1971 Dixie 500

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1971 Dixie 500
Race details[1]
Race 33 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Outline of Atlanta International Raceway
Outline of Atlanta International Raceway
Date August 1, 1971 (1971-August-01)
Official name Dixie 500
Location Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
Weather Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)
Average speed 129.061 miles per hour (207.704 km/h)
Attendance 22,500[2]
Pole position
Driver
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 181
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 1, 1971, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.[2]

Background[edit]

Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.[3] However, at the time, only Charlotte, Darlington, and New Hampshire were built.

The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]

Race report[edit]

Richard Petty defeated Bobby Allison by 2 car lengths in front of 22500 spectators.[2] Five cautions slowed the race for 48 laps; making the race last three hours and fifty-two minutes in length.[2] Buddy Baker qualified for the pole position with a speed of 155.796 miles per hour (250.729 km/h), while the average speed was 129.061 miles per hour (207.704 km/h).[2]

Dave Marcis had problems with his vehicle's suspension on lap 38 while Raymond Williams' vehicle had a faulty transmission on lap 40. Dub Simpson blew his engine on lap 60. Ed Negre wrecked his vehicle's transmission on lap 62. Coo Coo Marlin would over-exhaust his engine on lap 82 while Charlie Roberts did the same thing on lap 90. The suspension on Neil Castles' vehicle stopped working on lap 92. Bill Dennis' vehicle had some serious vibration issues on lap 131 while Paul Tyler's engine blew on lap 149.[2] Further engine problems occurred on lap 231 with Buddy Baker, lap 249 with Pete Hamilton, lap 264 with Earl Brooks, and lap 302 with Bobby Brack.[2]

Friday Hassler got his third top six finish in a row less than a month after driving the Junior Johnson Chevy to victory at Bristol in relief of Charlie Glotzbach.[2]

Richard Petty officially became a millionaire after this race; bringing his career earnings to over $1,000,000 ($7,523,418 when adjusted for inflation).[2] This would be the last time a driver won 5 races in a row, in any series, until 2009 when Ron Hornaday won five in a row in the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. [5] Dick Poling would retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after finishing in 26th place during this race.[6]

Notable crew chiefs who in the race were Junie Donlavey, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, Lee Gordon, and John Green.[7]

Qualifying[edit]

Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 11 Buddy Baker '71 Dodge Petty Enterprises
2 3 Charlie Glotzbach '71 Chevrolet Richard Howard
3 43 Richard Petty '71 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
4 6 Pete Hamilton '71 Plymouth Cotton Owens
5 12 Bobby Allison '69 Mercury Holman-Moody Racing
6 21 Donnie Allison '69 Mercury Wood Brothers
7 71 Bobby Isaac '71 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
8 2 Dave Marcis '69 Dodge Dave Marcis
9 64 Elmo Langley '69 Mercury Elmo Langley
10 45 Bill Seifert '71 Ford Bill Seifert
11 18 Joe Frasson '70 Dodge Joe Frasson
12 79 Frank Warren '69 Dodge Frank Warren
13 76 Ben Arnold '69 Ford Ben Arnold
14 06 Neil Castles '70 Dodge Neil Castles
15 48 James Hylton '70 Ford James Hylton
16 49 G.C. Spencer '69 Plymouth G.C. Spencer
17 42 Marty Robbins '69 Dodge Marty Robbins
18 72 Benny Parsons '69 Mercury L.G. DeWitt
19 24 Cecil Gordon '69 Mercury Cecil Gordon
20 39 Friday Hassler '70 Chevrolet Friday Hassler

Finishing order[edit]

Section reference: [2]

  1. Richard Petty (#43)
  2. Bobby Allison (#12)
  3. Benny Parsons (#72)
  4. Charlie Glotzbach (#3)
  5. Friday Hassler (#39)
  6. Donnie Allison (#21)
  7. Ron Keselowski (#88)
  8. Frank Warren (#79)
  9. James Hylton (#48)
  10. Bill Champion (#10)
  11. Richard D. Brown (#91)
  12. Cecil Gordon (#24)
  13. Marty Robbins (#42)
  14. Jabe Thomas (#25)
  15. Bill Seifert (#25)
  16. Bobby Brack* (#53)
  17. J.D. McDuffie (#70)
  18. Walter Ballard (#30)
  19. Ben Arnold (#76)
  20. Henley Gray (#19)
  21. Wendell Scott (#34)
  22. Dick May (#5)
  23. Earl Brooks* (#36)
  24. Pete Hamilton* (#6)
  25. Buddy Baker* (#11)
  26. Dick Poling (#62)
  27. G.C. Spencer* (#49)
  28. Paul Tyler* (#95)
  29. John Sears* (#4)
  30. Bill Dennis* (#96)
  31. Neil Castles* (#06)
  32. Charlie Roberts* (#77)
  33. Bobby Isaac* (#71)
  34. Coo Coo Marlin* (#07)
  35. Joe Frasson* (#18)
  36. Ed Negre* (#8)
  37. Dub Simpson* (#93)
  38. Raymond Williams* (#47)
  39. Dave Marcis* (#2)
  40. Elmo Langley* (#64)

* Driver failed to finish race

References[edit]

  1. ^ 1971 Dixie 500 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 1971 Dixie 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on September 12, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks—The Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  5. ^ 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Results at Racing Reference
  6. ^ 1971 Dixie 500 racing results at Race-Database
  7. ^ 1971 Dixie 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984 		Succeeded by
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