Rewriting NASCAR's Modern History, 1971 and Beyond

[tcoley]

What's the Hold-up Brother?

Riverside, CA

Riiing! Riiiing! Riiiiing!

"I got it!" Gene hollered, wiping his hands off, "Hello." He answered, cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth. A very recognizable voice started on the other end.

"Hello, is Shannon there?" The voice asked with a slight chuckle. The voice was so recognizable, but asking for Shannon?

"And, who may I ask is calling my 13 year old daughter?" Gene asked sternly, then exhaling his smoke."

The caller chuckled again, "Not that Shannon, I'm looking for Shannon Faulkner! Where is he? NASCAR is lookin' for him!" Then all out laughter from the other caller. Gene couldn't believe it, the caller was Buddy Baker! The voice so recognizable, he felt silly for not figuring it out right away.

"Buddy! How the hell are ya!?" Gene asked, lighting another cigarette. He couldn't believe it, Buddy Baker was calling him...at home!

"Well, Shannon," another chuckle, "I know you know, our season hasn't gone too well since we left Ontario. These last few weeks been rough brother." Buddy explained while he puffed on a cigarette of his own. "Now Cole is out! He was my traveling partner, he did a lot for us, now he's gone. Back home with his daughter, and it don't look good brother. I'm callin' to see what the hold up is with you! You were waiting on that new Plymouth last time we talked...a month ago! What's goin' on? We're a quarter way through the season, no sign of ya." Buddy started to sound irritated, "Get a hold of Cole, get his stuff, get to the races!" Buddy began to chuckle again, "'Cause, I need your boys workin' on my car again!" He was back to a full hearty laugh again. "Oh, and by the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, your new name is Shannon Faulkner! Start practicin' that autograph brother!" Buddy explained, not taking 'no' for an answer.

Gene/Shannon explained what he was told by Plymouth, "that it was just a matter of time." They discussed everything that had happened over the past month like they were old friends. Buddy expressed that he was nervous about the upcoming races, 2 short-tracks. He knew that they weren't his best tracks, but after those, were 5 tracks he could do really well on; Darlington, Alabama, Charlotte, Dover Downs, and Michigan, before heading back out to the Riverside road-course. He needed to survive North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, so he and his team could make a championship push during those 5 races.

They hung up the call, Buddy calling him Shannon a few more times, trying to engrave the name into Gene's brain. Buddy have given him a lot of information, it was time to apply it. He sat and thought for a moment, butterflies in his stomach. He was about to make a call, a call that could effectively end another driver's career, a call that no other driver wanted to make. He couldn't wait for Plymouth anymore, Buddy's words kept playing over in his head, "What's the hold-up? What's the hold-up?"

He couldn't wait on Plymouth anymore, especially when Cole had two cars sitting in a garage ready to race. But would he want to relinquish all he'd ever wanted to do? Race! Did he believe his daughter would be okay someday soon, and he could go back to racing? Would he be able to race again? Ge...Shannon didn't know the answers, and he wasn't going to figure it out without talking to Cole.

A freshly lit cigarette in one hand, Shannon slowly punched in Cole's phone number...

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[tcoley]

1971 Wilkesboro 400
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Race 8 of 29

What did "The Fox" Say?

"These short-tracks are killing us Cotton! We have to do something!" Buddy screamed to his car owner as he unhooked his helmet strap and seat belt, while the roar of the rest of the field filled the air. He was out of the race, it was only lap 219 when Baker was caught up in a crash with the race leader and pole-sitter, David Pearson, resulting in a 38th place finish. At the time, Baker was going down a second lap, and the team was discouraged. They couldn't keep pace with the sport's top teams, and they had great equipment. What was the problem? Was it their preparation? Was it their cars? Was it the pit crew? Was it, the driver? Were they just in a funk, or would they always struggle on the bullrings? They needed answers, and quick!

Baker slid out of his #6 Dodge, "Is it me Cotton?" He asked sheepishly, pulling a cigarette out to light. He was a beaten man. He thought that they were on their way up. The team had qualified 12th, a victory to them on the rough short track. They had something to work with, but the car faded fast, and before they knew it, Buddy was a lap down to the leaders.

