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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[]

Round Race Pole Winner Winner Make Cautions Caution Laps Average Speed Number of Lead Changes
1 1971 Motor Trend 500 Richard Petty Ray Elder Dodge badge 1 9 100.783 10
2 1971 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1 A.J. Foyt Pete Hamilton Plymouth text 0 0 175.029 9
3 1971 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2 Bobby Isaac David Pearson Mercury Logo 1 3 168.728 20
4 1971 Daytona 500 A.J. Foyt Richard Petty Plymouth text 7 44 144.462 48
5 1971 Miller High Life 500 A.J. Foyt A.J. Foyt Mercury Logo 5 21 134.168 28
6 1971 Richmond 500 Dave Marcis Richard Petty Plymouth text 3 18 79.836 6
7 1971 Carolina 500 Fred Lorenzen Richard Petty Plymouth text 7 36 118.696 19
8 1971 Hickory 276 Bobby Allison Richard Petty Plymouth text 3 22 67.700 4
9 1971 Southeastern 500 David Pearson David Pearson Ford logo 5 45 91.704 9
10 1971 Atlanta 500 A.J. Foyt A.J. Foyt Mercury Logo 4 31 131.375 23
11 1971 Columbia 200 James Hylton Richard Petty Plymouth text 2 10 76.514 6
12 1971 Greenville 200 David Pearson Bobby Isaac Dodge badge 1 5 78.159 1
13 1971 Maryville 200 Friday Hassler Richard Petty Plymouth text 1 3 88.697 3
14 1971 Gwyn Staley 400 Bobby Isaac Richard Petty Plymouth text 0 0 98.479 6
15 1971 Virginia 500 Donnie Allison Richard Petty Plymouth text 1 3 77.707 10
16 1971 Rebel 400 Donnie Allison Buddy Baker Dodge badge 5 30 130.678 13
17 1971 Halifax County 100 Bobby Isaac Benny Parsons Ford logo 2 14 72.271 4
18 1971 Winston 500 Donnie Allison Donnie Allison Mercury Logo 7 45 147.419 45
19 1971 Asheville 300 Richard Petty Richard Petty Plymouth text 0 0 71.231 4
20 1971 Kingsport 300 Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac Dodge badge 6 35 63.242 2
21 1971 World 600 Charlie Glotzbach Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 3 24 140.422 13
22 1971 Mason-Dixon 500 Richard Petty Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 0 0 123.119 21
23 1971 Motor State 400 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 2 13 149.567 32
24 1971 Winston Golden State 400 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Dodge badge 6 32 93.427 12
25 1971 Space City 300 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Dodge badge 0 0 73.489 6
26 1971 Pickens 200 Bobby Allison Richard Petty Plymouth text 3 15 74.297 7
27 1971 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 Donnie Allison Bobby Isaac Dodge badge 2 11 161.947 34
28 1971 Volunteer 500 Richard Petty Charlie Glotzbach Chevrolet bowtie 2023 0 0 101.074 7
29 1971 Albany-Saratoga 250 Richard Petty Richard Petty Plymouth text 2 10 66.748 7
30 1971 Islip 250 Richard Petty Richard Petty Plymouth text 0 0 49.925 0
31 1971 Northern 300 Friday Hassler Richard Petty Plymouth text 3 12 120.347 13
32 1971 Nashville 420 Richard Petty Richard Petty Plymouth text 4 46 89.667 2
33 1971 Dixie 500 Buddy Baker Richard Petty Plymouth text 5 48 129.061 27
34 1971 Myers Brothers 250 Richard Petty Bobby Allison Ford logo 6 36 44.792 1
35 1971 West Virginia 500 Bobby Allison Richard Petty Plymouth text 5 38 83.805 13
36 1971 Yankee 400 Pete Hamilton Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 2 12 149.862 30
37 1971 Talladega 500 Donnie Allison Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 5 43 145.945 54
38 1971 Sandlapper 200 Richard Petty Richard Petty Plymouth text 6 41 64.831 6
39 1971 Buddy Shuman 276 Dave Marcis Tiny Lund Chevrolet bowtie 2023 2 7 72.937 1
40 1971 Southern 500 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 5 32 131.398 14
41 1971 Old Dominion 500 Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac Dodge badge 3 33 73.681 10
42 1971 National 500 Charlie Glotzbach Bobby Allison Mercury Logo 6 37 126.140 10
43 1971 Delaware 500 Bobby Allison Richard Petty Plymouth text 2 9 123.254 3
44 1971 American 500 Charlie Glotzbach Richard Petty Plymouth text 9 58 113.405 14
45 1971 Georgia 500 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Ford logo 7 44 80.859 8
46 1971 Capital City 500 Bill Dennis Richard Petty Plymouth text 4 24 80.025 9
47 1971 Wilkes 400 Charlie Glotzbach Tiny Lund Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3 19 96.174 8
48 1971 Texas 500 Pete Hamilton Richard Petty Plymouth text 3 28 144.000 22

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 Plymouth text 22
2 Dodge badge 8
3 Mercury Logo 10
4 Ford logo 5
5 Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3
6 Oldsmobile 1981 badge 0
7 Buick text 80s 0
8 Pontiac badge 0
9 AMC logo small 0
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