1971 Space City 300

Last updated
1971 Space City 300
Race details [1]
Race 25 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date June 23, 1971 (1971-June-23)
Official name Space City 300
Location Meyer Speedway, Houston, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.744 km)
Distance 300 laps, 150 mi (200 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures of 91 °F (33 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed 73.489 miles per hour (118.269 km/h)
Attendance 9,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 Bobby Allison Motorsports
Most laps led
DriverBobby AllisonBobby Allison Motorsports
Laps 253
Winner
No. 12Bobby AllisonBobby Allison Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

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]

Contents

Meyer Speedway was bumpy enough to loosen bolts off of a typical NASCAR vehicle.[ citation needed ]

With only 14 cars entering the 1971 Space City 300, this event was one of many in 1971 that contributed to significant changes demanded by new series sponsor Winston for the 1972 season, when the number of races was reduced from 48 to 31, all dirt tracks were removed from the schedule, and a minimum race distance of 250 miles (400 km) was established for races on oval tracks. While NASCAR's top series had a successful 48 race schedule in previous years, by 1971 the reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies made it difficult for race car drivers to justify driving their "stock" race cars under their own power (as required by the homologation rules until 1975) to events offering only small prize money. [4]

Race report

Bobby Allison defeated James Hylton by at least two laps after two hours and two minutes of racing 300 laps on a paved track); marking Allison's fifth consecutive win. [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[ editorialising ] [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. [5]

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.[ clarification needed ] Walter Ballard finished third to claim his best career NASCAR finish. [2] Richard Petty qualified in second place and managed to dominate 38 laps before the halfway point. Petty's vehicle developed problems with its distributor. More than 10 minutes were lost and 28 laps went by in the race before Petty was able to get his vehicle back on the track. Miraculously, he gained back 7 of his lost laps and salvaged a top-10 finish. [2]

The NASCAR Cup Series has never again come close to having a field this small. [2] Even for the rest of 1971, they only once had fewer than 29 cars and that was a 22 car field. [2] Hill and Arnold make their only cup starts in this debacle of a NASCAR Cup Series event. [2] Ronnie Chumley, who lasted a bit longer, only started six other career Cup races. The motivation to stop here on the way back across the country from Riverside was not strong as most drivers did not put their best effort forward. [2]

This would be the last race until Kaz Grala's 2020 run at Daytona for Austin Dillon that a Cup driver debuted in a #3. [2]

Frank Warren's Pontiac was the only General Motors product on the racing grid. [2] The next NASCAR Winston Cup Series race to lack a major manufacturer would be the 1982 Daytona 500; which excluded all Chevrolet vehicles. [6] Lee Gordon, Vic Ballard and Dale Inman were the three notable crew chiefs that participated in the event. [7]

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race, a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day (as of 2022). This event would become Meyer Speedway's only NASCAR Cup Series racing event. There would be less than 15 cars in the entire racing event; a rarity during the early 1970s.

The winner would receive $2,200 in winnings ($14,720 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher would walk away with $340 ($2,275 when adjusted for inflation). [8] Most of the teams that raced at Meyer Speedway went straight back to the Southeastern United States due to the meager prize money that was handed out at this racing event staged in the Southwestern United States.

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
112 Bobby Allison '71 Dodge Bobby Allison
243 Richard Petty '71 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
364 Elmo Langley '69 Mercury Elmo Langley
48 Ed Negre '69 Ford Ed Negre
536 Frank Warren '70 Pontiac H.B. Bailey
670 J. D. McDuffie '69 Mercury J. D. McDuffie
724 Cecil Gordon '69 Mercury Cecil Gordon
877 Charlie Roberts '70 Ford Charlie Roberts
914Fred Hill'69 Ford unknown
1019 Henley Gray '69 Ford Henley Gray
1130 Walter Ballard '71 Ford Vic Ballard
1200 Ronnie Chumley '69 Ford R.B. Chumley
133 Pete Arnold '70 Ford unknown
1448 James Hylton '70 Ford James Hylton

Finishing order

Pos [2] No.DriverManufacturerLapsStatus
112Bobby AllisonDodge300Running
248James HyltonFord298Running
330Walter BallardFord292Running
464Elmo LangleyMercury290Running
536Frank WarrenPontiac289Running
624Cecil GordonMercury286Running
743Richard PettyPlymouth279Running
819Henley GrayFord270Running
977Charlie RobertsFord254Running
1070J.D. McDuffieMercury249Running
118Ed NegreFord239Running
1200Ronnie ChumleyFord136Transmission problems
1314Fred HillFord116Missing rear end
143Pete ArnoldFord58Steering problems

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

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References

  1. ↑ Weather for the 1971 Space City 300 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1971 Space City 300 racing information at Racing-Reference.info
  3. ↑ "Lone stars highlight '71 race at Texas track". NASCAR. April 8, 2011. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012.
  4. ↑ "A Race Without A Winner". Grand National East. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  5. ↑ "EA Sports 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  6. ↑ "1982 Daytona 500 results". Racing-reference. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  7. ↑ 1971 Space City 300 crew chief information at Racing Reference
  8. ↑ 1971 Space City 300 racing information at Race-Database
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1971		Succeeded by
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