"The Fox" came walking around the corner of the garage, "Buddy!" David was a very quiet man, but he got his point across when he was angry, and he was coming to get that point across to Buddy. The giant of a man, Buddy Baker, walked over to David, away from the crew, they didn't need to get involved.

The crew watched as Buddy stood there, taking his licks from "The Fox," he only spoke when David asked him a question, which wasn't often, and when he did get his chance to speak, they were very short answers. Cotton and the crew couldn't hear any of what was being said, but David was getting his point across, and Buddy understood fully. What made Pearson even more angry was the fact that point leader, Cale Yarborough was running very well in the top 5, and David was now out, in 36th, losing precious championship points. He had come into Wilkesboro second in the standings, and after winning the pole, figured to have a great points weekend. That was, until Buddy happened.

Buddy slowly walked back over to his crew, head hung down, "Well? What'd 'The Fox' have ta say?" Cotton asked with a grin on his face.

Buddy looked up and smiled back at his car owner, "He wanted to know my mothers fried chicken recipe," he chuckled and walked by Cotton, patting him on the back as he went by, "it is pretty good."

Spoiler

Cale Yarborough Wins @ Wilkesboro!

Cale's Mercury found victory lane for the second time this season, as he charged to the checkers in front of Bobby Isaac by less than 1 second! Yarborough would lead 39 of the 400 laps, but don't let that small amount of laps led deceive you, Cale ran in the top-5 all-day, and was on top when it counted the most. Cale stretched out his point lead over new second place man, Isaac, who is just 53 points back! Coming into the weekend, David Pearson was 2nd in points, but a crash involving Buddy Baker, and Dick Brooks, had Pearson falling to 4th, 146 points behind Cale.

Bobby Isaac led 71 laps to match his car number on his way to his 5th-top 5 of the season, while Donnie Allison led 48 laps and finished 3rd-the last driver on the lead lap. Fourth place went to Richard Petty, who led a race-high, 139 laps, and moves up to 3rd in points, 94 out of the lead. Petty had problems in qualifying, and never got a timed lap in, forcing him to start 42nd on the field. Fifth place went to a new-comer, #03 Eddie Yarboro who has 2 previous starts to the season.

The remaining top 10 was filled with underdog teams as the rough bullring took it's toll on many of the series' top drivers! Sixth was #49 GC Spencer, followed by Charlie Glotzbach, Bill Arnold in his #00 Ford, Daytona 500 Winner, Bill Champion and the #18 Dodge of Joe Frasson.

Notables:
12-Neil Castles struggled all weekend and started 41st.
14-Bobby Allison couldn't find the handle after a solid qualifying effort of 5th.
17-AJ Foyt, started 8th and led 15 laps.
18-Pete Hamilton, after qualifying 6th.
20-Mario Andretti, started 19th, and ran mid-pack all day.
39-Leeroy Yarbrough's solid run streak ended when he and 40th place finisher, Benny Parsons wrecked on lap 132. Parsons led 49 laps before the crash occurred.
42-Dave Marcis started 26th, and only finished 101 laps before falling out of the race.

Next on tap for the Winston Cup Series is the half-mile paperclip, Martinsville Speedway!
Somewhere, Buddy Baker is getting sick.

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[tcoley]

1971 Martinsville 500
Martinsville, VA
Race 9 of 29

Easy In, Out Like a Wildman!

Once again, Buddy and his team were struggling on another short track. Martinsville is unlike any other track on the circuit, it's a flat half-mile track that is tough on brakes! Often referred to as "The Paperclip" as that is exactly what it looks like from an aerial view, long straights, with very tight turns. If you can imagine two dragstrips tied together with 180* turns at each end, you can imagine Martinsville.

There are only 31 starting positions at the track, so qualifying in would be a task, especially for a team not known for their short-track prowess. Little did they know that help was on the way.

