was black-flagged and returned to the pits to remove the fuel coupling.
427:
Bobby Unser led 34 laps but was slowed late in the race with a broken turbocharger wheel. He finished 9th, ten laps behind the race winner.
276:, fell out of the infield grandstands and suffered a chip in the bone in his arm and a cut on his chin which required 14 stitches.
302:, owner of Mark Donohue's car. "It makes it a sideshow, a carnival, it's Mickey Mouse," Penske said. "It penalized the top cars."
1052:
905:
887:
841:
657:
279:
On Wednesday, Peter Revson became the first driver to break the 170 mph barrier when he posted a lap of 170.325 mph.
1047:
471:
One week after the race, a 2-hour syndicated television broadcast was aired on July 10, by the Century TeleSports Network.
424:
car caught fire and he suffered first and second degree burns on his arm and leg before he could bring the car to a stop.
1057:
959:
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372:
The pace car was a 1971 Chevy Camaro SS prepared by Roger Penske Chevrolet of Philadelphia. Driving the pace car was
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38:
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became the first driver to crash when he spun in turn two and damaged the left side of his car. Seven year-old,
170:
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to serve as presenting sponsor of the event, marking the first 500-mile race to have a corporate sponsor.
762:
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Lodge the following morning. Donohue's wife, Sue, collected the awards at the bruncheon on his behalf.
465:
803:
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238:
spectators at the Indianapolis 500 came from Pennsylvania than any other state other than Indiana.
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brought out the caution flag when he spun and lightly hit the wall in turn two. Under pit stops,
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Temperatures up to 78 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
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was the first driver on the track and made five slow laps before returning to the garage.
8:
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infield short track. Construction of the 2.5 mile speedway was completed in early 1971.
273:
383:
When the race began, Mark Donohue drove away from his competitors to a sizable lead.
185:
253:
A ribbon-cutting opening ceremony and practice was held on Saturday, June 19, 1971.
472:
346:
464:. Initial plans had called for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network with
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392:
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205: in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 3, 1971. Branded as the
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hit the wall in turn one. Through the middle stages of the race, Bobby Unser,
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for 38 laps and Donohue averaged 138.649 mph over the 500 miles.
421:
254:
181:
264:, had the fastest speed at over 169 mph. Indianapolis runner-up,
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373:
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sang the national anthem. Indianapolis Motor Speedway track-owner,
261:
479:
called the race. Duane Dow and Jim Wilson reported from the pits.
310:
210:
47:
201:, the inaugural running of the event, was held at the
567:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. August 26, 1965. p. 6.
141:
664:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. June 27, 1971. p. 53.
611:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. June 24, 1971. p. 16.
948:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 6, 1971. p. 23.
930:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 6, 1971. p. 23.
912:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 5, 1971. p. 18.
894:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 4, 1971. p. 39.
848:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 4, 1971. p. 42.
769:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 8, 1971. p. 10.
752:
1971 Schaefer 500 Telecast: Century Telesports, July 10, 1971
742:. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. July 4, 1971. p. 34.
329:, was track announcer at Pocono. Notable attendees included
260:
In practice on Tuesday, June 22, Indianapolis 500 champion,
549:. (Maryland). Associated Press. June 27, 1971. p. 236.
632:. (New York). Associated Press. June 24, 1971. p. 23.
209:
for sponsorship reasons, the race is notable as the first
1011:
687:. (Indiana). Associated Press. July 5, 1971. p. 22.
241:
In December 1970, the track reached an agreement with
924:"Donohue Collets $ 88,924 for his Pocono 500 Victory"
456:
Live radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the
1034:
942:"No Woodstock at Pocono, and Police Were Happy"
518:"'50 YEARS AGO TODAY: TEAM PENSKE'S FIRST WIN'"
644:"Race Results Mark Donohue - Old Racing Cars"
325:Indianapolis Motor Speedway track announcer,
1063:Motorsport competitions in the United States
298:Strongly opposed to this bunch up rule was
781:"Sam Hanks to Drive Schaefer 500 Pace Car"
510:
836:
834:
675:
673:
671:
580:"Malloy Predicts Demanding Schaefer 500"
309:
268:, was second fastest at 165.7 mph.
819:
817:
815:
813:
746:
736:"Allen High's Band Scores in Prize Job"
620:
618:
577:
537:
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699:"Pocono Raceway Takes on Carnival Air"
417:, and Joe Leonard took turns leading.
986:"Radio Network Plan for Schaefer 500"
831:
728:
668:
496:"1971 Pocono 500 weather information"
349:, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner
1012:"Notes: Pocono 500 Will Be Telecast"
888:"Donohue Nips Leonard in Pocono 500"
842:"Mark 1 1/2 Seconds Ahead at Finish"
810:
615:
561:"Drawing of Proposed Pocono Raceway"
528:
605:"McLarens Snap Pocono Speed Record"
369:gave the command to start engines.
13:
14:
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860:"Race Results - Racing-Reference"
825:"Race Results - Racing-Reference"
39:1971 USAC Championship Car season
802:
720:
578:Pierson, Chuck (June 21, 1971).
