Rewriting NASCAR's Modern History, 1971 and Beyond

[tcoley]

Oh, What A Week!

They would pile into the car, all 6 of them crammed in there. Boyd would sit up front in the center between his parents while Bryan, and his two sisters, Sharon and Shannon stuffed in the backseat. The would cruise the hot spots between Riverside International Raceway, and the newly built Ontario Motor Speedway. They would see the "stars" working on their cars in hotel parking lots. None of them really looked like anything special, just regular guys covered in dirt, grease and sweat.

Sharon, 17, the first-born, liked racing, but she wasn't into it as much as the boys were, not many were. She found it interesting, how the drivers could get so much out of their cars. Being the oldest, she was also the first child that went to the races with her dad. When you went to the races with Gene, you didn't go to just watch cars go around in circles, you went and you learned. He taught her everything he knew. What makes the car push out of the corner like a dump-truck, whether it was the car set-up, or the driver rushing the throttle. He wanted anybody that went with him to "know" the sport, not just think of it as hillbillies going around in circles! Sharon had a ton of respect for the drivers and the crews, anybody that could put that much time and effort into a sport...a way of life and risk everything, they had her full respect. As her brothers wanted to work on cars, and race them, Sharon didn't have that itch, she wanted to work more behind the scenes. She would gladly support her dad and brothers, but they were far from that reality still.

Sharon's favorite driver was Buddy Baker, he was one of the first drivers that her dad pointed out to her at the Milwaukee Mile when she was young. Gene said, "that Baker sure can muscle a car, he's got what it takes to win anywhere!" Ever since that time years ago, Buddy Baker has been her driver. On this day, she would meet her hero.

The family came across Benny Parsons working on his car in a Super 8 parking lot. They didn't stop, just slowly passed, not to bother the young driver and his crewmen at work until...

"Good run Sunday!" Bryan hollered from his backseat position, arm waiving out the window, with a huge grin on his face. Benny kindly waived back, slightly turning his head to see who called him, not really knowing what was said.

A few blocks later, there sat the red and black #6 Dodge Charger Daytona of Buddy Baker, and orange #91 Plymouth of Cole Timmons, in another hotel parking lot. About 15 men were working on both cars at the same time.

"DAD! Look! Buddy is right there!" Sharon pointed out the giant-of-a-man that was Buddy Baker talking to another man. He was doing a lot of movements with his hands, maybe explaining how he wanted his car to handle at this week's race. Gene couldn't pass up this opportunity! He pulled the car into the parking lot and over by the crew. Buddy and the other driver, who turned out to be Cole, started walking over to the family that was stuffed in the car.

"Well, hello there," Buddy welcomed with his ever distinct voice. "Welcome to Cotton's shop," he continued with a chuckle, referring to his car owner, and legendary mechanic. "It's a little dirty, but you can't beat the location! I'm..."

He was cut-off...

"Buddy Baker!" Sharon chimed in, as the family started to pour out of the car. "Buddy Baker!" He nodded kindly. "Dad, that is Buddy Baker." She looked at Buddy, then her dad, and back and Buddy, ran around the car and put out her hand for a handshake. He was a giant! Gene explained to Buddy about why she was fascinated with him. They talked about the races back at the Milwaukee Mile, and Buddy's speed record he set just last year. The boys however, wanted to check out the cars. They went from watching the mechanics, to helping the mechanics, to showing the mechanics a few things. Even Boyd, at 11 knew his Chrysler cars!

While Bryan and Boyd did what they did best, Gene, Karen, Sharon and Shannon took Buddy and Cole up on grabbing some coffee across the street, at a local greasy spoon. Gene asked the generous drivers all about the circuit, the life, and how to get started. Every question was answered by them, nothing was off limits. Before they knew it, a couple hours had passed.

Once they were back at "Cotton's Shop," the boys showed Gene what they had done to the 2 cars. Gene looked over their work and nodded, looked over at Buddy smirking, "Well Buddy, there's only one reason now why you shouldn't win Sunday." Buddy and Cole laughed as did Gene. The boys looked at each other, and couldn't believe how friendly Buddy, Cole were to their dad. With that, the crews started loading up their tools and cars, tomorrow was practice and qualifying day at a brand new track. A lot was ahead of them.