In the first practice session of the weekend, Baker's team was on the outside looking in, 37th in time of 44 cars. If they followed up that speed in qualifying, they would miss the race. You can bet that if Buddy Baker missed qualifying into a race, Dodge would pull some, if not all of their support. The crew was feverishly working on the car as Cotton and Buddy discussed the handling of the car. Buddy used his hands to describe how the car was running, and from a distance, he was turning his hands to the right...A LOT, meaning that the car was very loose! Just then, Buddy looked up to see three familiar, and very welcomed faces walking his way...

Spoiler

"You're on the wrong side of the country Brother!" Buddy extended his arm out to shake hands. "But I sure am glad to see your mug here!" He grabbed Shannon Faulkner's hand then pulled him in for a brief chest-bump style hug. Bryan and Boyd shared pleasantries with Buddy, Cotton and the crew, then started looking over the car.

"It was nice of you to let Cotton run that first practice." Faulkner joked, lighting a cigarette and grinning ear to ear.

Buddy quickly quipped back, "He probably could'ave done a better job!" He was happy to see the three of them show up, he had a ton of respect and belief in them. Buddy's spirits lifted the second he saw them. You'd never known that they were 37th in time.

Shannon starting looking over the car with his boys, every couple seconds one of them would point something out on the car that they didn't like, and the other two would concur. "We're going to change a few things Buddy," Shannon explained, "we need to get back to a baseline." He walked to the back of the trailer shaking his head, puffing away on his cigarette. "I don't know how you even got around the track with that setup! The next practice starts in 15 minutes, we can't get it all changed by then, but we can make some adjustments," he hesitated for a moment, Buddy and Cotton looked on in suspense, all three of them sitting in a cloud of cigarette smoke. "Or, we can get the car right, but we'd have to skip practice."

Cotton started shaking his head, "No practice? Boy, you come in here, wantin' to change everythin', and on top of it, not practice!" Cotton was hot!

"With all due respect Cotton," Faulkner started, "this thing," he pointed at the car, "is so far out to lunch, it'll take all day to get it back on track. We can either waste time practicing a set up you aren't going to race, or we can fix this pile, and race good. Your choice. How long do you need to run like junk on these bullrings?" Buddy walked over by Shannon and looked over at Cotton with a pleading look.

"Let's give it a try Cotton, what have we got to lose? I trust these guys, and you should too after what they did for us out at Ontario." Buddy reminded Cotton of their second place finish out west. "Heck, we'll save on tires and gas by not running that practice!" Buddy chuckled as did Shannon, but Cotton was not amused. He sat down abruptly on a stack of tires, and gave a very reluctant "okay" as he puffed away on the end of his cigarette. Before he could change his mind, Faulkner started explaining to the entire group what they were going to do and what needed to be changed. The next time the car would be on the track would be qualifying!

Spoiler

An Unlikely Pole Winner

Reporter: Chris Economaki

Dodge's very own test driver, Charlie Glotzbach wins the pole for Sunday's Martinsville 500! This comes as a huge surprise as Glotzbach is not known for his short-track racing, it's the big super-speedways where he can let his Hemi stretch it's legs, that he excels at! Bobby Allison lines up second, bumping his series leading average starting position up a bit, to an astounding 3.75!

Donnie Allison and Richard Petty make up row two, but it's row three that has grabbed the garage's attention! Dick Brooks starts fifth, but Buddy Baker qualified sixth! Yes folks, you read that right, Buddy Baker who was 37th in the first practice and didn't turn a lap in the second practice, jumped all the way up to sixth. I caught up with Buddy after his hot lap.

"Buddy, where did that come from?"

"I tell ya Chris, we were hurtin' pretty bad there early in practice. I was turnin' right more than I was turnin' left, and that's bad news here at Martinsville." Buddy explained to Chris, and showed him with his hands how he had to maneuver the steering wheel to keep the car under him. "But then, my saving grace showed up! My buddy, Shannon Faulkner showed up outta nowhere with his boys, and just like they did at Ontario, they turned this thing into a rocket! Not only the car, but ole' Shannon worked on me too! I thought you had to drive fast, to go fast here, but he told me to ease the car into the corner, and come out like a wildman! I was always chargin' the corner, he taught me a lot in a few hours. It was like I was drivin' Mrs. Daisy after that!"