317:won the inaugural Pocono 500 in
46:
20:
1004:
978:
960:"Squier, Network to be Honored"
952:
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916:
898:
880:
866:
852:
773:
763:"Pocono 500 The Call Was There"
755:
691:
681:"Donohue Makes His Pocono Mark"
451:
1053:1971 in sports in Pennsylvania
650:
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597:
571:
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488:
433:On lap 191, the car driven by
1:
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224:
658:"Mark Donohue Hot at Pocono"
7:
1048:1971 in American motorsport
906:"Mark Donohue Wins Another"
248:
171:Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
10:
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1058:Motorsport in Pennsylvania
787:. June 6, 1971. p. 18
705:. July 2, 1971. p. 45
543:"Rival For the Indy 500?"
217:and the first for driver
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86:Permanent racing facility
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1016:Philadelphia Daily News
402:With 50 laps complete,
353:, two-time Indy winner
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77:Long Pond, Pennsylvania
630:Kingston Daily Freeman
322:
964:Burlington Free Press
626:"Donohue Smiling Now"
378:1957 Indianapolis 500
343:Governor Milton Shapp
313:
1043:IndyCar Series races
458:Motor Racing Network
992:. February 23, 1971
874:"1971 Schaefer 500"
785:Scrantonian Tribune
98:500 mi / 804.672 km
27:
345:, former Governor
323:
274:Billy Vukovich III
233:In February 1970,
18:
685:Indianapolis News
584:The Pocono Record
468:to air the race.
207:1971 Schaefer 500
192:
191:
186:A. J. Foyt Racing
88:2.5 mi / 4.023 km
67:1971 Schaefer 500
58:July 3, 1971
41:
37:7th round of the
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473:Charlie Brockman
376:, winner of the
361:. Grand marshal
347:William Scranton
270:Wally Dallenbach
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966:. June 12, 1971
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393:Steve Krisiloff
385:Cale Yarborough
341:, Pennsylvania
335:Walter Cronkite
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199:1971 Pocono 500
195:
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26:1971 Pocono 500
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1018:. July 8, 1971
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797:Newspapers.com
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715:Newspapers.com
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498:. Wunderground
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460:, anchored by
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435:Sammy Sessions
404:Donnie Allison
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203:Pocono Raceway
194:Motor car race
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910:Reading Eagle
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547:Baltimore Sun
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477:Jim Karvellas
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243:Schaefer Beer
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112:Pole position
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63:Official name
61:
57:
53:
49:
44:
40:
34:
29:
23:
16:
1020:. Retrieved
1015:
1006:
996:November 14,
994:. Retrieved
989:
980:
970:November 14,
968:. Retrieved
963:
954:
946:Morning Call
945:
936:
928:Morning Call
927:
918:
909:
900:
891:
882:
868:
854:
845:
795:– via
791:November 24,
789:. Retrieved
784:
775:
766:
757:
748:
740:Morning Call
739:
730:
713:– via
709:November 24,
707:. Retrieved
703:Morning Call
702:
693:
684:
661:
652:
638:
629:
608:
599:
587:. Retrieved
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573:
564:
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546:
521:
512:
500:. Retrieved
490:
470:
455:
452:Broadcasting
447:
443:
440:
432:
429:
426:
422:Dick Simon's
420:On lap 165,
419:
408:
401:
390:
382:
371:
363:Enzo Stuarti
359:Linda Vaughn
339:Evel Knievel
327:Tom Carnegie
324:
315:Mark Donohue
300:Roger Penske
297:
293:
285:
281:
278:
266:Peter Revson
259:
252:
240:
232:
228:
219:Mark Donohue
206:
198:
196:
152:Mark Donohue
122:Mark Donohue
31:Race details
15:
466:Sid Collins
411:John Mahler
409:At lap 96,
397:Joe Leonard
391:On lap 43,
367:Tony Hulman
355:Rodger Ward
351:Louis Meyer
331:Paul Newman
288:Bobby Unser
215:Team Penske
167:Joe Leonard
156:Team Penske
136:172.393 mph
126:Team Penske
1037:Categories
483:References
462:Ken Squier
255:Jim Malloy
225:Background
182:A. J. Foyt
502:April 24,
415:A.J. Foyt
374:Sam Hanks
197:The
767:The Call
262:Al Unser
249:Pre-race
213:win for
96:200 laps
93:Distance
73:Location
522:IndyCar
211:IndyCar
184: (
169: (
154: (
124: (
103:Weather
1022:May 8,
589:May 8,
357:, and
163:Second
142:Podium
118:Driver
83:Course
178:Third
148:First
1024:2023
998:2023
972:2023
793:2023
711:2023
591:2023
504:2023
475:and
319:1971
306:Race
235:USAC
133:Time
55:Date
380:.
1039::
1014:.
988:.
962:.
944:.
926:.
908:.
890:.
844:.
833:^
812:^
783:.
765:.
738:.
701:.
683:.
670:^
660:.
628:.
617:^
607:.
582:.
563:.
545:.
530:^
520:.
337:,
333:,
221:.
1026:.
1000:.
974:.
876:.
862:.
827:.
799:.
717:.
646:.
593:.
524:.
506:.
321:.
188:)
173:)
158:)
128:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