"One last thing," Buddy stopped Gene before he got in his car. "Cole over there, he might be lookin' to get out. His daughter is real sick back at home, it ain't lookin' good at all. He's been tellin' me he don't think he'll make the whole season." Buddy told Gene all this in a hushed tone, he didn't want Cole knowing he told anybody. "Oh yeah, Gene isn't a good racer's name." He chuckled, knowing that someday, he and "Gene" would be on the same track doing battle.

With a quick reply, "Well, that voice isn't very imposing either!" Gene and Buddy laughed as Gene pulled the car door shut and pulled away. Everybody in the car that night, just had one of the best experiences of their life! They sat quiet on the way home, each thinking about their favorite moments from the past few hours. They had met Buddy Baker, and he was a down to earth guy. As they got closer to home, Gene thought about the last thing Buddy said to him more and more...he needed a "racer's" name!

__________________________________________________ _______________________________________

[tcoley]

The Indy of the West

Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA

The place was gorgeous, as far as race tracks go. It was a state-of-the-art facility. The grandstands were spacious and comfortable for the fans, there were also air-conditioned suites, something that other tracks on the NASCAR circuit didn't have yet. Ontario pioneered a private stadium club with annual memberships, corporate suites, crash absorbent retaining walls and safety fences, state-of-the-art modern garage facilities for the race teams, and a computerized real-time timing and scoring system which showed in real-time the positions on the track to spectators during the race. (This timing and scoring system would subsequently be adopted by the Formula One circuit and ultimately by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.) Clearly, the Ontario 500 was going to be one of NASCAR's Crown-Jewel events, joining the Daytona 500, World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and the Alabama 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway.

Ontario Motor Speedway was about to have it's first race, and it was a sell-out! (OMS was the first automobile race facility to launch a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign based on extensive market research.) Dubbed "The Indianapolis of the West," OMS was initially designed to be an exact replica of the 2.5 mile IMS, but with a few enhancements. The track was given a one-lane wider surface to give the drivers more room to race, and the short chutes on each end of the track were slightly banked, making OMS a bit faster than Indy. To show support for building "The Indy of the West," Tony Hulman-owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, sent the owners of OMS a special gift, a circle of bricks that were used to pave the original IMS surface in 1909. Those bricks are seated in OMS victory lane.

At this point in time, A.J. Foyt has won 3 Indianapolis 500 titles, 1961, 1964, and 1967. Considering his success at Indy, and his current hot streak, he MUST be considered the favorite for this weekends Inaugural L.A. Times 500. To go along with Foyt, Mario Andretti should also be taken into consideration, as he won the 1969 Indy 500. Although Mario hasn't had a great start to the season, 36th at Daytona, and 13th at Riverside, he has shown speed, and his experience on big flat-tracks should benefit him this week.

_____________________________

[tcoley]

Plymouth Unhappy with Petty?

Chris Economaki reporting:

Considered by many to be NASCAR's top driver in Richard Petty, and having Plymouth's Superbird, Petty is expected to put up results. That hasn't been quite the case yet this season, and there are grumblings throughout the garage area that Plymouth is not very happy about it, and could be looking to move on to back another driver in 1972. Petty is Chrysler's top driver, he receives more support than any driver on the circuit. Today's qualifying results were no different, as Chrysler's counterpart, Ford Motor Company, grabbed the top four spots for Sunday's L.A. Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Petty's #43 car wasn't terrible, timing in 6th, while Dave Marcis' #30 Dodge was 5th.

Cale Yarborough will lead the field to green as he captured the pole, with a top speed of 165.265 mph, orbiting the new track in 54.458 seconds! The Wood Brothers appear to be on a roll after last week's victory with Dan Gurney.

Starting on the outside pole will be David Pearson, who also needs to rebound, as his season hasn't gotten off to a good start. The second row will have #72 Benny Parsons, and the #27 of Donnie Allison.

Check back Sunday to see if Petty can get on the right track, or if Ford will continue to dominate this season!

_______________________________________

[tcoley]

1971 L.A. Times 500
Ontario Motor Speedway

"Richard Petty is proving that he is "The Man!" A thundering voice boomed over the Ontario Motor Speedway's public address system, as the leaders charged down the front stretch. Petty had led 76 of the race's 183 laps, only 17 remained. With a two-second gap back to pole-sitter, Cale Yarborough, and only 10 cars remaining on the lead lap, Petty looked primed to capture his first victory of the season! And what a way to do it, at the Inaugural Ontario 500! Any time you win, it's special, but to be the driver to win the first event just adds to the prestige! Not only would it get Plymouth back on track, but Petty was sitting 21st in the point standing coming into Ontario-he needed a rebound.