This is the second time we've heard of Shannon Faulkner. Who is this guy, and will he be sticking around?

Spoiler

Raceday

Cale Yarborough made it 2 wins in row, leading 253 of 500 laps on his way to victory! Donnie Allison came home second, leading 195 laps, and was the only other car on the lead lap other than Cale! Bobby Isaac charged from a 23rd place starting spot up to lead 4 laps on the day. Richard Petty had another solid 4th place finish, right where he started, but was 3 laps down to the leader. James Hylton had a strong day, starting 8th and finishing 5th.

Sixth went to Eddie Yarboro who is really starting to turn some heads with 2 straight top-10 runs. Seventh went to pole-sitter, Charlie Glotzbach who led 47 laps. Dick Brooks had another good run in his Plymouth taking 8th. Ninth went to David Pearson who was the only car 7 laps down. Leeroy Yarbrough came home tenth, 8 laps back.

Notables:
11-Buddy Baker, 9 laps down, but 11th was like a win from where the weekend started.
15-Benny Parsons, started 14th and ran mid-pack all day.
17-Pete Hamilton, started 21st, and is looking forward to the speedways coming up!
21-A.J. Foyt, finished 15 laps down, proving just how tough of a track Martinsville is.
25-Neil Castles, qualified 28th, almost missing the race.
26-Daytona 500 Winner, Bill Champion was 17 laps down.
28-Mario Andretti-Neither Holman Moody car was great today. Mario was the last qualifier to make the field, starting 31st.
30-Bobby Allison, qualified 2nd, but lost a motor on lap 121.
31-Dave Marcis is free-falling through the points, as this is his second straight last place finish as a result of a crash on lap 76.

Race Stats:
19 cautions for 95 laps
10 lead changes among 5 drivers
Average speed was 69.874 mph

Points:
Cale leads over Isaac (-78), Petty (-129), Pearson (-203) and Donnie (-247)

Next week the Winston Cup Series comes to you from Darlington Raceway for the Rebel 400!
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[tcoley]

1971 Rebel 400

Darlington Raceway
Race 10 of 29

Petty tames "The Lady in Black!"

Richard Petty pulled out the victory in dominating fashion Sunday at the Darlington Raceway, by leading 112 of the race's 294 laps! "The Lady in Black" would earn her moniker as "The Track Too Tough To Tame" striking early and often in the event, eliminating some of the Winston Cup Series' top drivers. She took out Pete Hamilton (40th) on lap 105, then ate up Dave Marcis (37th), Mario Andretti (36th), James Hylton (34th) and A.J. Foyt (33rd) on lap 142 with Foyt the leader at the time. She doesn't care who, or where you're running, she can reach out and grab you at any moment!

The Lady in Black struck again for the final time on lap 187, taking out pole-sitter, Cale Yarborough (28th), and Donnie Allison (27th), and causing damage to many more with a spectacular crash! Leeroy Yarbrough (12th), Bobby Isaac (20th), and Buddy Baker (10th) were all multiple laps down, but were able to limp to the finish.

Petty may have won just by the fact that he may have been the only driver she didn't bother throughout the 400 mile event. He should be so lucky!

There was also a new driver making their career debut, and he didn't disappoint, as he qualified second, and led 61 laps before getting tangled up in the big crash on lap 142. That driver is Shannon Faulkner, and he appeared driving a former Cole Timmons car. Buddy Baker has been singing Faulkner's praise this season as somebody that understands how to make cars go fast. Put that together with Cole's cars, which were pretty fast to begin with, and we may be seeing something special in the making. Or, he may be like Cole, and have a fast car but no luck! Time will tell!

