The 1971 Winston Cup Grand National Series was the 23rd season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 10 and ended with the Texas 500 at Texas World Speedway on December 12.
Richard Petty won his third Grand National championship in his 12th full-time season. He had 21 wins in the season, including his third Daytona 500 win. He had a record streak of 23 straight starts finishing in the top-5, and he defeated James Hylton by 364 points.
1971 was notable for being the first season in which RJ Reynolds & their Winston cigarettes brand were the title sponsor of the Grand National series. This allowed for improved marketing for the major events of the season as well as a prize package totaling $100,000. It also saw Chrysler and Ford reduce factory backing of teams, forcing teams to rely on sponsors or appearance money from track promoters to continue racing. In response to Ford’s withdrawal, Junior Johnson built a Chevrolet at the request of Richard Howard for the World 600, tapping into a latent General Motors fanbase, and starting the Junior Johnson & Associates race team.
Grand American cars were allowed to compete alongside Grand National cars at short track events beginning mid-season. This led to a questionable race at Bowman-Gray Stadium in which Bobby Allison won, but since he was driving a Grand American car at the time, he was not credited with a Grand National win until October 2024, when NASCAR recognized Allison as the official winner.
Schedule[]
Round | Date | Race Name | Track |
---|---|---|---|
1 | January 10, 1971 | Motor Trend 500 | Riverside International Raceway |
2 | February 11, 1971 | Daytona 500 Qualifier #1 | Daytona International Speedway |
3 | February 11, 1971 | Daytona 500 Qualifier #2 | Daytona International Speedway |
4 | February 14, 1971 | Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway |
5 | February 28, 1971 | Miller High Life 500 | Ontario Motor Speedway |
6 | March 7, 1971 | Richmond 500 | Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway |
7 | March 14, 1971 | Carolina 500 | North Carolina Motor Speedway |
8 | March 21, 1971 | Hickory 276 | Hickory Speedway |
9 | March 28, 1971 | Southeastern 500 | Bristol International Speedway |
10 | April 4, 1971 | Atlanta 500 | Atlanta International Raceway |
11 | April 8, 1971 | Columbia 200 | Columbia Speedway |
12 | April 10, 1971 | Greenville 200 | Greenville-Pickens Speedway |
13 | April 15, 1971 | Maryville 200 | Smoky Mountain Raceway |
14 | April 18, 1971 | Gwyn Staley 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway |
15 | April 25, 1971 | Virginia 500 | Martinsville Speedway |
16 | May 2, 1971 | Rebel 400 | Darlington Raceway |
17 | May 9, 1971 | Halifax County 100 | South Boston Speedway |
18 | May 16, 1971 | Winston 500 | Alabama International Motor Speedway |
19 | May 21, 1971 | Asheville 300 | New Asheville Speedway |
20 | May 23, 1971 | Kingsport 300 | Kingsport Speedway |
21 | May 30, 1971 | World 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
22 | June 6, 1971 | Mason-Dixon 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway |
23 | June 13, 1971 | Motor State 400 | Michigan International Speedway |
24 | June 20, 1971 | Winston Golden State 400 | Riverside International Raceway |
25 | June 23, 1971 | Space City 300 | Meyer Speedway |
26 | June 26, 1971 | Pickens 200 | Greenville-Pickens Speedway |
27 | July 4, 1971 | Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 | Daytona International Speedway |
28 | July 11, 1971 | Volunteer 500 | Bristol International Speedway |
29 | July 14, 1971 | Albany-Saratoga 250 | Albany-Saratoga Speedway |
30 | July 15, 1971 | Islip 250 | Islip Speedway |
31 | July 18, 1971 | Northern 300 | Trenton Speedway |
32 | July 24, 1971 | Nashville 420 | Nashville Speedway |
33 | August 1, 1971 | Dixie 500 | Atlanta International Raceway |
34 | August 6, 1971 | Myers Brothers 250 | Bowman Gray Stadium |
35 | August 8, 1971 | West Virginia 500 | International Raceway Park |
36 | August 15, 1971 | Yankee 400 | Michigan International Speedway |
37 | August 22, 1971 | Talladega 500 | Alabama International Motor Speedway |
38 | August 27, 1971 | Sandlapper 200 | Columbia Speedway |
39 | August 28, 1971 | Buddy Shuman 276 | Hickory Speedway |
40 | September 6, 1971 | Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway |
41 | September 26, 1971 | Old Dominion 500 | Martinsville Speedway |
42 | October 10, 1971 | National 500 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
43 | October 17, 1971 | Delaware 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway |
44 | October 24, 1971 | American 500 | North Carolina Motor Speedway |
