1971 Nashville 420

Last updated
1971 Nashville 420
Race details [1] [2] [3] [4]
Race 32 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
NashvilleSpeedwayMap.svg
Date July 24, 1971 (1971-July-24)
Official name Nashville 420
Location Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.596 mi (0.959 km)
Distance 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 89.667 miles per hour (144.305 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
DriverRichard PettyPetty Enterprises
Laps 400
Winner
No. 43Richard PettyPetty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Nashville 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on July 24, 1971, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.

Contents

Background

Nashville Speedway was converted to a half-mile paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972.[ citation needed ]

Race report

It took two hours and forty-seven minutes to complete 420 laps of racing at a paved oval track spanning 0.596 miles (0.959 km). [2] [4] Richard Petty qualified for the race with a pole position speed of 114.628 miles per hour (184.476 km/h) and won it with an average speed of 89.667 miles per hour (144.305 km/h). [2] He defeated James Hylton by more than four laps in his 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner machine. [2] [3] [4]

Dale Inman would be credited as the winning crew chief for this race. [5] Other crew chiefs that were important to the race were Vic Ballard and Lee Gordon. [6] Ten thousand people would watch two lead changes and four cautions for 46 laps. [2] [3] [4]

Earl Brooks would make his best career finish with a fourth-place performance; he experienced tire problems as the race progressed and was unable to lead a lap. [2] [3] [4] Brooks' team only had top 10s in 12% of its races, but 11% of their total top 10s came in this race. [2] [3] [4]

All 29 of these competitors were American-born males. [2] Other notable names include future car owner Richard Childress, Sterling Marlin's father Coo Coo, Elmo Langley, and Bobby Allison (one of the famous Allison brothers of NASCAR history). [2] [3] [4] The total purse for this racing event was $20,980 ($133,493 when adjusted for inflation). [7]

Richard Petty received $4,325 ($27,638 when adjusted for inflation) for his well-deserved victory while last-place finisher Dick May only received $215 ($1,374 when adjusted for inflation). [2] [3]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturer
143Richard Petty'70 Plymouth
212Bobby Allison'70 Dodge
324Cecil Gordon'69 Mercury
464Elmo Langley'71 Ford
57Dean Dalton'69 Ford
68Ed Negre'69 Ford
770J.D. McDuffie'69 Mercury
876Ben Arnold'69 Ford
972Benny Parsons'70 Mercury
1048James Hylton'70 Ford
1126Earl Brooks'69 Ford
1205David Sisco'70 Chevrolet
1310Bill Champion'70 Ford
1438Wayne Smith'69 Chevrolet
1558Robert Brown'70 Chevrolet
1674Bill Shirey'69 Plymouth
1740D.K. Ulrich'70 Ford
1896Richard Childress'70 Chevrolet
1923Jabe Thomas'69 Plymouth
2041Ken Meisenhelder'69 Chevrolet
2173Jerry Churchill'69 Ford
2207Coo Coo Marlin'69 Chevrolet
2367Dick May'69 Ford
2479Frank Warren'69 Dodge
2530Walter Ballard'71 Ford
2634Wendell Scott'69 Ford
2728Bill Hollar'69 Ford
2825Bill Seifert'70 Plymouth
2919Henley Gray'69 Ford

Finishing order

  1. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  2. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  3. Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
  4. Earl Brooks† (No. 26)
  5. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  6. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
  7. Jabe Thomas† (No. 23)
  8. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  9. Ben Arnold (No. 76)
  10. Bill Hollar† (No. 28)
  11. Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
  12. Ken Meisenhelder (No. 41)
  13. Dean Dalton* (No. 7)
  14. Jerry Churchill† (No. 73)
  15. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  16. Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
  17. Elmo Langley*† (No. 64)
  18. Bill Champion*† (No. 10)
  19. David Sisco*† (No. 05)
  20. Wendell Scott*† (No. 34)
  21. Richard Childress* (No. 96)
  22. Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
  23. Robert Brown* (No. 58)
  24. D.K. Ulrich* (No. 40)
  25. Coo Coo Marlin*† (No. 07)
  26. Wayne Smith* (No. 38)
  27. Bobby Allison* (No. 12)
  28. Bill Seifert* (No. 25)
  29. Dick May* (No. 67)

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

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References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1971 Nashville 420 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1971 Nashville 420 at Racing Reference
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1971 Nashville 420 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1971 Nashville 420 at Database Racing
  5. ↑ 1971 Nashville 420 racing information at Race-Database
  6. ↑ 1971 Nashville 420 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  7. ↑ Total prize purse at the 1971 Nashville 200 at Nashville 420
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971		Succeeded by
Preceded by Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984		Succeeded by
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