1971 West Virginia 500

The 1971 West Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 8, 1971, at International Raceway Park in Ona, West Virginia.[2][3]

1971 West Virginia 500
Race details
Race 35 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date August 8, 1971 (1971-08-08)
Official name West Virginia 500
Location International Raceway Park, Ona, West Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.455 mi (0.732 km)
Distance 500 laps, 227.5 mi (366.1 km)
Weather Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 4.1 miles per hour (6.6 km/h)[1]
Average speed 83.805 miles per hour (134.871 km/h)
Attendance 10,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Melvin Joseph
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 279
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

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 any more.

Race report

Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning 0.455 miles (0.732 km).[2][3] The total time of the race was two hours and fifty-seven minutes.[2] The average speed of the race was 83.805 miles per hour (134.871 km/h) while the qualifying speed for the pole position was 84.053 miles per hour (135.270 km/h).[2] Ten thousand people would attend the live race to see Richard Petty defeat Bobby Allison by more than two laps.[2][4] It was quite the battle between Petty and Allison during the course of the race. Petty beat on Allison all night and at one point pinned Allison against the wall so hard that both cars came to a stop.[2][4] There was a grid of 32 competitors;[2] only 14 of them were counted as finishing the race.[5]

Notable crew chiefs to participate in this race were Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, and Lee Gordon.[6]

Jerry Churchill decided to quit the race after the first lap; giving him a meager $300 paycheck ($1,894 in current US dollars).[2][3][4] Bill Shirey would also quit on lap 31; earning the same amount that Churchill did.[2][3] Bill Seifert would leave the race on lap 187 due to a legitimate illness brought on by dehydration in the West Virginia summertime heat.[2][3]

No replacement was found and he brought home $330 from his hard day of racing ($2,083 in today's American dollars).[2][3]

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 49Bobby Allison'70 Mustang
2 43Richard Petty'71 Plymouth
3 64Elmo Langley'71 Ford
4 14Jim Paschal'70 Javelin
5 48James Hylton'71 Ford
6 55Tiny Lund'70 Camaro
7 33Joe Dean Huss'69 Camaro
8 11Junior Spencer'69 Camaro
9 87Buck Baker'71 Firebird
10 06Neil Castles'70 Dodge
11 10Bill Champion'70 Ford
12 86David Ray Boggs'71 Firebird
13 45Bill Seifert'69 Ford
14 24Cecil Gordon'69 Mercury
15 15Wayne Andrews'71 Mustang
16 26Earl Brooks'69 Ford
17 41Gary Myers'70 Mustang
18 19Henley Gray'69 Ford
19 94Al Straub'71 Mustang
20 5Pee Wee Wentz'69 Camaro
21 78Paul Tyler'69 Camaro
22 7Jimmy Vaughn'69 Camaro
23 3Charlie Glotzbach'71 Chevrolet
24 74Bill Shirey'69 Plymouth
25 30Walter Ballard'71 Ford
26 25Jabe Thomas'70 Plymouth
27 34Wendell Scott'69 Ford
28 70Wendell Scott'69 Mercury
29 47Raymond Williams'71 Ford
30 2Randy Hutchinson'71 Camaro

Finishing order
  1. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  2. Bobby Allison (No. 49)
  3. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  4. Tiny Lund† (No. 55)
  5. Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
  6. Jim Paschal*† (No. 14)
  7. Gary Myers (No. 41)
  8. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
  9. Bill Champion† (No. 10)
  10. Jabe Thomas† (No. 25)
  11. Earl Brooks† (No. 26)
  12. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  13. Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
  14. David Ray Boggs (No. 86)
  15. Joe Dean Huss (No. 33)
  16. Buck Baker*† (No. 87)
  17. Randy Hutchinson* (No. 2)
  18. Neil Castles* (No. 06)
  19. Jimmy Vaughn* (No. 7)
  20. John Sears*† (No. 4)
  21. Gordon Birkett* (No. 50)
  22. Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
  23. Wayne Andrews* (No. 15)
  24. Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
  25. Elmo Langley*† (No. 64)
  26. Junior Spencer* (No. 11)
  27. Charlie Glotzbach* (No. 3)
  28. Pee Wee Wentz* (No. 5)
  29. Raymond Williams* (No. 47)
  30. Al Straub* (No. 94)
  31. Frank Warren* (No. 79)
  32. Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
  33. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
  34. Paul Tyler* (No. 78)
  35. Jerry Churchill*† (No. 73)

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

  • Start of race: Bobby Allison lead the starting grid as the green flag was waved.
  • Lap 1: Jerry Churchill chose to quit the race.
  • Lap 11: Paul Tyler's engine stopped working properly.
  • Lap 30: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 31: Bill Shirey chose to quit the race.
  • Lap 53: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 55: Tiny Lund took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 75: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Tiny Lund.
  • Lap 100: Pee Wee Wentz' engine stopped working properly.
  • Lap 112: Ignition problems took Junior Spencer out of the race.
  • Lap 141: Ignition problems took Elmo Langley out of the race.
  • Lap 148: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 187: A sudden medical issue forced Bill Seifert out of the event prematurely.
  • Lap 206: Wayne Andrews managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 214: Carburetor problems forced Ed Negre into a 22nd-place finish.
  • Lap 224: Ignition problems took John Sears out of the race.
  • Lap 234: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 298: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 300: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 312: Neil Castles' engine stopped working properly.
  • Lap 316: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 349: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 362: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 413: Buck Baker's engine stopped working properly.
  • Lap 420: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 424: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 477: Jim Paschal's engine stopped working properly.
  • Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event.

References
  1. "1971 West Virginia 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. "1971 West Virginia 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  3. "1971 West Virginia 500 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  4. "1971 West Virginia 500 information (third reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  5. "Petty Laps Allison To Win West Virginia 500". West Virginia Culture. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  6. "1971 West Virginia 500 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
Preceded by
1971 Myers Brothers 250		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971		 Succeeded by
1971 Yankee 400
Preceded by
1971 Dixie 500		 Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984		 Succeeded by
1971 Sandlapper 200
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