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Auto race held at Fairgrounds Speedway in 1971 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1971 Nashville 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on July 24, 1971, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 32 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
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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 |
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]
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]
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 |
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race