Race rundown:

Spoiler

Pos. Name (laps lead), notes
1-Petty (112) moves up to second in the championship hunt, 18 points behind Cale
2-Dick Brooks (5) only other finisher on the lead lap
3-Benny Parsons (30)
4-Bobby Allison (36)
5-Neil Castles started 39th, three weeks in a row with very poor qualifying efforts, Wilkes: 41/42, Martins: 28/31, Darlington: 39/42. If he's going to push for the championship, it can't happen from starting in the back every week.
6-Pearson (4)
7-Glotzbach (1)
8-Curtis Turner with his first top-10 of the season
9-Raymond Williams also with his first top-10
10-Buddy Baker, 3 laps off the lead lap, qualified 19th
13-Country singer, Marty Robbins is back, he'd love to make every race
19-Bill Champion, he'll be monitored all season since winning the Daytona 500
20-Isaac (30), limped home with a ton of damage.
27-Donnie (8), The Lady in Black grabbed him on lap 187
28-Cale (2), point lead closed by Petty to 18 points
33-Foyt (5) currently 9th in points, 333 back of the leader
35-Shannon Faulkner in his career debut, started 2nd, led 61 laps before crashing out
36-Mario Andretti, currently 18th in points, with 1 top 5 on the season
37-Marcis, another terrible finish, his qualifying effort is there, 3rd this week, but his finishes are on a "start and park" level. From being the point leader a few weeks ago, to now 12th, 364 behind Yarborough.
40-Pete Hamilton, continues to struggle, speedways is where he should excel, currently 21st in the standings, with zero top 5's and 2 top 10's. He may be getting pushed out at Petty Enterprises if he can't get the finishes that P.E. is accustomed to.

Up Next: Alabama International Motor Speedway for the Talladega 500!
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[tcoley]

1971 Talladega 500
Alabama International Motor Speedway
Talladega, AL
Race 11 of 29

There's No Place Like Home!

They say that "There's No Place Like home!" and the Allison boys proved that theory right as the Winston Cup Series raced in their home-state of Alabama today. A surprise pole winner in Holman Moody's second team car, Mario Andretti, led the field to green along-side local hometown hero, Bobby Allison. Dave Marcis charged from his third place start, getting the slight advantage going into turn one on lap one as the caution came out. Sixth place starter, Richard Petty would have immediate issues, as his clutch went out while shifting through the gears, causing a melee which eliminated 5 drivers from throughout the field. Petty Enterprises teammate, Pete Hamilton was one of the casualties, relegating him to a 35th place finish, followed by #79 Fred Warren, Petty, #45 Bill Seifert, and #78 Ed Howland.

Spoiler

Twenty different drivers would lead at least one lap in the 188 lap event, trading the lead 69 times! It would be the "Alabama Gang" that would show that home cookin' is nothing to mess with. The Allison's were full of pride, and with hundreds of friends and family in the grandstands that came to see them race, they were going to pull out all the stops to take the victory!

Donnie Allison took his time getting through the field from his 16th starting position, as another multi-car crash on lap 18 took out a couple more of the top competitors. Charlie Glotzbach and Bobby Isaac among those involved, they finished 33rd and 32nd respectively.

Point leader, Cale Yarborough would fall out of the race on lap 68 with a motor issue, apparently it was not a good day to be one of the point leaders. Pole-sitter, Mario Andretti got together with Leeroy Yarbrough and #4 James Sears on lap 124, all unable to finish the race. Andretti was not among the 20 lap leaders, the car had good speed by itself, but once it was in the pack, it struggled to keep pace. The final car to exit the race prematurely was front-runner, A.J. Foyt, on lap 154 when a right front tire exploded. Foyt had led the second most laps in the race, 24 before his exit.

It was all the Allison's on this day though! Donnie would go on to finish second, leading a race-high 89 laps, while his brother, Bobby who led only 3 laps, would take the checkers first! The Allison's were not going to be denied on this day, as they would work together in the draft, proving that blood is thicker than water as they made their rival manufactured cars work together; Bobby's Dodge and Donnie's Ford. Donnie made a move to try and beat Bobby to the finish line, coming off of turn 4 on the last lap, but the Dodge teams of Dave Marcis, and Buddy Baker followed Bobby, securing the win for Chrysler!

