1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
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The 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on Sunday February 14 and ended on Sunday November 20. Richard Petty was the champion for this Winston Cup season. After 20 years of being named the NASCAR Grand National Series, R. J. Reynolds first became the primary sponsor in a decade where the growing anti-tobacco movement banned its advertisement on television and motorsports was the ideal place to place their advertisements. Through NASCAR, Winston merchandise was unveiled to live viewers of the races (since they were not allowed to advertise to a televised audience). This kind of merchandise would also be given out at stores that sold cigarettes in subsequent years. Race car drivers were encouraged to smoke cigarettes (when not racing) until the mid-2000s brought in strict drug testing policies in addition to a smoking cessation program by Nicorette, a GlaxoSmithKline brand (Goody's Headache Powders, a long-time NASCAR sponsor, is a GSK brand; as of 2011, GSK sponsors both Martinsville Speedway Sprint Cup races).

Season recap

Date	Event	Circuit	Winner
January 10	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway	Ray Elder
February 11	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway	Pete Hamilton
			David Pearson
February 14	Daytona 500		Richard Petty
February 28	Miller High Life 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	A.J. Foyt
March 7	Richmond 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway	Richard Petty
March 14	Carolina 500	North Carolina Speedway	Richard Petty
March 21	Hickory 276	Hickory Motor Speedway	Richard Petty
March 28	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway	David Pearson
April 4	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway	A.J. Foyt
April 8	Columbia 200	Columbia Speedway	Richard Petty
April 10	Greenville 200	Greenville-Pickens Speedway	Bobby Isaac ;
April 15	Maryville 200	Smoky Mountain Raceway	Richard Petty
April 18	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Richard Petty
April 25	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway	Richard Petty
May 2	Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway	Buddy Baker
May 9	Halifax County 100	South Boston Speedway	Benny Parsons
May 16	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway	Donnie Allison
May 21	Asheville 300	New Asheville Speedway	Richard Petty
May 23	Kingsport 300	Kingsport Speedway	Bobby Isaac
May 30	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
June 6	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	Bobby Allison
June 13	Motor State 400	Michigan International Speedway	Bobby Allison
June 20	Winston Golden State 400	Riverside International Raceway	Bobby Allison
June 23	Space City 300	Meyer Speedway	Bobby Allison
June 26	Pickens 200	Greenville-Pickens Speedway	Richard Petty
July 4	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway	Bobby Isaac
July 11	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway	Charlie Glotzbach
July 14	Albany-Saratoga 250	Albany-Saratoga Speedway	Richard Petty
July 15	Islip 250	Islip Speedway	Richard Petty
July 18	Northern 300	Trenton Speedway	Richard Petty
July 24	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway	Richard Petty
August 1	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway	Richard Petty
August 6	Myers Brothers 250	Bowman Gray Stadium	Richard Petty (Combined race)
August 8	West Virginia 500	International Raceway Park, Ona, WV	Richard Petty
August 15	Yankee 400	Michigan International Speedway	Bobby Allison
August 22	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
August 27	Sandlapper 200	Columbia Speedway	Richard Petty
August 28	Buddy Shuman 276	Hickory Motor Speedway	Elmo Langley (combined race)
September 6	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	Bobby Allison
September 26	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway	Bobby Isaac
October 10	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
October 17	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	Richard Petty
October 24	American 500	North Carolina Speedway	Richard Petty
November 7	Georgia 500	Middle Georgia Raceway	Bobby Allison
November 14	Capital City 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway	Richard Petty
November 21	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Charlie Glotzbach (Combined race)
December 12	Texas 500	Texas World Speedway	Richard Petty

Note: Some races were combined races for Grand American and Grand National cars. Races marked Combined Races were won by Grand American cars. The driver who finished first among Grand National cars is listed.

Notable Races

Motor Trend 500

The 1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first official race in NASCAR's Winston Cup era. Drivers had to contend with 191 laps on a 2.620 mile road course at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Ray Elder won the race.

1. 96- Ray Elder
2. 12- Bobby Allison
3. 72- Benny Parsons
4. 71- Bobby Isaac
5. 48- James Hylton
6. 39- Friday Hassler
7. 32- Kevin Terris
8. 26- Carl Joiner
9. 19- Henley Gray
10. 24- Cecil Gordon

Daytona 500

The 12th annual Daytona 500 was run on February 14 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. A.J. Foyt won the pole and Richard Petty would win his third Daytona 500.

Top Ten Results

1. 43- Richard Petty
2. 11- Buddy Baker
3. 21- A.J. Foyt
4. 17- David Pearson (1 lap behind)
5. 99- Fred Lorenzen (1 lap behind)
6. 31- Jim Vandiver (2 laps behind)
7. 22- Dick Brooks (2 laps behind)
8. 20- Jim Hurtubise (3 laps behind)
9. 48- James Hylton (3 laps behind)
10. 71- Bobby Isaac (3 laps behind)

Miller High Life 500

The Miller High Life 500 was run on February 28 at Ontario Motor Speedway. A.J. Foyt would win this race after more than three hours of racing (from the pole position).