45 | November 7, 1971 | Georgia 500 | Middle Georgia Raceway |
46 | November 14, 1971 | Capital City 500 | Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway |
47 | November 21, 1971 | Wilkes 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway |
48 | December 12, 1971 | Texas 500 | Texas World Speedway |
Results[]
Final Points Standings[]
Pos. | Driver | Races | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s | Poles | Points | Difference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Richard Petty | 46 | 21 | 38 | 41 | 9 | 4435 | |
2 | James Hylton | 46 | 0 | 14 | 37 | 1 | 4071 | -364 |
3 | Cecil Gordon | 46 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 3677 | -758 |
4 | Bobby Allison | 42 | 11 | 27 | 31 | 9 | 3636 | -799 |
5 | Elmo Langley | 46 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 0 | 3356 | -1,079 |
6 | Jabe Thomas | 43 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 3200 | -1,235 |
7 | Bill Champion | 45 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 3058 | -1,377 |
8 | Frank Warren | 47 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2886 | -1,549 |
9 | J.D. McDuffie | 43 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2862 | -1,573 |
10 | Walter Ballard | 41 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 2633 | -1,802 |
11 | Benny Parsons | 35 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 0 | 2611 | -1,824 |
12 | Ed Negre | 43 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2528 | -1,907 |
13 | Bill Seifert | 37 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2403 | -2,032 |
14 | Henley Gray | 39 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2392 | -2,043 |
15 | Buddy Baker | 19 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 2358 | -2,077 |
16 | Friday Hassler | 29 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 2277 | -2,158 |
17 | Earl Brooks | 35 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2205 | -2,230 |
18 | Bill Dennis | 28 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2181 | -2,254 |
19 | Wendell Scott | 37 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2180 | -2,255 |
20 | John Sears | 37 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2167 | -2,268 |
21 | Dave Marcis | 29 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 2049 | -2,386 |
22 | Neil Castles | 38 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2036 | -2,399 |
23 | Bobby Isaac | 25 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 4 | 1819 | -2,616 |
24 | Pete Hamilton | 22 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 1739 | -2,696 |
25 | Joe Frasson | 17 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1619 | -2,816 |
26 | Ben Arnold | 18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1618 | -2,817 |
27 | Ron Keselowski | 20 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1446 | -2,989 |
28 | Bill Shirey | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1303 | -3,132 |
29 | Donnie Allison | 13 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 1280 | -3,155 |
30 | Dean Dalton | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1276 | -3,159 |
31 | Raymond Williams | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1270 | -3,165 |
32 | Dick May | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1090 | -3,345 |
33 | Charlie Roberts | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1053 | -3,382 |
34 | G.C. Spencer | 17 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1008 | -3,427 |
35 | Richard D. Brown | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 967 | -3,468 |
36 | Dick Brooks | 20 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 939 | -3,496 |
37 | Larry Baumel | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 904 | -3,531 |
38 | Maynard Troyer | 13 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 879 | -3,556 |
39 | Roy Mayne | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 852 | -3,583 |
40 | Ken Meisenhelder | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 797 | -3,638 |
Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.
Rookie of the Year[]
With 3 Top 5s and 11 Top 10s in 41 starts, Walter Ballard won the 1971 Rookie of the Year Award.
Position | Driver | Race Wins |
---|---|---|
1 | Walter Ballard | 0 |
2 | Maynard Troyer | 0 |
3 | Richard Brown | 0 |
4 | D.K. Ulrich | 0 |
Manufacturer's Championship[]
With 22 wins, Plymouth won the 1971 Manufacturer’s Championship.
Position | Make | Race Wins |
---|---|---|
1 | 22 | |
2 | 8 | |
3 | 10 | |
4 | 5 | |
5 | 3 | |
6 | 0 | |
7 | 0 | |
8 | 0 | |
9 | 0 |
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