1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on January 10 and ended on 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 2023, GSK sponsors both the Truck series race, and the spring Cup race at Martinsville Speedway).

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
February 11	125 Mile Qualifying Races		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 400	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	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	Bobby Allison
August 8	West Virginia 500	International Raceway Park	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.

96- Ray Elder
12- Bobby Allison
72- Benny Parsons (2 laps behind)
71- Bobby Isaac (2 laps behind)
48- James Hylton (6 laps behind)
39- Friday Hassler (7 laps behind)
32- Kevin Terris (7 laps behind)
26- Carl Joiner (22 laps behind)
19- Henley Gray (22 laps behind)
24- Cecil Gordon (24 laps behind)

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

43- Richard Petty
11- Buddy Baker
21- A. J. Foyt
17- David Pearson (1 lap behind)
99- Fred Lorenzen (1 lap behind)
31- Jim Vandiver (2 laps behind)
22- Dick Brooks (2 laps behind)
20- Jim Hurtubise (3 laps behind)
48- James Hylton (3 laps behind)
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).

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.

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

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 Rebel 400.

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.

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

12- Bobby Allison
21- Donnie Allison
6- Pete Hamilton (1 lap behind)
43- Richard Petty (2 laps behind)
99- Fred Lorenzen (5 laps behind)
11- Buddy Baker (6 laps behind)
72- Benny Parsons (8 laps behind)
39- Friday Hassler (9 laps behind)
2- Dave Marcis (10 laps behind)
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. Richard Petty, who finished second in a Grand National car, was never given credit for the class win. Under current rules used in various combination races among cars in NASCAR series, Petty would be credited with a series win.

49-Bobby Allison
43-Richard Petty
14-Jim Paschal
87-Buck Baker
11-Dave Marcis
55-Tiny Lund
15-Wayne Andrews
25-Jabe Thomas
86-David Ray Boggs
30-Walter Ballard

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.

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.

Final Point Standings

Other information

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

References

1971 Greenville 200
1971 Rebel 400( Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine 2009-07-21)
1971 World 600
1971 Winston 500( Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine 2009-08-17)
1971 Motor Trend 500
1971 Yankee 400
1971 Miller High Life 500
NASCAR Smoking Cessation Program