Results:
Pos/Driver/notes
1-Bobby Allison led 3 laps, moved up to 7th in points.
2-Donnie Allison dominated leading 89 laps, finished 0.10 seconds behind Bobby.
3-Dave Marcis, led 2 laps, finished 0.20 seconds behind the leader, more importantly had a great finish after his recent DNF's.
4-Buddy Baker led 3 laps, ran top 5 all-day, but couldn't stay ahead of the Allison's on this day.
5-Curtis Turner led 6 laps in Smokey Yunick's team car, earning their first top-5 of the season
6-#25 Jabe Thomas ran his 7th race of the season with his second top-10 finish and led 3 laps.
7-Benny Parsons led 7 laps, and was just 1.22 seconds behind the race winner.
8-Neil Castles finished right in front of the leaders, giving Bobby Allison a good draft off of his #06 Plymouth, and also led 1 lap on the day.
9-Elmo Langley was the first car one lap down, and also led 1 lap.
10-Country singer Marty Robbins led 1 lap as well, and earned his first top 10 of the season.

Notables:
11-Shannon Faulkner, a strong qualifying effort (4th), ran consistent all day, and brought the car home in one piece.
14-David Pearson, battled most of the day with Dick Brooks as the two drivers had a differing pit strategy, Pearson would lead 14 laps.
15-Dick Brooks, would lead 16 on the day.
19-Daytona Winner, Bill Champion led 3 laps but was 8 laps behind the leaders.
22-Foyt, qualified 20th, but ran very well in the draft, leading 24 laps before crashing out on lap 154.
23-Leeroy Yarbrough, led 1 lap.
24-Mario Andretti, won the pole, is that enough of a sign that the team has speed to keep Mario for next season?
29-Cale, never really showed speed this weekend and lost a motor on lap 68.
32-Isaac, remains 3rd in standings.
33-Glotzbach, loses 3 positions in the standings, now 14th.
35-Pete Hamilton, only completed 4 laps after being swept up in team-mate Richard Petty's first lap clutch failure.
37-Petty, remains 2nd in points, but the top 5 are all within 131 points now.

Next Week the Winston Cup Series runs on Memorial Day for the World 600 at Charlotte!

[tcoley]

1971 World 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 12 of 29

Elmo Tickled with Victory

A very hot Memorial Day made for a very slick Charlotte Motor Speedway Monday as the Winston Cup Series ran the World 600! Many of the sport's top drivers and teams would struggle all weekend with the slick surface, Buddy Baker being the big surprise in qualifying! Many thought that Baker would be a threat for the pole, but once Buddy went out to qualify as he was the first to hit the track, everybody went scrambling to make what changes they could before their run.

"Boy was that track slippery!" Buddy explained as he exited his car after his qualifying run which after all was said and done, had him starting 38th in the 39 car field. Not what the Cotton Owen's team was looking for as Charlotte was generally a very good track for the team and Buddy.

Spoiler

The race pace was slowed early and often as the caution flag waived 7 times in first 155 laps of the race, giving the teams many options for pit strategy. Throughout the remaining laps, (245) the lead would be traded among Pete Hamilton, Neil Castles, Charlie Glotzbach, Dave Marcis, and Elmo Langley, as the teams continued with their strategy. Pete Hamilton would lead 83 laps, but would be forced to pit from the lead for fuel with 7 laps remaining. Neil Castles looked to be in the cat-bird seat as he had fresh tires after making a green-flag stop with 35 laps to go and was chasing down leader Elmo Langley at a rapid pace. But Langley was able to stretch his fuel to the finish, beating Castles to the line by less than half a second to earn his first career victory! In total, Elmo led 86 laps, race-high on his way to the win, and ran out of fuel just past the finish line, needing a push to victory lane.