1. 21- A.J. Foyt
2. 11- Buddy Baker
3. 43- Richard Petty
4. 71- Bobby Isaac
5. 22- Dick Brooks
6. 98- LeeRoy Yarbrough
7. 96- Ray Elder
8. 55- Tiny Lund
9. 72- Benny Parsons
10. 48- James Hylton

Greenville 200

The Greenville 200 was the first live flag-to-flag telecast of a NASCAR race. The race was run on Saturday, April 10 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and was carried live on ABC with Jim McKay, Chris Economaki and Ken Squier. Bobby Isaac won the race.

1. 71- Bobby Isaac, 1970 Dodge Charger
2. 17- David Pearson (2 laps behind), 1970 Ford Purolator
3. 22- Dick Brooks (2 laps behind), 1969 Dodge Charger
4. 2- Dave Marcis (2 laps behind), 1969 Dodge Charger
5. 72- Benny Parsons (2 laps behind), 1969 Ford
6. 48- James Hylton (4 laps behind), 1971 Ford
7. 43- Richard Petty (4 laps behind), 1970 Plymouth Road Runner
8. 39- Friday Hassler (5 laps behind), 1969 Chevrolet
9. 06- Neil Castles (5 laps behind), 1969 Dodge Charger
10. 20- Elmo Langley (7 laps behind), 1970 Mercury

Southern 500

The Rebel 400 was run on May 2 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Donnie Allison won the pole and Buddy Baker would win his third Rebel 400.

1. 11- Buddy Baker
2. 22- Dick Brooks
3. 2- Dave Marcis
4. 21- Donnie Allison
5. 31- Jim Vandiver
6. 49- G. C. Spencer
7. 70- J. D. McDuffie
8. 39- Friday Hassler
9. 76- Ben Arnold
10. 64- Elmo Langley

Winston 500

The Winston 500 was run on May 16 at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama. Donnie Allison won the pole and won the race. He defeated Bobby by some seconds.

1. 21- Donnie Allison
2. 12- Bobby Allison
3. 11- Buddy Baker
4. 6- Pete Hamilton (1 lap behind)
5. 99- Fred Lorenzen (1 lap behind)
6. 31- Jim Vandiver (2 laps behind)
7. 48- James Hylton (3 laps behind)
8. 90- Bill Dennis (5 laps behind)
9. 71- Dave Marcis (7 laps behind)
10. 68- Larry Baumel (10 laps behind)

World 600

The World 600 was run on May 30 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, South Carolina. Charlie Glotzbach won the pole and Bobby Allison would win the 1971 World 600 (defeating his brother).

1. 12- Bobby Allison
2. 21- Donnie Allison
3. 6- Pete Hamilton (1 lap behind)
4. 43- Richard Petty (2 laps behind)
5. 99- Fred Lorenzen (5 laps behind)
6. 11- Buddy Baker (6 laps behind)
7. 72- Benny Parsons (8 laps behind)
8. 39- Friday Hassler (9 laps behind)
9. 2- Dave Marcis (10 laps behind)
10. 22- Dick Brooks (10 laps behind)

Myers Brothers 250

The 1971 Myers Brothers 250 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 6, 1971, at Bowman Gray Stadium in the American community of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Due to the reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the "minor league" NASCAR Grand American Series.

As Bobby Allison was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit in that series, but was credited with a Grand American Series ("pony" cars) win.

1. Bobby Allison
2. Richard Petty
3. Jim Paschal†
4. Buck Baker†
5. Dave Marcis
6. Tiny Lund†
7. Wayne Andrews
8. Jabe Thomas
9. David Ray Boggs
10. Walter Ballard

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Yankee 400

The Yankee 400 was run on August 15 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Pete Hamilton won the pole and Bobby Allison would win the 1971 Yankee 400.

1. 12- Bobby Allison
2. 43- Richard Petty
3. 11- Buddy Baker
4. 60- Maynard Troyer
5. 18- Joe Frasson
6. 24- Cecil Gordon
7. 88- Ron Keselowski
8. 48- James Hylton
9. 25- Jabe Thomas
10. 06- Neil Castles

Delaware 500

The 1971 Delaware 500 is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on October 17, 1971. Richard Petty defeated Charlie Glotzbach by more than one lap in front of eighteen thousand people.

1. 43- Richard Petty
2. 98- Charlie Glotzbach
3. 71- Bobby Isaac
4. 12- Bobby Allison
5. 90- Bill Dennis
6. 57- David Ray Boggs
7. 91- Richard D. Brown
8. 64- Elmo Langley
9. 30- Walter Ballard
10. 48- James Hylton

Final Point Standings

1. Richard Petty 4435
2. James Hylton 4071
3. Cecil Gordon 3677
4. Bobby Allison 3636
5. Elmo Langley 3356
6. Jabe Thomas 3200
7. Bill Champion 3058
8. Frank Warren 2886
9. J.D. McDuffie 2862
10. Walter Ballard 2633

Other information

• This was the first season where NASCAR's premier racing series was called the Winston Cup. All previous season were known as either Grand National or Strictly Stock.
• 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.

References

• 1971 Greenville 200
• 1971 Rebel 400 (Archived 2009-07-21)
• 1971 World 600
• 1971 Winston 500 (Archived 2009-08-17)
• 1971 Motor Trend 500
• 1971 Yankee 400
• 1971 Miller High Life 500
• NASCAR Smoking Cessation Program