1971 Myers Brothers 250

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1971 Myers Brothers 250
Race details [1] [2] [3]
Race 34 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Bowman Gray Stadium 2024.svg
Date August 6, 1971 (1971-August-06)
Official name Myers Brothers 250
Location Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.250 mi (0.421 km)
Distance 250 laps, 62.5 mi (100.5 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 75 °F (24 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 44.792 miles per hour (72.086 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Melvin Joseph
Laps 138
Winner
No. 49Bobby AllisonMelvin Joseph
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Myers Brothers 250 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 6, 1971, at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This race was the final NASCAR Cup Series event at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Contents

Background

Bowman Gray Stadium is a NASCAR sanctioned 1⁄4-mile (0.40 km) asphalt flat oval short track and longstanding football stadium located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most legendary venues, and is referred to as "NASCAR's longest-running weekly race track". Bowman Gray Stadium is part of the Winston-Salem Sports and Entertainment Complex and is home of the Winston-Salem State University Rams football team. [4] It was also the home of the Wake Forest University football team from 1956 until Groves Stadium (later BB&T Field) opened in 1968.

Bowman Gray Stadium was a popular venue for high school football in the 1970s.

Race report

Because of reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the "minor league" NASCAR Grand American Series. [5]

The complete time of the race was one hour and twenty-three minutes. [2] Six cautions slowed the race for 36 laps with Bobby Allison defeating Richard Petty by a margin of three seconds. [2] Fourteen thousand people attended this live race with speeds approaching 44.472 miles per hour (71.571 km/h). [2] Richard Petty qualified for the pole position [3] with a speed of 55.283 miles per hour (88.969 km/h) in the solo qualifying portion of the race weekend. [2] There was a 29-driver grid; making the racetrack overcrowded with racing vehicles and forcing the race to devolve into a glorified demolition derby. [3] Bill Seifert, Cecil Gordon and Bill Shirey all quit the race before it was over. [2] [3] The result of the race would have long-reaching effects at the 1984 Firecracker 400; where they were determining whether Petty had his "200th win" or his "201st win."

Richard Petty and Bobby Allison shared their turns as being the joint leaders of the race. [2] [3] Future NASCAR car owner Richard Childress competed at this race as a driver. [2] [3] [6] J.D. McDuffie was also a notable driver who competed in this race. David Ray Boggs would earn his first "top-10" finish racing at this event. [2] [3] Almost 25% of the field was out by lap 18, which was probably about five minutes into the race, being at Bowman Gray. [2] [3]

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, and Lee Gordon. [7]

As Bobby Allison was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit in that series but was credited with a Grand American Series ("pony" cars) win. Vehicles that competed at the Grand American series were in Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and AMC Javelins as opposed to their full-sized equivalents from their manufacturers. [8] NASCAR rules for combination races, which were in effect for Riverside and other West Coast races where the West Series raced with the Cup Series, and later used by other multiple-division races in NASCAR, state each division is scored separately, similar to rules used in the NASCAR-owned International Motor Sports Association sports car racing series. Under current rules, Richard Petty would be credited with a Grand National Series win.

53 years later, on October 23, 2024, NASCAR awarded Bobby Allison as the official winner. [9]

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
143Richard Petty'70 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
249Bobby Allison'70 Mustang Melvin Joseph
314Jim Paschal'70 Javelin Cliff Stewart
415Wayne Andrews'71 Mustang Reid Shaw
544Ken Rush'69 Camaro Johnny Wheeler
626Earl Brooks'69 Ford Earl Brooks
721Tommy Andrews'69 Mustang Tommy Andrews
848James Hylton'70 Ford James Hylton
987Buck Baker'71 Firebird Buck Baker
1079Frank Warren'69 Dodge Frank Warren

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. Bobby Allison (No. 49)
  2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  3. Jim Paschal (No. 14)
  4. Buck Baker (No. 87)
  5. Dave Marcis (No. 11)
  6. Tiny Lund (No. 55)
  7. Wayne Andrews (No. 15)
  8. Jabe Thomas (No. 25)
  9. David Ray Boggs (No. 86)
  10. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
  11. Bill Champion (No. 10)
  12. Randy Hutchinson (No. 2)
  13. J.D. McDuffie (No. 70)
  14. Ken Rush* (No. 44)
  15. Elmo Langley* (No. 64)
  16. Tommy Andrews* (No. 21)
  17. Ed Negre* (No. 8)
  18. Neil Castles* (No. 06)
  19. Bill Hollar* (No. 28)
  20. Ken Meisenhelder* (No. 41)
  21. Richard Childress* (No. 96)
  22. James Hylton* (No. 48)
  23. Frank Warren* (No. 79)
  24. Cecil Gordon* (No. 24)
  25. Wendell Scott* (No. 34)
  26. Earl Brooks* (No. 26)
  27. Jerry Churchill* (No. 73)
  28. Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
  29. Bill Shirey* (No. 74)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

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References

  1. ↑ "1971 Myers Brothers 250 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  4. ↑ Zona, Chris; Trevin Goodwin (2007). 2007 Rams Football (PDF). Winston-Salem State Athletics. p. 30.
  5. ↑ "A Race Without A Winner". Grand National East. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  6. ↑ "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information (fourth reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  7. ↑ "1971 Myers Brothers 250 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  8. ↑ "The 1971 Myers Brothers 250". Jeff Droke. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  9. ↑ Albert, Zack. "NASCAR officials award Bobby Allison with 85th Cup victory; legend now fourth on all-time win list". NASCAR.com.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971		Succeeded by
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