1971 Maryville 200
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| Date | April 15, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Maryville 200 | ||
| Location | Smoky Mountain Raceway, Maryville, Tennessee | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.520 mi (0.836 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 104 mi (167.3 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures reaching a maximum of 70 °F (21 °C); wind speed were recorded up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 88.697 miles per hour (142.744 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Friday Hassler | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 134 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Maryville 200 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that took place on April 15, 1971, at Smoky Mountain Raceway[2] in the American community of Maryville, Tennessee.[3][4]
Summary
Four thousand and two hundred fans would come out to see vehicles average a speed of 88.697 miles per hour (142.744 km/h) on a paved oval track.[3][4] Richard Petty would defeat Benny Parsons by a time of eight seconds.[3] Friday Hassler received the pole position[2] with a speed of 91.464 miles per hour (147.197 km/h) while qualifying on a speedway spanning 0.520 miles (0.837 km).[3]
There was only one caution which lasted for three laps.[3][4] D. K. Ulrich would run his first Cup Series race here while E.J. Trivette would retire from NASCAR after this race. Smoky Mountain Raceway would close forever after this race due to the changes in the sport during the Winston Cup era that would modernize it. Abbreviation of the Cup Series schedule was the "order of the day" in the 1970s as the new sponsors wanted NASCAR to have a schedule that was structured closer to that of the National Football League.
Richard Petty would win $1,000[2][4] from winning the 125th race in his NASCAR Cup Series career (which would be the equivalent to $5,843.06 when adjusted for inflation).[3] The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
Timeline
- Start of race: Richard Petty started the race with the pole position
- Lap 3: D.K. Ulrich overheated his vehicle, causing him not to finish the race
- Lap 16: Bill Shirey's ignition developed problems, ruining his day on the track
- Lap 32: Ed Negre's vehicle spilled oil on the track, causing his participation in the race to prematurely end
- Lap 53: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Friday Hassler
- Lap 55: Wendell Scott overheated his vehicle, ending his weekend on the track prematurely
- Lap 78: John Sears quit the race for reasons unknown
- Lap 86: Robert Brown's engine started to act up, ending his day on the track
- Lap 99: Dave Marcis' steering became enough of an issue for him to leave the race
- Lap 124: Dick May ran out of gas, forcing him out of the event
- Lap 136: J.D. McDuffie had a terminal crash, forcing him to withdraw from the race
- Lap 140: Benny Parsons takes over the lead from Richard Petty
- Lap 143: Bill Seifert had a terminal crash, forcing him to withdraw from the race
- Lap 154: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Benny Parsons; Bill Hollar's fuel pump became problematic on this lap
- Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event
Finishing order
- 43-Richard Petty
- 72-Benny Parsons†
- 39-Friday Hassler†
- 64-Elmo Langley†
- 22-Dick Brooks†
- 48-James Hylton
- 38-Charlie Glotzbach
- 49-G.C. Spencer†
- 24-Cecil Gordon†
- 10-Bill Champion†
- 19-Henley Gray
- 30-Walter Ballard
- 25-Jabe Thomas
- 79-Frank Warren
- 7-Dean Dalton
- 28-Bill Hollar*†
- 70-Bill Seifert*
- 26-J.D. McDuffie*†
- 26-Earl Brooks*
- 67-Dick May*
- 2-Dave Marcis*
- 58-Robert Brown*
- 4-John Sears*†
- 34-Wendell Scott*†
- 56-E.J. Trivette*
- 06-Neil Castles*
- 8-Ed Negre*
- 74-Bill Shirey*
- 41-D. K. Ulrich*
- 02-Jimmy Crawford*†
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
References
- ↑ "1971 Maryville 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- 1 2 3 "1971 Maryville 200 information (third reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1971 Maryville 200 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- 1 2 3 4 "1971 Maryville 200 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
| Preceded by 1971 Greenville 200 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1971 |
Succeeded by 1971 Gwyn Staley 400 |
| Preceded by 1971 Columbia 200 |
Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984 |
Succeeded by 1971 Gwyn Staley 400 |