1971 Nashville 420

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
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 approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed	89.667 miles per hour (144.305 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Richard Petty	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 1971 Nashville 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 24, 1971, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.

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.

Summary

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] 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.^[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 ($122,267.44 when adjusted for inflation).^[6] Richard Petty received $4,325 ($25,313.87 when adjusted for inflation) for his well-deserved victory while last-place finisher Dick May only received $215 ($1,258.38 when adjusted for inflation).^[2][3]

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. Total prize purse at the 1971 Nashville 200 at Nashville 420