"Cale closes in off turn 2! He goes by a slowed Petty down the backstretch!" The track announcer screamed as the crowd jumped to their feet to see. Indeed, Petty was off the pace and heading to pit road. Pure disappointment. As the #43 pulled onto pit road, the window net drops, and he coasts directly to the garage, he's done for the day.

"Petty is out, the class of the field is out! Cale leads Baker and #71 Bobby Isaac by 3 seconds, but they are closing in. Will they get there in time?" The crowd watches intently, each of the three drivers are very popular among the fans.

Isaac's Dodge shadows Baker around the circuit, by utilizing the draft of the 2 cars, they're able to start chipping away at Cale's lead. Isaac and Baker are Dodge's last shot to get into victory lane at Ontario this week. If they can't get it done, it would make it 3 in a row for Ford and Mercury to start the season, that will not sit well with Chrysler.

"Here they come through turn 3!" the announcer bellowed. "If Baker has anything for Cale, he's got to make it happen off turn 4." Baker closed in, driving it in deep into turn 4, desperately trying to get to the bumper of the 21 Mercury, but Cale made a smooth run off the corner and was able to drive to victory. Buddy settled for second, 0.45 seconds behind Cale, with Isaac just 0.66 seconds behind Cale. Dick Brook's #32 Plymouth came home 4th, while Mario Andretti grabbed 5th place.

Cale led 56 laps from the pole on his way to his first win of the season! With the win, he slides into 2nd, just 4 points behind Championship point leader, Dave Marcis, who has finished in the top 10 in all three races, lastly with a 9th place finish at OMS.

The point leader coming into Ontario, AJ Foyt had nothing but bad luck this week. The point leader started 25th, and ended up in a crash with Benny Parsons, finishing 37th, and falling to 6th in points.

6th-10th, Donnie Allison who led 27 laps, Charlie Glotzbach, David Pearson which led 22 laps, Dave Marcis, and #79 Fred Warren in a Dodge. That's 6 Chryslers, and 4 Ford products in the top 10, although a Ford came home with the trophy.

Other notables:
Daytona 500 winner, Bill Champion was 11th.
#36 Charles Stevens was 14th, and stays 3rd in points.
#13 Curtis Turner finished 17th.
Richard Petty's camshaft couldn't make it the full 500 miles, and relegated him to a 28th place, 17 laps short of the finish.
Neil Castles was involved in an accident with Elmo Langley, they finished 30th and 31st.
Pete Hamilton's Plymouth burned out a clutch and was 32nd, leading 6 laps.
Leeroy Yarbrough was 34th. This team has got to get something figured out, they are last in points among drivers that have run all 3 races; 40th in the standings. Leeroy's average starting position is great, 7.0, but his average finish is 37th!
Bobby Allison must also find a way to stop the bleeding as he made it just past halfway before falling out of the race, finishing 38th, 29th in the standings.
Cole Timmons' bad luck continues! The #91 Plymouth was fast, qualifying 9th, but a blown motor on lap 16 had the team finishing 43rd.

"We've caught up with today's second-place finisher, Buddy Baker," a pit reporter explains over the public address system. "Buddy, you were right there, could you have done anything different to pull off the win?" Buddy, still drenched with sweat, looks down at the reporter and smiles at him.

"Boy oh boy, I thought I had a chance there for a second," he pauses to take a drink of water, "I think Cale was saving his stuff, playin' with us, he could do whatever he wanted out there." The reporter starts to pull the mic away and thank Buddy, "Hey, hey, hold on there, I ain't done yet." Buddy pulls the small reporter back with an awkward side-hug. "You'll know when I'm done talkin'," he grinned. "I have to thank my guys, they worked all week in a motel parking lot, and the car was fast! I also have to thank my friend Shannon Faulkner and his boys, Boyd Allen and Bryan Lee. They worked on my hot-rod and made some changes. Dodge, if you're listening, there's your youngbloods," Buddy started to chuckle, "and Faulkner isn't too shabby either."

