1971 Winston 500
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Talladega Superspeedway | |||
| Date | May 16, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Winston 500 | ||
| Location | Talladega International Motor Speedway (Talladega, Alabama) | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.660 mi (4.280 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 147.419 miles per hour (237.248 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Allison | Holman-Moody | |
| Laps | 70 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Donnie Allison | Wood Brothers | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers |
Keith Jackson Chris Economaki | ||
The 1971 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on May 16, 1971, at Alabama International Motor Speedway (now Talladega Superspeedway) in Talladega, Alabama, USA.[2]
George Altheide, Doc Faustina and David Sisco would make their NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuts in this race.[3] Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
Summary
Twenty-nine thousand people came to see Donnie Allison (racing for the Wood Brothers racing team) defeat his brother Bobby (racing for Holman-Moody) by six car lengths.[2] Both of these siblings were driving 1969 Mercury Cyclone vehicles.[2][3] The race took three hours and thirty-two minutes to successfully complete.[2][3] Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for forty-five laps.[2][3] Other finishers in the top ten included: Buddy Baker (driving for Petty Enterprises), Pete Hamilton, Fred Lorenzen, Jim Vandiver, James Hylton, Bill Dennis, Dave Marcis, and Larry Baumel.[2][3] After winning this race, Donnie would be seen as the underdog four years later at the 1975 Winston 500;[4] he would finish in a lowly 42nd place out of 50 competitors on the starting grid.[5]
Notable drivers that participated in the race included: Richard Petty, J.D. McDuffie (who died in a racing accident at the 1991 Watkins Glen race), Coo Coo Marlin (father of Sterling Marlin), Benny Parsons, Neil Castles, and Ron Keselowski (uncle of current NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski).[2][3] Bobby Isaac was hospitalized and could not compete in the race due to having problem with his kidney stones.
The grand total of the entire prize purse was $145,040 ($847,476.94 when adjusted for inflation); Donnie Allison received $31,140 for winning ($181,952.79 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher Bub Strickler got to bring home only $1,000 ($5,843.06 when adjusted for inflation).[6]
References
- ↑ Weather information for the 1971 Winston 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1971 Winston 500 racing information at Racing Reference
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 1971 Winston 500 racing information at Race Database
- ↑ Donnie First to Enter Winston 500 at Google News Archive Search
- ↑ Donnie Allison's finish at the 1975 Winston 500 at Racing Reference
- ↑ 1971 Winston 500 racing information at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
| Preceded by 1971 Halifax County 100 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Races 1971 |
Succeeded by 1971 Asheville 300 |
| Preceded by debut |
Winston 500 races 1971 |
Succeeded by 1972 |