The 1971 USAC National Dirt Car Championship was the first season of the newly formed USAC National Dirt Car Championship.
[1] The existing USAC National Championship was a mixture of road courses, hill climbs and paved or dirt oval races.
For the 1971 season this championship switched exclusively to paved ovals.
The cars' construction mainly stayed with front engines as established after World War II.
Overhead camshaft engines were restricted to 256.284 cubic inches (4.2 liters) and stock block engine could use up to 305.1 cubic inches (5.0 liters).