1971 Nashville 420

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.

1971 Nashville 420
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 32 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
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
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 400
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

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 any more.

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.

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] 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 ($131,880 when adjusted for inflation).[7]

Richard Petty received $4,325 ($27,304 when adjusted for inflation) for his well-deserved victory while last-place finisher Dick May only received $215 ($1,357 when adjusted for inflation).[2][3]

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 43Richard Petty'70 Plymouth
2 12Bobby Allison'70 Dodge
3 24Cecil Gordon'69 Mercury
4 64Elmo Langley'71 Ford
5 7Dean Dalton'69 Ford
6 8Ed Negre'69 Ford
7 70J.D. McDuffie'69 Mercury
8 76Ben Arnold'69 Ford
9 72Benny Parsons'70 Mercury
10 48James Hylton'70 Ford
11 26Earl Brooks'69 Ford
12 05David Sisco'70 Chevrolet
13 10Bill Champion'70 Ford
14 38Wayne Smith'69 Chevrolet
15 58Robert Brown'70 Chevrolet
16 74Bill Shirey'69 Plymouth
17 40D.K. Ulrich'70 Ford
18 96Richard Childress'70 Chevrolet
19 23Jabe Thomas'69 Plymouth
20 41Ken Meisenhelder'69 Chevrolet
21 73Jerry Churchill'69 Ford
22 07Coo Coo Marlin'69 Chevrolet
23 67Dick May'69 Ford
24 79Frank Warren'69 Dodge
25 30Walter Ballard'71 Ford
26 34Wendell Scott'69 Ford
27 28Bill Hollar'69 Ford
28 25Bill Seifert'70 Plymouth
29 19Henley 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

References
  1. Weather information for the 1971 Nashville 420 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1971 Nashville 420 at Racing Reference
  3. 1971 Nashville 420 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  4. 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
1971 Northern 300		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971		 Succeeded by
1971 Dixie 500
Preceded by
1971 Northern 300		 Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984		 Succeeded by
1971 Dixie 500
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