Results:
1-Elmo led 86 laps, and earned his first top-5 of the season and now sits 15th in the standings.
2-Neil Castles led 41 laps and jumped to second in points, 76 behind the leader.
3-Mario Andretti led 16 laps from a 16th place starting spot, now 19th in the standings.
4-Glotzbach led 76 laps and jumped 3 spots to 11th in points.
5-Benny Parsons is now 6th in the points.
6-Jabe Thomas led 22 laps in another top-10 finish.
7-Pete Hamilton led 83 laps, had the best car, but not the mileage to pull out the win!
8-Buddy Baker rebounded from a 38th place starting position.
9-James Hylton, started back with Baker, 39th.
10-Butch Hirst gets his first top 10 of the season in his 8th start.

Notables:
13-Daytona Winner, Bill Champion
14-Dave Marcis, led 41 laps, falls to 10th in standings.
16-Cale Yarborough started on the pole and led 26 laps, and maintains the point lead.
17-David Pearson struggled on the slick track, qualified 6th but fell back right away.
19-Bobby Allison couldn't maintain his Alabama momentum.
20-A.J. Foyt led 2 laps but fell out of the race on lap 274 with a blown motor.
23-Dick Brooks was involved in the lap 155 crash.
25-Leeroy Yarbrough crashed with kamikaze driver Buddy Arrington, and rookie Shannon Faulkner on lap 115.
27-Faulkner, qualified 5th and led 6 laps before crashing out.
28-Bobby Isaac, started 4th, on lap 110 had an ignition go bad.
30-Curtis Turner was involved in a big crash on lap 49. 7 cars were unable to continue.
36-Donnie Allison was involved in the lap 49 crash, fell 2 point positions.
37-Richard Petty crashed on lap 23 while running 3rd, falls to 5th in points, 110 behind Cale.

The Mason-Dixon Line 500 from Dover Downs International Speedway is next week for race 13 of the 1971 Winston Cup season

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[tcoley]

1971 Mason-Dixon Line 500
Dover Downs International Speedway
Race 13 of 29

The Fox Dominates, but Foyt Closes the Deal

Another tough track, Dover Downs, narrowed the field early, eliminating some of the favorites such as, Baker, Marcis, Isaac, Donnie and Cale. There were plenty of others that were able to capitalize on the point leader floundering once again, as "The Fox" would take over the point lead once the checkers flew!

Bobby Allison captured his second pole of the season with a quick lap of 153.427 mph around the one-mile high banked oval! Cale Yarborough kept up his series-leading best starting average of 5.31, as he was second quick in qualifying. A.J. Foyt and Richard Petty started on the second row with Bobby Isaac and Pete Hamilton taking up row three. Row four had new-comer Shannon Faulkner and the Dodge of Charlie Glotzbach. Marcis and "The Fox," David Pearson completed the top-10 starters.

"You need track position at this place," Richard Petty explained to a local television reporter after qualifying was complete. "This place is tough," he continued with his signature "Petty smile" and cowboy hat, "If you don't have a good starting spot here, you're in for a long day. The better starting spot you have, the better pit stall you get. This is a tight pit road, you can lose the race in the pits here, easy."

Spoiler

A.J. Foyt was able to conquer the tough one-mile oval, surpassing a dominant David Pearson with 15 laps to go and cruise to victory! Foyt led 43 laps on the day, while Pearson led 244 of the 500! They were the only 2 drivers to complete all 500 miles, as the track proved it was one of the toughest on the circuit, with 27 cars running at the finish. Foyt was able to capitalize on his 3rd place starting spot, with excellent pit stops throughout the day, and staying ahead of the trouble on the track.

The race was slowed 9 times by caution for 36 laps. The lead was swapped 43 times among 10 drivers.

Results:
1-Foyt, jumped 5 positions in the points, back up to 9th, 219 off the lead.
2-Pearson now tops the point standings after his impressive 2nd place effort.
3-Shannon Faulkner led 34 laps en route to his best career finish.
4-Pete Hamilton grabbed his first top 5 of the season and now a disappointing 20th in points.
5-Richard Petty led 5 laps, and is now 4th in the point standings.
6-Neil Castles finished 2 laps off the lead, and once again had to come from deep in the field, 18th.
7-Leeroy led 2 laps, and is now 17th in points.
8-Glotzbach finished 3 laps off the lead and is now 10th in the standings, 263 off the lead.
9-#59 Richard Brickhouse grabbed his first top 10 of the season.
10-Dick Brooks is now 11th in points, 9 out of the top 10.

