1971 Sandlapper 200

Last updated
1971 Sandlapper 200
Race details [1]
Race 38 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date August 27, 1971;49 years ago (1971-08-27)
Official name Sandlapper 200
Location Columbia Speedway, Columbia, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures of 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
DriverRichard PettyPetty Enterprises
Laps 110
Winner
No. 43Richard PettyPetty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Sandlapper 200 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 27, 1971, at Columbia Speedway [2] in Columbia, South Carolina. [3]

Contents

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 anymore.

Background

Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. It was the site of auto races for NASCAR's top series from 1951 through 1971. [4] For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three Grand National races ever held on a dirt track. [5]

The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971.

While Columbia Speedway was shut down to cars in 1979, noise complaints, it reopened as a velodrome in 2001.

Race report

Two hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) in only one hour and thirty-four minutes. [2] [3] Six cautions were given for forty-one laps; Richard Petty managed to defeat Tiny Lund by ten car lengths. [2] [3] Local track announcer Jim Seay would realize the charismatic potential of Petty and interviewed him right after the race in front of a regional crowd. [6] Eight thousand people showed up in person to see cars achieve speeds of up to 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h). [2] [3] Richard Petty, however, would achieve the pole position speed of 85.137 miles per hour (137.015 km/h). [3] Ron Keselowski would crash prior to the first lap of the race. [2] [3]

The combined winnings purse for this race would be $9,275 ($58,554 when adjusted for inflation); the winner would receive $1,500 of it ($9,470 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher took home a meager $200 ($1,263 when adjusted for inflation). [7]

H. B. Bailey was running in second place until a freak crash on 55 made him finish in 24th place (a loss of 22 positions). [2] [3]

Last top-10 finish for Ken Meisenhelder. The Massachusetts driver had three top-10 finishes in his career, all of them finishing 10th. [8]

Lee Gordon, Vic Ballard and Dale Inman were among the three most notable crew chiefs to participate in this event. Inman was in charge of keeping Richard Petty's car in good order while Vic Ballard looked after Walter Ballard. Lee Gordon's primary responsibility was keeping Cecil Gordon's vehicle in decent working order. [9]

Qualifying

Grid [3] No.DriverManufacturer
143Richard Petty'70 Plymouth
236H.B. Bailey'71 Firebird
355Tiny Lund'69 Camaro
414Jim Paschal'70 Javelin
515Wayne Andrews'71 Mustang
648James Hylton'70 Ford
774Bill Shirey'69 Plymouth
887Buck Baker'71 Firebird
924Cecil Gordon'69 Mercury
1064Elmo Langley'71 Ford
112Randy Hutchinson'69 Camaro
1234Wendell Scott'69 Ford
134John Sears'69 Dodge
1430Walter Ballard'71 Ford
157Jimmy Vaughn'69 Camaro
1619Henley Gray'69 Ford
1726Earl Brooks'69 Ford
1810Bill Champion'70 Ford
1917Ernie Shaw'68 Mustang
2079Frank Warren'69 Plymouth
2125Jabe Thomas'70 Plymouth
2262Ron Keselowski'71 Dodge
2341Ken Meisenhelder'69 Chevrolet
2470J.D. McDuffie'69 Mercury
258Ed Negre'69 Ford
2640D.K. Ulrich'70 Ford
2732Marv Acton'70 Plymouth
2896Richard Childress'70 Chevrolet
2986Bobby Mausgrover'69 Dodge
3073Bill Seifert'69 Ford

Top 10 finishers

Section reference: [3]

  1. Richard Petty (No. 43), official time 1:34:24
  2. Tiny Lund (No. 55), 10 car lengths down
  3. Jim Paschal (No. 14), finished lead lap under green flag
  4. James Hylton (No. 48), 3 laps down
  5. Jabe Thomas (No. 25), 4 laps down
  6. Wayne Andrews (No. 15), 4 laps down
  7. Elmo Langley (No. 64), 6 laps down
  8. Walter Ballard (No. 30), 7 laps down
  9. Randy Hutchison (No. 2), 7 laps down
  10. Ken Meisenhelder (No. 41), 10 laps down

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

Related Research Articles

Tiny Lund American racing driver

DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was an American stock car racer. He was a journeyman racer-for-hire in the top level NASCAR Grand National Series, running partial seasons for a number of years, including a victory in the 1963 Daytona 500. Lund saw his greatest success in the NASCAR Grand American Series, where he was the season champion in three of the four full years the series was run – Lund won 41 of the 109 Grand American events that ran.

1971 Daytona 500 Auto race held at Daytona International Speedway in 1971

The 1971 Daytona 500, the 13th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on February 14, 1971 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Spanning 500 miles (800 km) on the paved oval track, it was the first Daytona 500 in the Winston Cup era of NASCAR. During this time, Richard Petty was becoming one of the winningest veterans on the NASCAR circuit.

1956 Wilkes County 160 Auto race run at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1956

The 1956 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 8, 1956, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, United States.

1961 World 600 Auto race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1961

The 1961 World 600, the second running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 28, 1961, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Chris Economaki called the race in one of the few televised NASCAR races of the 1960s. A series of two qualifying events took place on May 21 to determine the starting grid for this event.

1956 Virginia 500 Auto race held at Martinsville Speedway in 1956

The 1956 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 20, 1956, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. As the inaugural event for the NASCAR Grand National Series in Martinsville, this race would set a precedent for all other 500-lap races to follow on this newly paved short track.

1971 Delaware 500 Auto race run in Delaware in 1971

The 1971 Delaware 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on October 17, 1971, at Dover Downs International Speedway.

The 1963 Sandlapper 200 was the site of Richard Petty's 25th NASCAR Grand National win for Petty Enterprises.

The 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series was an American stock car racing competition. It was the fourteenth running of what is now called the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The 1971 West Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 8, 1971, at International Raceway Park in Ona, West Virginia.

The 1966 Columbia 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 7, 1966, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.

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.

1960 Atlanta 500 Auto race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1960

The 1960 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 30, 1960, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.

1972 Old Dominion 500 Auto race held at Martinsville Speedway in 1972

The 1972 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on September 24, 1972, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

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

The 1969 Sandlapper 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 18, 1969, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.

1971 Volunteer 500 Auto race held at Bristol International Speedway in 1971

The 1971 Volunteer 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 11, 1971, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.

1971 National 500 Auto race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1971

The 1971 National 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on October 10, 1971, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Most of the vehicles used in the race had a rating of 427 cubic inches.

1962 Dixie 400 Auto race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1962

The 1962 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 28, 1962, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.

The 1971 Kingsport 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 23, 1971, at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee.

The 1971 Georgia 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that occurred on November 7, 1971, at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia.

References

  1. ↑ "1971 Sandlapper 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1971 Sandlapper 200 racing results (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "1971 Sandlapper 200 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  4. ↑ Columbia Speedway page of Racing-Reference website , retrieved 8 May 2007.
  5. ↑ Fielden, Greg, "NASCAR Cleans Up", Speedway Illustrated, September 2004.
  6. ↑ Wood, Perry Allen (16 October 2012). Silent Speedways of the Carolinas. ISBN   9781476602615 . Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  7. ↑ "1971 Sandlapper 200 weather information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  8. ↑ "Driver Ken Meisenhelder's NASCAR Top 10 Results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  9. ↑ "1971 Sandlapper 200 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
Preceded by
1971 West Virginia 500 		Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984		Succeeded by
1971 Delaware 500
Preceded by
1971 Talladega 500 		NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1971		Succeeded by
1971 Buddy Shuman 276
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.