__________________________________

[tcoley]

Richmond 500
Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
Richmond, VA

Was the season turning around? That's all that ran through his head. He just captured his first career pole award. He had to beat a quick lap that Cale had just put up, but the #91 Plymouth of Cole Timmons was able to conquer the 0.542 short track the quickest.

His best friend on the circuit, Buddy Baker, walked up behind Cole as he interviewed with the local paper. "Great lap Cole, wanna come take a look at my ride when ya have a chance?" Buddy pleaded, his team was struggling at the little bullring. Buddy was a great driver, but he excelled on the big tracks where you spent most of the time mashing the throttle. When it came to the short bullrings, he was usually out of his element. This weekend was no different, as his team qualified 29th of the 36 car field.

Other drivers came over and shook hands and congratulated Cole, the Allison's, Pearson, Cale, Isaac, and Petty. Timmons had gained the respect of the top drivers in the sport through years of working on everybody else's cars, eventually funding a team for himself. He may have been a new face to the casual fan, but every driver on the circuit knew who Cole Timmons was, and now that he just won his first pole, there could be more to follow.

____________________________

Spoiler

Bad Luck Strikes Again

The #91 Plymouth of Cole Timmons WAS the class of the field, leading a race-high 167 laps of the 218 that he completed. However on lap 218 of the 500 lap event, Cole's motor let go. This is his third DNF due to a blown motor this season. Disappointment continues for Cole, how long can he hang on, especially with his situation at home?

Cole's misfortune turned into a victory for Bobby Isaac's Dodge! This is the first victory of the season for both Isaac and Chrysler. In fact Chrysler products went 1-2-3, the only cars that finished on the lead lap.

Isaac led 49 laps en route to victory, followed by Petty who led 54 circuits. Dave Marcis finished third leading 6 laps, while Pearson (4th) led 119 and Bobby Allison (5th) led 1.

6-10th, Neil Castles, Cale led 64, #24 Cecil Gordon, Foyt, and #64 Elmo Langley.

Notables:
11th-Leeroy Yarbrough. Again a solid qualifying effort-4th, and finally a finish to write home about. Junior Johnson is getting things turned around.
12th-Daytona 500 winner, Bill Champion.
13th-Donnie Allison, also led 27 laps.
19th-Benny Parsons
20th-A rare appearance for Al Unser. "If AJ can do it, I can do it."
24th-Buddy Baker, apparently even Cole couldn't work magic on the #6 Dodge. Buddy couldn't wait to get out of Richmond!
26th-Pete Hamilton, led 2 laps.
28th-Dick Brooks, led 11 laps, also lost a motor with 9 laps remaining.
29th-Mario Andretti. Mario was said to be scratching his head all weekend wondering how to navigate the bullring with any speed. Welcome to NASCAR!
30th-Charlie Glotzbach.
35th-Cole Timmons, led 167 laps before the motor blew.

Winston Cup Standings
After Richmond
Race 4 of 29

1-Marcis
2-Cale -23
3-Pearson -44
4-Isaac -70
5-Foyt -83
6-Baker -119
7-Castles -125
8-Champion -143
9-Parsons -174
10-Brooks -176

Notables:
11T-Donnie -183
11T-Richard Petty -183
17-Andretti -213
18-Glotzbach -223
19-Bobby -229
22-Brickhouse -263
27-Langley -294
28-Hamilton -298
31-Leeroy -347 (gained 9 point positions after Richmond)
36-Cole Timmons

Next week the Winston Cup Series heads to one of the toughest tracks on the circuit, "The Rock" North Carolina Motor Speedway for the Carolina 500!

______________________________

[tcoley]

1971 Carolina 500

North Carolina Motor Speedway
Rockingham, NC

Bobby Isaac Goes Back-to-Back!

Bobby Isaac put his Nord Krauskopf #71 Dodge Charger Daytona in victory lane at the Carolina 500! Isaac looked unstoppable from the drop of the green flag as he charged from his 15th starting spot up to the lead. Along with him came Cole Timmons who started 17th. Timmons and Isaac would eventually battle for the lead, with Cole leading 54 laps before being involved in a crash with a lapped car, dropping him out of the race with a 37th place finish.

A.J. Foyt started on the pole, his second pole of the season, however only led 1 lap in the 492 lap event, and would end up finishing 7th.

