1971 Space City 300

The 1971 Space City 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 23, 1971, at Meyer Speedway in Houston, Texas. While Houston was considered to be one of the epicenters of stock car racing during the 1950s and 1960s, the local passion for the motorsport died out starting in the 1970s.^[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

Bobby Allison defeated James Hylton by at least two laps after two hours and two minutes of racing 300 laps on a paved track).^[2] The entire track was considered to span a distance of 0.500 miles (0.805 km) for a grand total of 150.0 miles (241.4 km).^[2] There were no cautions given out by NASCAR; making this a perfect race^[2] alongside the 1959 Daytona 500, the 1969 Motor Trend 500, the 1971 Asheville 300 and the 2002 EA Sports 500; which became the final oval course race that had gone the entire distance without a single caution flag.^[4] Nine thousand people would watch a 14-car grid of American-born drivers perform speeds of up to 73.489 miles per hour (118.269 km/h).^[2] Pete Arnold would make his only start here and record the race's last-place finish due to a steering issue on lap 58.^[2] Fred Hill would make his only NASCAR Cup Series start here; ending his day with a rear end issue on lap 116.^[2]

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

This event would become Meyer Speedway's only NASCAR Cup Series racing event; with the description of being the newest racing track that is "no longer under the schedule." There would be less than 15 cars in the entire racing event; a rarity during the early 1970s. After this race, there would be at least 20 cars that qualified each and every time.

The winner would receive $2,200 in winnings ($12,854.72 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher would walk away with $340 ($1,986.64 when adjusted for inflation).^[5] Most of the teams that raced at Meyer Speedway went straight back to the Southeastern United States due to the meager prize money given out at this racing event (that took place in the Southwestern United States).

Finishing order

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

Timeline

• Lap 5: Bobby Allison takes over the lead from Richard Petty
• Lap 9: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Bobby Allison
• Lap 43: Bobby Allison takes over the lead from Richard Petty
• Lap 58: Pete Arnold had trouble steering his vehicle; forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 116: Fred Hill would suffer severe damage to his vehicle's rear end; ending his day at the event
• Lap 136: Ronnie Chumley's transmission would seize up on him; forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 148: James Hylton takes over the lead from Bobby Allison
• Lap 157: Bobby Allison takes over the lead from James Hylton
• End of race: Bobby Allison wins the race

References