The 17th U.S. Nationals will forever be best remembered for Steve Carbone's burndown-initiated upset of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits in the Top Fuel final and Funny Car winner Ed "the Ace" McCulloch's first win of his career and first of six at the U.S. Nationals. The one-day rain-delayed race also proved memorable in several other eliminators.

Garlits, who had been virtually unbeatable all year with his revolutionary rear-engine dragster, qualified on the pole with a 6.21, far below the national record of 6.51. Carbone qualified his beautiful black front-engine dragster No. 2 at a distant 6.39 at 231.36 mph. The Colello-Cromwell-Desimone big-block Chevy-powered digger anchored the record-quick 32-car field with a 6.63.

Carbone advanced to the final thanks to three opponent red-lights from Chuck Kurzawa, Kenny Safford, and Gary Cochran and a winning 6.39 against Tom Kaiser in round two. Garlits defeated Al Friedman (6.28 to 6.65), John Wiebe (6.32 to 6.46 at 232.55 mph, top speed of the event), Arnie Behling (6.25 to 6.44), and Carl Olson, who shut off to a 7.29 as Garlits streaked to a 6.31.

Steve Carbone, far lane, outsmarted Don Garlits and his all-conquering new rear-engine Top Fuel dragster in the final. Carbone psyched a quicker "Big Daddy" into a staging standoff and won when Garlits spun the tires.

Carbone told Garlits he would not stage first. Inexplicably, despite his performance advantage, Garlits didn't want to be first in the beams, either. That gave Carbone the edge, and after both sat for about two minutes with the pre-stage lights on, Garlits finally moved in first. Garlits spun the tires at the start, and both cars fell off their earlier performances, but Carbone hooked up for the upset 6.48 to 6.65 win after both ran 229.00 mph.

Connie Kalitta destroyed his new rear-engine Top Fuel dragster in qualifying when he went over the guardrail at the finish line and hit the Marathon win light.

Two days later, he qualified his Funny Car and advanced to the semifinals Tuesday while also helping girlfriend, Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, race her Funny Car.

McCulloch burst onto the drag racing scene with his win in Funny Car. He qualified No. 2 with a 6.59 behind Henry Harrison, who clocked a 6.54 with Mickey Thompson's Mustang.

En route to racing an equally unknown 21-year-old Dale Pulde in the final, McCulloch drove the Whipple & McCulloch car to wins over Sammy Miller (6.67 to 7.24), Jim Dunn (6.64 to 7.19), and Kalitta (6.69 to 7.21).

Pulde, driving Thompson's second car, a Pinto, got past an engine-blowing Pat Foster, a red-lighting Dick Rosberg, and Harrison, who blew the clutch. Underdog Pulde then had the engine in his car explode in the final to give McCulloch the win, 6.64 at 223.22 mph.

This 1971 "Big Go" also featured the last Top Gas eliminator to be held at the U.S. Nationals. Ray Motes, at the wheel of the Motes & Williams twin-Hemi-powered rail, took home the hardware and just missed becoming the first Top Gas competitor in the sixes.

Motes qualified No. 1 with a 7.07. Dale Funk, at the wheel of the English, Frakes, Funk dragster, ran top speed with a 209.79-mph blast in qualifying No. 3 with a 7.12. Jim Swedberg buttoned up the field with a No. 16 7.57 effort. Walt Rhoades set low e.t. with a 7.05 in John Peters' Freight Train entry, which ran the number in an upset loss to Jon Hansen in round one after qualifying No. 2.

Motes defeated Mike Kosky (7.06 to 7.52), a fouling Jim Bucher, and Funk (7.27 to 7.41). In the final against Don Cain in the Pusch & Cain dragster, it was two against one. Cain was driving one of the few remaining single-engine dragsters and was at a disadvantage. Having run in the 7.4s in the previous rounds, Cain tried to cut a light against Motes and fouled while Motes motored to a 7.25.

Pro Stock winner Ronnie Sox withstood the strongest assault on his winning ways in 1971 to win for the fifth time in six events. The driver of the factory-backed Sox & Martin Barracuda outlasted the quicker Challengers of the late Don Carlton, who qualified No. 1 with a 9.55, and the independent entry of Billy "the Kid" Stepp, which was driven by Stu McDade to a No. 2 9.56. The Sox & Martin team, which qualified No. 3 with a 9.63, protested McDade's time, but his car passed a subsequent tech inspection. Thirty of the 32 qualifiers were in the nines, with Max Hurley anchoring the field with a 10.008.

Ronnie Sox earned one of the finest Pro Stock wins of his career when he outran a previously quicker Stu McDade, driving Billy "the Kid" Stepp's car, in the final by two-thousandths.

Sox defeated Gene Graham (9.60 to 9.99), Carmen Rotunda (9.64 to 9.91), a transmission-breaking John Petrie with a 9.65, and Carlton. A handicap was mistakenly entered into the Tree for Sox's race with Carlton. Carlton red-lighted and broke the clutch on the run and was unable to repair it in time for the rerun. Sox passed into the final to face McDade, who had been winning with 9.55s, with low e.t. of the event.

In the final, the Sox & Martin team — headed by the team's late engine builder, Jake King — found a 9.55 with its Hemi-powered Barracuda. Sox nipped the man he had protested days before by two-thousandths, 9.586 to 9.588.

Tom Trisch won Competition with his AA/Altered, defeating Richard Rosen and his B/Dragster in the final, with a record 8.15 to Rosen's record 8.13.

Bob Riffle drove the Rod Shop B/MP Demon to the Modified win against Bill Spears' H/Gas '70 Opel. Spears' mid-11-second Opel broke in the final, and Riffle, who had turned over the driving of the Rod Shop's Pro Stock car to Mike Fons, won with an easy 10.99 from his mid-10-second car.

Greg Charney won Super Stock with his '65 Dodge against Terry Earwood and his Challenger, which had a broken rocker arm.

As did McCulloch, future Stock great Al Corda won his first NHRA national event here, defeating Ted Flack in the final, and as in the Super Stock final, both cars were Mopars.

Joe Smith won the Fuel Motorcycle final over teammate Jim Cook. Both were riding single-engine Harley-Davidsons, and Smith won with an 8.94 at 165.74 mph to Cook's 9.02 at 167.59 mph.