Spoiler

It was all Isaac, all-day. On his way to collecting win #2 on this young season, Bobby led 221 laps. Richard Petty ran second to Isaac for the second week in a row, and led 66 laps. Cale Yarborough brought his Mercury home in 3rd, leading 131 laps throughout the event. Fourth place finisher, Buddy Baker led 2 laps and was the first finisher one lap down to the leaders. It appears as though Junior Johnson has righted the ship, as #98 Leeroy Yarbrough finished 5th after starting 9th.

6-10: Donnie Allison who led 8 laps, Foyt, James Hylton, Benny Parsons and Neil Castles.

Notables:
11-Dick Brooks
12-Mario Andretti
14-Bobby Allison
29-Charlie Glotzbach
34-David Person
35-Point leader, Dave Marcis falls from the point lead
36-Daytona 500 Winner, Bill Champion
37-Cole Timmons
42-Pete Hamilton

1971 Winston Cup Standings
After Race 5 of 29

1-Cale
2-Isaac -22
3-Foyt -79
4-Marcis -84
5-Buddy -101
6-Pearson -130
7-Castles -138
8-Petty -155
9-Donnie -175
10-Parsons -183

Notables:
11-Brooks
14-Andretti
15-Champion
16-Bobby Allison
20-Glotzbach
26-Leeroy
31-Hamilton

Next week's race will be the Tennessee 500 from Bristol International Raceway

________________________

[tcoley]

1971 Bristol 500
Bristol International Raceway
Bristol, TN
Race 6 of 29


Petty & Isaac Continue Hot Steaks!

Richard Petty took the victory Sunday in the Bristol 500 from the Bristol International Raceway, finishing ahead of Bobby Isaac. Petty had finished second to Isaac in the last two races, but was able to turn the tables this weekend, leading 116 of the 500 laps, compared to Isaac not leading a single lap. For Petty, his hot streak continues, 3-top 5 finishes in the past 3 races after a rough start to the season. For Isaac, it's 4 straight top-3 finishes, dating back to a third place finish at Ontario!

Cale Yarborough started on the pole, along side Bobby Allison, Cale would jump out to the early lead, leading a total of 64 laps. Petty and Isaac would charge from their 10th and 11th place starting spots. They knew that they had cars that could win, but they would have to take care of them and outlast the competition on the half-mile bullring.

"Bristol is a tough place, you can get swept up in somebody else's problem at any moment." Petty was heard explaining to the local newspaper during Friday's time trials. "You can be out there leading, doing nothing wrong, and get taken out! This place is treacherous!"

Spoiler

That treacherous track would prove to be just that for quite a few of the top drivers; Elmo Langley and Buddy Baker got together on lap 106, Dick Brooks and Donnie Allison were involved in a crash on lap 197. Pole-sitter, Cale Yarborough and Mario Andretti crashed on lap 218, ending their day's with a 29th and 30th place finish respectively. In all, the caution waived 16 times for 82 laps.

With so many cautions, pit strategy was all over the place. Bill Seifert in his #45 Ford, led 95 laps, second highest of the race, thanks to a differing strategy than Petty and Isaac. Seifert had his best career finish of third, while leading those 95 laps. David Pearson's #17 Holman Moody entry finished fourth, leading 1 lap, after qualifying fourth as well. Neil Castles' Plymouth rounded out the top 5, while leading 84 laps.

6-10: Leeroy Yarbrough tallied another solid run finishing 6th after another strong qualifying effort of 3rd. Seventh was Bobby Allison, eighth Pete Hamilton with his first top-10 of the season, ninth-#54 Bill Dennis and tenth was Wendell Scott, who qualified 5th.

Notables:
11-#24 Cecil Gordon, also led 56 lap benefiting from differing pit strategy.
13-AJ Foyt, also led 48 laps and showed that he can be a force on teh short tracks.
19-Dave Marcis, ran mid-pack all day. After starting the season with 4 straight top-10's, has struggled the last 2 races.
20-Benny Parsons also led 6 laps.
24-Daytona 500 winner, Bill Champion also led 6 laps, but finished 5 laps down to the leaders.
28-Charlie Glotzbach had his motor blow up on lap 351.

