1971 World 600

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1971 World 600
Race details [1]
Race 21 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1971World600OfficialNASCARPoster.jpg
Official poster for the 1971 World 600
Date May 30, 1971 (1971-05-30)
Official name World 600
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 2.410 km (1.500 miles)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km)
Weather Temperatures of 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed 140.422 miles per hour (225.987 km/h)
Attendance 78,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 Richard Howard
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Holman Moody
Laps 303
Winner
No. 12Bobby AllisonHolman Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 World 600, the 12th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 30, 1971, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It marked the return of Chevrolet to NASCAR. [3]

Contents

Chevrolet would go on to dominate NASCAR during the subsequent decades. [3]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturer
13Charlie Glotzbach'71 Chevrolet
212Bobby Allison'69 Mercury
371Bobby Isaac'71 Dodge
499Fred Lorenzen'71 Plymouth
543Richard Petty'71 Plymouth
66Pete Hamilton'71 Plymouth
722Dick Brooks'70 Dodge
811Buddy Baker'71 Dodge
991Speedy Thompson'71 Chevrolet
1031Jim Vandiver'70 Dodge
1114Jim Paschal'71 Chevrolet
122Dave Marcis'69 Dodge
1321Donnie Allison'69 Mercury
1433David Pearson'71 Pontiac
1572Benny Parsons'69 Mercury

Summary

There were 40 drivers in this 400-lap race; Walter Ballard received the last place finish due to a crash on the eleventh lap. [2] [4] The race took more than four hours to complete. [2] [4] There were 13 lead changes and three caution period for 24 laps. [2] [4] Charlotte Motor Speedway had just gone bankrupt a year earlier and the district judge assigned ownership of the floundering track to Mr. Richard Howard; who owned a furniture store in the area. [5] He came up with the idea of having two pace cars advertise his furniture at this race and at the 1971 National 500. [5] As a result, the speedway managed to recover and it still hosts Cup Series races to this day.

Bobby Allison defeated Donnie Allison by 34 seconds in front of an audience of 78000; starting the first of five consecutive wins for Bobby Allison. [2] [4] Charlie Glotzbach won the pole position with a speed of 157.788 miles per hour (253.935 km/h) while the average race speed was 140.422 miles per hour (225.987 km/h). [2] [4] The other finishers in the top ten were: Pete Hamilton, Richard Petty, Fred Lorenzen, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Friday Hassler (the fastest Chevrolet driver), Dave Marcis and Dick Brooks. [2] [4]

Notable crew chiefs for the race were Paul Goldsmith, Junie Donlavey, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, and Lee Gordon. [6]

Speedy Thompson made his last start of his NASCAR Cup Series career and would finish in 16th place despite being absent from the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for nearly nine years. [4] Larry Smith would begin his tragically short NASCAR career during this race; resulting in a 22nd-place finish. [2] [4] One of the most eagerly anticipated races ever as it marked the first competitive entry of a Junior Johnson-owned Chevy. Chevrolet had gone several years without a win in the Grand National division and nearly ended that dry spell in this race. Glotzbach was running strong when he tangled with the lapped car of Thompson and crashed on lap 234, ending his day. [2] [4]

Kevin Terris tried to qualify for this race in a Plymouth Road Runner, [7] but he failed to qualify. [7]

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

References

Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1971		Succeeded by
Preceded by World 600 races
1971		Succeeded by
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