| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
| Date | February 1, 1971 | ||
| Location | Riverside International Raceway (Riverside, California) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.700 mi (4.345 km) |
||
| Distance | 400 laps, 502 mi (808 km) | ||
| Avg Speed | 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ray Elder | Fred Elder | |
| Laps | 67 | ||
| Winner | |||
| 96 |
Ray Elder |
Fred Elder | |
| Television | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first official race in NASCAR's Winston Cup era (also known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series until approximately 1985) that took place on January 10, 1971.[1]
Drivers had to contend with 191 laps on a road course at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, USA that spanned a total distance of 2.620 miles (4.216 km).[1][2] Attendance for the race was 23000 people with the race lasting four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and fifty-five seconds.[1][2]
Defending NASCAR Grand National West series champion Ray Elder won the race and Coca-Cola was the major sponsor of the #12 Dodge entry that was driven by Bobby Allison.[1] The average speed was 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) while the pole speed was 107.084 miles per hour (172.335 km/h).[1] The other nine finishers in the top ten were: Bobby Allison, Benny Parsons, Bobby Isaac, James Hylton, Friday Hassler, Kevin Terris, Carl Joiner, Henley Gray, and Cecil Gordon.[1][2] Out of the forty drivers that started the race, only twelve of them actually finished the race.[2] The top prize at this race was $18,715 ($101,489.92 in today's money) and the prize for finishing last place (40th) was $1,015 ($5,504.26 in today's money).[1][2]
Richard Petty competed in this race but failed to finish it; he would end up in 20th place after starting in the pole position.[2] He was driving a Plymouth with the familiar #43 that he is famous for.[1] The majority of the drivers who failed to finish had an engine problem.[1] At the end of the race, the margin between Elder and Bobby Allison was considered be to ten and a half seconds.[1] Ray Elder would score the first of his two NASCAR cup victories here[1] (with his second victory taking place at the 1972 Golden State 400[3]). Other notable facts about the 1971 Motor Trend 500 is that the race was Ron Grable's only start in the NASCAR Cup series and that G.T. Tallas finished the race with his career best of 11th place.[2]
| Preceded by 1970 Tidewater 300 |
NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Races 1970-71 |
Succeeded by 1971 Daytona 500 |