On the same weekend, the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was being held, so several of the regular Formula One drivers were absent from this race, including Chris Amon, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Henri Pescarolo, Pedro Rodríguez and Jo Siffert.

There were other absentees: Jackie Stewart and Denny Hulme were taking part in the Labatt's 200 Can-Am race, and Emerson Fittipaldi was recovering from a road accident.

Of the regular Formula One teams, Matra were at Le Mans, Brabham were still repairing Graham Hill's car after an accident in Monaco, and Tyrrell elected not to take part.

Scuderia Ferrari had entered a car for Mario Andretti, but had originally been scheduled for a USAC Championship Trail race at Langhorne Speedway that was cancelled ten days prior and was recovering from burns from a methanol fire at the Rex Mays 150 at The Milwaukee Mile.

As a tribute to Rindt, pole position on the grid was left vacant, leaving polesitter Ickx alone on the front row, taking the second slot.