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1971 Myers Brothers 250

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1971 Myers Brothers 250
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 34 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date August 6, 1971 (1971-August-06)
Official name Myers Brothers 250
Location Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.250 mi (0.421 km)
Distance 250 laps, 62.5 mi (100.5 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching a maximum of 75 °F (24 °C); wind speeds reaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 44.792 miles per hour (72.086 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Melvin Joseph
Laps 138
Winner
No. 49 Bobby Allison Melvin Joseph
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Myers Brothers 250 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 6, 1971 at Bowman Gray Stadium in the American community of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Summary

Due to the reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the "minor league" NASCAR Grand American Series.[4] 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.

The complete time of the race was one hour and twenty-three minutes.[2] Six cautions were given out for 36 laps with Bobby Allison defeating Richard Petty by a margin of three seconds.[2] Fourteen thousand people attended this live race with speeds approaching 44.472 miles per hour (71.571 km/h).[2] Richard Petty qualified for the pole position[3] with a speed of 55.283 miles per hour (88.969 km/h) in the solo qualifying portion of the race weekend.[2] There was a 29-driver grid[3] of American-born males.[2] Bill Seifert, Cecil Gordon and Bill Shirey all quit the race before it was over.[2][3] The result of the race would have long-reaching effects at the 1984 Firecracker 400; where they were determining whether Petty had his "200th win" or his "201st win."

Richard Petty and Bobby Allison shared their turns as being the joint leaders of the race.[2][3] Future NASCAR car owner Richard Childress competed at this race as a driver.[2][3][5] J.D. McDuffie was also a notable driver who competed in this race.[2][3]

As Bobby Allison was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit in that series, but was credited with a Grand American Series ("pony" cars) win. Vehicles that competed at the Grand American series were in Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and AMC Javelins as opposed to their full-sized equivalents from their manufacturers.[6]

Finishing order

  1. Bobby Allison
  2. Richard Petty
  3. Jim Paschal
  4. Buck Baker
  5. Dave Marcis
  6. Tiny Lund
  7. Wayne Andrews
  8. Jabe Thomas
  9. David Ray Boggs
  10. Walter Ballard
  11. Bill Champion
  12. Randy Hutchinson
  13. J.D. McDuffie
  14. Ken Rush*
  15. Elmo Langley*
  16. Tommy Andrews*
  17. Ed Negre*
  18. Neil Castles*
  19. Bill Hollar*
  20. Ken Meisenhelder*
  21. Richard Childress*
  22. James Hylton*
  23. Frank Warren*
  24. Cecil Gordon*
  25. Wendell Scott*
  26. Earl Brooks*
  27. Jerry Churchill*
  28. Bill Seifert*
  29. Bill Shirey*

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

  • Start of race: Richard Petty started the race with the pole position
  • Lap 3: Jerry Churchill's car overheated
  • Lap 8: Earl Brooks noticed that his vehicle had transmission problems
  • Lap 18: Frank Warren developed transmission problems with his vehicle
  • Lap 38: Problems with his car's steering forced James Hylton into an ugly 22nd place finish
  • Lap 40: Steering issues forced Richard Childress out of the event
  • Lap 56: Ken Meisenhelder saw that his vehicle was overheating; forcing him off the track for the remainder of the day
  • Lap 83: Bill Hollar noticed that his vehicle's brakes became faulty
  • Lap 94: Neil Castles had a dead battery in his race vehicle
  • Lap 97: Ed Negre had a problem with his carburetor; forcing him out of the race
  • Lap 109: Elmo Langley's ignition became faulty
  • Lap 113: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 117: Ken Rush was involved in a terminal crash; causing him to leave the race prematurely
  • End of race: Bobby Allison won the race

References

  1. ^ "1971 Myers Brothers 250 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  4. ^ "A Race Without A Winner". Grand National East. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  5. ^ "1971 Myers Brothers 250 information (fourth reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  6. ^ "The 1971 Myers Brothers 250". Jeff Droke. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971 		Succeeded by
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