Notables:
11-Bobby Allison led 33 laps from the pole, but finished 5 laps off the lead.
12-Elmo Langley, last week's winner with a solid finish at a tough track.
13-Mario Andretti was heard saying he wanted Pearson's setup in the car when they come back to DDIS in the fall.
14-Bill Champion, idle at 16th in the standings.
19-Marty Robbins finished, the only car 8 laps down.
26-Benny Parsons was 14 laps off the pace after being involved in earlier crash.
29-Cale Yarborough was forced to retire from the race on lap 355 after leading 93 circuits, and fell out of the point lead, now 9 behind Pearson.
30-Donnie Allison led for 3 laps, but was involved in a lap 245 crash that took out some race favorites.
31-Bobby Isaac led 32 laps before being in the lap 245 crash.
33-Dave Marcis led 11 laps before being in the lap 245 crash as well.
35-Buddy Baker crashed on lap 189, and now sits 13th in the championship standings.

The Championship battle heats up next week, as the Winston Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Gabriel 400!

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[tcoley]

1971 Gabriel 400
Michigan International Speedway
Race 14 of 29

94

94! 94 lead changes in the 200 lap event at Michigan Int'l Speedway this week! If you thought the racing at Michigan was going to be a boring, spread-out affair, you would be sorely mistaken! Another staggering stat is that only 11 different drivers led in those 94 lead changes. Among those 11 drivers was a who's who of the Championship prospects! Pete Hamilton, Buddy Baker and Benny Parsons all each only led 1 lap, but gained 5 championship points by doing so.

Other lap-leaders, which all finished in the top 8 positions, Bobby Allison with 5, pole-sitter Bobby Isaac led 12, rookie Shannon Faulkner led 14 and looked impressive on the super speedway! Dave Marcis led 16 laps, while last week's winner, A.J. Foyt led 17, but it was Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty that duked it out for most of the day, with Cale leading 44 laps and Richard with 67.

Spoiler

It was Petty taking the lead for the final time with 2 laps to go, as he beat Cale to the line by 0.89 seconds. The top 8 finishers all finished within 3.37 seconds!

The caution flag flew only 3 times for 12 laps during those 94 lead changes. The Michigan crowd spent most of the race jumping to their feet as the thundering herd of cars would battle for the lead coming to the the start/finish line! The Winston Cup Series returns to Michigan in couple months, in what is sure to be a sell-out!

Results:
1-Petty closes to within 11 points of the point lead.
2-Cale recaptures the point lead by 6.
3-Bobby Allison
4-Foyt is now up to 7th in the standings.
5-Pearson, second in points.
6-Isaac started from the pole, his first of the season.
7-Faulkner continues to impress while running with the stars of the series.
8-Marcis sits 10th in the points.
9-Hamilton just needed a solid day and got it.
10-Dick Brooks with another top-10, now with 7 on the season.

Notables:
12-Leeroy jumps one spot to 16th in the points.
15-Baker got into the wall and suffered damage after being passed for the lead, finished 6 laps off the lead.
21-Neil Castles lost a motor on lap 102 of 200, dropping him to 4th in points.
23-Mario Andretti ran out of fuel on lap 89 and was collected in a crash, ending his day.
26-Parsons, collected in the crash with Mario, sits 8th in points.
32-Glotzbach crashed on lap 75 and falls 3 spots to 13th in the standings.
39-Donnie lost a motor on lap 22, dropping him 4 points positions to 12th.
41-Bill Champion also lost a motor just 13 laps into the race.

The Winston Cup Series returns to the Riverside road-course next week for the SoCal 400!

Last time at Riverside, Dan Gurney won the race. Will we see a return for Gurney, and can he take the victory again? Foyt won the pole and ran second, Dave Marcis was a solid 4th and Dick Brooks was 5th.

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