1971 West Virginia 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 35 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| Date | August 8, 1971 | ||
| 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 reaching a high of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds reaching a maximum 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 1971 West Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 8, 1971, at International Raceway Park (Ona, West Virginia).[2][3]
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.
Summary
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] There was a grid of 32 competitors.[2] Jerry Churchill decided to quit the race after the first lap; giving him a meager $300 paycheck ($1,755.88 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.[2][3]
No replacement was found and he brought home $330 from his hard day of racing ($1,931.46 in today's American dollars).[2][3]
Finishing order
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Bobby Allison (No. 49)
- James Hylton (No. 48)
- Tiny Lund† (No. 55)
- Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
- Jim Paschal*† (No. 14)
- Gary Myers (No. 41)
- Walter Ballard (No. 30)
- Bill Champion† (No. 10)
- Jabe Thomas† (No. 25)
- Earl Brooks† (No. 26)
- J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
- Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
- David Ray Boggs (No. 86)
- Joe Dean Huss (No. 33)
- Buck Baker*† (No. 87)
- Randy Hutchinson* (No. 2)
- Neil Castles* (No. 06)
- Jimmy Vaughn* (No. 7)
- John Sears*† (No. 4)
- Gordon Birkett* (No. 50)
- Ed Negre* (No. 8)
- Wayne Andrews* (No. 15)
- Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
- Elmo Langley* (No. 64)
- Junior Spencer* (No. 11)
- Charlie Glotzbach* (No. 3)
- Pee Wee Wentz* (No. 5)
- Raymond Williams* (No. 47)
- Al Straub* (No. 94)
- Frank Warren* (No. 79)
- Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
- Henley Gray* (No. 19)
- Paul Tyler* (No. 78)
- Jerry Churchill* (No. 73)
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
Timeline
- Start of race: Bobby Allison lead the starting grid as the green flag was waved
- Lap 30: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison
- 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 148: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison
- 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 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 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
- ↑ "1971 West Virginia 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "1971 West Virginia 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1971 West Virginia 500 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- 1 2 "1971 West Virginia 500 information (third reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
| 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 |