1971 Nashville 420
| Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 32 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 | |||
| Date | July 24, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Nashville 420 | ||
| Location | Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.596 mi (0.959 km) | ||
| Distance | 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 89.667 miles per hour (144.305 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 400 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Nashville 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on July 24, 1971, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
Background
[edit]Nashville Speedway was converted to a half-mile paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972.[citation needed]
Race report
[edit]It took two hours and forty-seven minutes to complete 420 laps of racing at a paved oval track spanning 0.596 miles (0.959 km).[2][4] Richard Petty qualified for the race with a pole position speed of 114.628 miles per hour (184.476 km/h) and won it with an average speed of 89.667 miles per hour (144.305 km/h).[2] He defeated James Hylton by more than four laps in his 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner machine.[2][3][4]
Dale Inman would be credited as the winning crew chief for this race.[5] Other crew chiefs that were important to the race were Vic Ballard and Lee Gordon.[6] Ten thousand people would watch two lead changes and four cautions for 46 laps.[2][3][4]
Earl Brooks would make his best career finish with a fourth-place performance; he experienced tire problems as the race progressed and was unable to lead a lap.[2][3][4] Brooks' team only had top 10s in 12% of its races, but 11% of their total top 10s came in this race.[2][3][4]
All 29 of these competitors were American-born males.[2] Other notable names include future car owner Richard Childress, Sterling Marlin's father Coo Coo, Elmo Langley, and Bobby Allison (one of the famous Allison brothers of NASCAR history).[2][3][4] The total purse for this racing event was $20,980 ($157,164 when adjusted for inflation).[7]
Richard Petty received $4,325 ($32,539 when adjusted for inflation) for his well-deserved victory while last-place finisher Dick May only received $215 ($1,618 when adjusted for inflation).[2][3]
Qualifying
[edit]| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Richard Petty | '70 Plymouth |
| 2 | 12 | Bobby Allison | '70 Dodge |
| 3 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | '69 Mercury |
| 4 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '71 Ford |
| 5 | 7 | Dean Dalton | '69 Ford |
| 6 | 8 | Ed Negre | '69 Ford |
| 7 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | '69 Mercury |
| 8 | 76 | Ben Arnold | '69 Ford |
| 9 | 72 | Benny Parsons | '70 Mercury |
| 10 | 48 | James Hylton | '70 Ford |
| 11 | 26 | Earl Brooks | '69 Ford |
| 12 | 05 | David Sisco | '70 Chevrolet |
| 13 | 10 | Bill Champion | '70 Ford |
| 14 | 38 | Wayne Smith | '69 Chevrolet |
| 15 | 58 | Robert Brown | '70 Chevrolet |
| 16 | 74 | Bill Shirey | '69 Plymouth |
| 17 | 40 | D.K. Ulrich | '70 Ford |
| 18 | 96 | Richard Childress | '70 Chevrolet |
| 19 | 23 | Jabe Thomas | '69 Plymouth |
| 20 | 41 | Ken Meisenhelder | '69 Chevrolet |
| 21 | 73 | Jerry Churchill | '69 Ford |
| 22 | 07 | Coo Coo Marlin | '69 Chevrolet |
| 23 | 67 | Dick May | '69 Ford |
| 24 | 79 | Frank Warren | '69 Dodge |
| 25 | 30 | Walter Ballard | '71 Ford |
| 26 | 34 | Wendell Scott | '69 Ford |
| 27 | 28 | Bill Hollar | '69 Ford |
| 28 | 25 | Bill Seifert | '70 Plymouth |
| 29 | 19 | Henley Gray | '69 Ford |
Finishing order
[edit]- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- James Hylton† (No. 48)
- Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
- Earl Brooks† (No. 26)
- J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
- Walter Ballard (No. 30)
- Jabe Thomas† (No. 23)
- Henley Gray (No. 19)
- Ben Arnold (No. 76)
- Bill Hollar† (No. 28)
- Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
- Ken Meisenhelder (No. 41)
- Dean Dalton* (No. 7)
- Jerry Churchill† (No. 73)
- Frank Warren (No. 79)
- Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
- Elmo Langley*† (No. 64)
- Bill Champion*† (No. 10)
- David Sisco*† (No. 05)
- Wendell Scott*† (No. 34)
- Richard Childress* (No. 96)
- Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
- Robert Brown* (No. 58)
- D.K. Ulrich* (No. 40)
- Coo Coo Marlin*† (No. 07)
- Wayne Smith* (No. 38)
- Bobby Allison* (No. 12)
- Bill Seifert* (No. 25)
- Dick May* (No. 67)
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
References
[edit]- ^ Weather information for the 1971 Nashville 420 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j 1971 Nashville 420 at Racing Reference
- ^ a b c d e f g 1971 Nashville 420 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
- ^ a b c d e f g 1971 Nashville 420 at Database Racing
- ^ 1971 Nashville 420 racing information at Race-Database
- ^ 1971 Nashville 420 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
- ^ Total prize purse at the 1971 Nashville 200 at Nashville 420