1971 Winston Cup Standings
After Bristol
Race 6 of 29

1-Isaac
2-Cale -67
3-Foyt -98
4-Petty -108
5-Pearson -113
6T-Castles -126
6T-Marcis -126
8-Baker -206
9-Parsons -223
10-Hylton -237

Notables:
12-Donnie Allison -251 down 3 spots.
13-Bobby Allison -257 gained 3 spots, and is starting to show consistent speed throughout a full race.
14-Brooks -277 down 3 spots
15-Bill Champion -287, idle.
17-Andretti -308 down 3 spots.
21-Leeroy Yarbrough -337 gained 5 more positions.
23-Glotzbach down 3 positions.
25-Hamilton, up 6 spots from last week.
38-Cole Timmons, who surprisingly was not at Bristol fell 5 spots.

The Winston Cup Series heads to Atlanta International Raceway next week for the Atlanta 500!

________________________________

[tcoley]

1971 Atlanta 500
Atlanta International Raceway
Race 7 of 29

"The Fox" Dominates Atlanta

Richard Petty earned his first pole of the 1971 season, just edging out Leeroy Yarbrough's Ford Torino by five-thousandths of a second! The Allison's, Bobby and Donnie made up row 2. Point leader, Bobby Isaac qualified 5th, with Cale Yarborough 6th. The remaining top-10 qualifiers were, Pete Hamilton, Charlie Glotzbach, Dave Marcis, and David Pearson.

On the start it looked as though today was going to be another Petty win, but the field had other ideas! The #43 Plymouth rocketed out to lead the first 39 laps before Junior Johnson's prepared Ford driven by Leeroy Yarbrough chased him down and took over the top spot, bringing a fast Bobby Allison along. Leeroy would lead the next 8 laps before giving way to Allison, who could only lead 3 laps before a hard-charging Bobby Isaac took over the top spot! The #71 of Isaac was looked as though he would pad his point lead as he pulled away from the field...

Spoiler

...as he would lead the next 44 laps. On lap 94 a dropped valve caused him to retire from the race, resulting in a 36th place finish.

From then on, David Pearson, commonly known as "The Fox" among his counterparts, led 211 of the remaining 234 laps, only giving up the lead for green-flag pit stop cycles. The race was slowed by caution only 3 times for a total of 12 laps, and all 3 were in the first 100 laps.

David was dominant, as the closest finisher was Benny Parson, 16.79 seconds behind him. Third place finisher, Dave Marcis, was the last car on the lead lap, 17.08 seconds behind Pearson. Fourth place went to Cale Yarborough, who takes over the point lead by 16 over Pearson. Leeroy put together another solid run finishing fifth. Bobby Allison and Pete Hamilton were sixth and seventh, the last two finishers just one lap down to the leaders. Eighth was Donnie Allison, followed by Dick Brooks, and Charlie Glotzbach tenth.

Richard Petty finished 12th after having contact with a slower car during a set of green-flag pit stops. The contact resulted in a damaged right front fender, resulting in Petty losing some on-track speed. Mario Andretti came home 13th, and may be looking to head back to the Indy car series if Holman Moody can't get him running as well as Pearson.

Neil Castles finished 14th in an uneventful day, with Fred Lorenzen 15th. Country singer, Marty Robbins pulled off a finish of 17th, and is looking to make more races in the immediate future. Elmo Langley finished 18th while leading 1 lap through a pit stop sequence. Buddy Baker's team struggled, finishing 25th. This marks the second race in as many weeks that his best-friend, Cole Timmons did not show up to the track. AJ Foyt finished a disappointing 39th, only completing 60 laps before the motor blew up in his Ford.

Manufacture Wins:
Daytona - Ford
Riverside - Mercury
Ontario - Mercury
Richmond - Dodge
Rockingham - Dodge
Bristol - Plymouth
Atlanta - Ford

This is interesting considering, that the Dodges and Plymouths are supposed to be built for high speed tracks, yet the Ford products have won all the races on the big tracks; Daytona, Ontario, and Atlanta. The Chrysler products have won on all the short-tracks; Richmond, Bristol and the 1.017 mile oval in Rockingham. We'll see how this plays out throughout the season. Up next are two short tracks, North Wilkesboro, and Martinsville.

Cale Yarborough takes over the point lead, followed by "The Fox," Isaac, Marcis, and Petty, all within 74 points. 6-10th, Neil Castles, Benny Parsons, AJ Foyt, Bobby Allison and James Hylton.

Next week is the first of two straight races at short-tracks, the North Wilkesboro 400, followed by the Martinsville 500.

______________________________________