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 | Daytona International Speedway | 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 Motor Speedway | David Pearson |
April 4 | Atlanta 500 | Atlanta International Raceway | A.J. Foyt |
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 | Talladega Superspeedway | 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 Motor 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 Vriginia 500 | International Raceway Park, Ona, WV | Richard Petty |
August 15 | Yankee 400 | Michigan International Speedway | Bobby Allison |
August 22 | Talladega 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | 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[]
- Main article: 1971 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.
- Ray Elder
- Bobby Allison
- Benny Parsons
- Bobby Isaac
- James Hylton
- Friday Hassler
- Kevin Terris
- Carl Joiner
- Henley Gray
- Cecil Gordon
Daytona 500[]
- Main article: 1971 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
- Richard Petty
- Buddy Baker
- A.J. Foyt
- David Pearson (1 lap behind)
- Fred Lorenzen (1 lap behind)
- Jim Vandiver (2 laps behind)
- Dick Brooks (2 laps behind)
- Jim Hurtubise (3 laps behind)
- James Hylton (3 laps behind)
- Bobby Isaac (3 laps behind)
Miller High Life 500[]
- Main article: 1971 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).
- A.J. Foyt
- Buddy Baker
- Richard Petty
- Bobby Isaac
- Dick Brooks
- LeeRoy Yarbrough
- Ray Elder
- Tiny Lund
- Benny Parsons
- James Hylton
Greenville 200[]
The Greenville 200 was the first live flag-to-flag telecast of a NASCAR race. The race was carried live on ABC with Jim McKay, Chris Economacki and Ken Squier. Bobby Isaac won the race.
Rebel 400[]
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 Daytona 500.
- Buddy Baker
- Dick Brooks
- Dave Marcus
- Donnie Allison
- Jim Vandiver
- G. C. Spencer
- J. D. McDuffie
- Friday Hassler
- Ben Arnold
- 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.
- Donnie Allison
- Bobby Allison
- Buddy Baker
- Pete Hamilton (1 lap behind)
- Fred Lorenzen (1 lap behind)
- Jim Vandiver (2 laps behind)
- James Hylton (3 laps behind)
- Bill Dennis (5 laps behind)
- Dave Marcis (7 laps behind)
- Larry Baumel (10 laps behind)
World 600[]
The World 600 was run on May 30 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, South Carolina. Charlie Glotzbach won the pole and Bobby Allison would win the 1971 World 600.
- Bobby Allison
- Donnie Allison
- Pete Hamilton (1 lap behind)
- Richard Petty (2 laps behind)
- Fred Lorenzen (5 laps behind)
- Buddy Baker (6 laps behind)
- Benny Parsons (8 laps behind)
- Friday Hassler (9 laps behind)
- Dave Marcis (10 laps behind)
- Dick Brooks (10 laps behind)
Yankee 400[]
- Main article: 1971 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.
- Bobby Allison
- Richard Petty
- Buddy Baker
- Maynard Troyer
- Joe Frasson
- Cecil Gordon
- Ron Keselowski
- James Hylton
- Jabe Thomas
- Neil Castles
Delaware 500[]
- Main article: 1971 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.
- Richard Petty
- Charlie Glotzbach
- Bobby Isaac
- Bobby Allison
- Bill Dennis
- David Ray Boggs
- Richard D. Brown
- Elmo Langley
- Walter Ballard
- James Hylton
Final Point Standings[]
- Richard Petty 4435
- James Hylton 4071
- Cecil Gordon 3677
- Bobby Allison 3636
- Elmo Langley 3356
- Jabe Thomas 3200
- Bill Champion 3058
- Frank Warren 2886
- J.D. McDuffie 2862
- 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 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
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