Rewriting NASCAR's Modern History, 1971 and Beyond

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1971 Yankee 400
Michigan International Speedway
Race 20 of 29

mich yankee 400.jpg

Point leader, Neil Castles improved his qualifying efforts this week by capturing the pole for the Yankee 400 at Michigan! Castles' Plymouth orbited the two-mile speedway at 158.716 mph, over a full mile per hour faster than second-place qualifier, Bobby Allison. Last week's winner, Bobby Isaac timed in third, followed by Richard Petty, who won here in June. Cale Yarborough rolled off fifth and needs to get back into his early season groove. A.J. Foyt finished 4th in June, and started 6th Sunday. David Pearson and Pete Hamilton occupied the fourth row, while Dave Marcis and Dick Brooks rounded out the top ten starters. Shannon Faulkner qualified 11th, and was flanked by Buddy Baker.

Last time the Winston Cup Series visited Michigan, we saw 94 lead changes in 200 laps! That number would be far surpassed this time around, as the lead would be swapped an amazing 119 times, among 11 drivers! 119. That's a lead change less than every 2 laps! And you thought Michigan was a boring track!

Although Castles started on the pole, and the lead was swapped 119 times, Neil was only able to lead 1 lap throughout the full 200 lap event, and ended up finishing 11th, losing the point lead to third place finisher, Richard Petty. Donnie Allison was able to edge out Shannon Faulkner by 0.07 seconds at the finish line, to claim the 1971 Yankee 400! "The Fox" David Pearson, and Benny Parsons completed the top five.

Spoiler

Results:
1-Donnie Allison led 31 laps en route to capturing his first win of the season.
2-Shannon Faulkner remained HOT, scoring another second place finish, and leading the most laps, 65.
3-Richard Petty took over the point lead while leading 44 laps.
4-David Pearson led 16 laps on the day.
5-Benny Parsons ran in the lead pack all day, but failed to lead any laps.
6-Dick Brooks with another top 10 finish!
7-Leeroy Yarbrough had a solid day, coming from 15th to run in the top 10 all day.
8-Bobby Allison led 7 laps, and was the first one to congratulate his brother in victory lane.
9-Cale Yarborough had an uneventful day-exactly what the Wood Brothers needed.
10-Dave Macis led 4 laps, and had another top 10, (11).
11-Castles led 1 lap from the pole, and was the last car on the lead lap.
12-Pete Hamilton led 4 laps on the day.
14-A.J. Foyt led 15 laps and ran in the lead pack most of the day, before a loose wheel on his last scheduled green-flag stopped caused him to stop again.
27-Mario Andretti made his way to the front and led 1 lap before a crash on lap 152 ended his day.
31-Bobby Isaac led 12 laps before losing a motor on lap 122.
35-Buddy Baker also lost a motor early on, lap 73.
40-Daytona winner, Bill Champion only completed 44 laps before losing a motor.

Drivers that are glad to be done with Michigan for the season:
-Bill Champion finished 41st and 40th in the two events, blowing motors in both races, and only completing 57 of 400 total laps!
-Tommy Gale finished 42nd in both races, completing 45 laps of the 400.

Then you have the drivers that excelled at Michigan in both races:
-Richard Petty scored a win, and a third place, leading 111 of the 400 laps.
-Shannon Faulkner finished 7th, and 2nd, leading 79 of 400 laps.
-David Pearson had 5th and 4th place finishes, while leading 38 laps.
-Dave Marcis had two top 10's, leading 20 laps.
-Dick Brooks also had 2 top 10's.
-Cale Yarborough had a 2nd and 9th place finish, leading 44 total laps, although they all came in the first Michigan race.

Next week the Winston Cup Series is back at the
Alabama International Motor Speedway!
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1971 Winston 500
Alabama International Motor Speedway
Race 21 of 29

Allison Bros.JPG

Can they do it again?

Last time the Winston Cup Series raced in Alabama, Andretti started on the pole, but the story was the Allison Boys. Otherwise known as the "Alabama Gang," the Allison's dominated at their home track, Bobby took the victory leading 3 laps, but it was Donnie who paced the field most of the day, leading 89 of the 188 lap race!

This week's race was more of the same, as this time, Donnie Allison took the win at Alabama International Motor Speedway! Donnie led another whopping 74 laps, as the race lead changed hands 79 times by 18 different drivers. The second leading lap leader was David Pearson with just 17 to put into perspective just how dominant Donnie was on Sunday.

Richard Petty put his Plymouth on the pole for the fourth time this season, and Bobby Isaac joined him on the front row.

While Donnie dominated at his home track, the rest of the field was playing the strategy game, trying anything they could to steal a win from the Alabama Gang. As the caution flag waived 6 times for 25 laps, drivers tried stretching fuel to the finish, and some of them came away with career finishes! Raymond Williams in his Seifert Racing #47 Ford finished 2nd, running just in front of Pete Hamilton, with #79 Fred Warren coming home 4th, and Neil Castles 5th for his fifth top 5 of the year. Castles also recovered the point lead by 17 points over David Pearson, after losing it for just one week.

Spoiler

Results:
1-Donnie Allison led 74 laps on his way to his second straight win on the circuit, and jumping to 4th in points with just 8 races remaining.
2-Raymond Williams led 4 laps and earned his first top 5 of the season.
3-Hamilton led 11 laps and sits 16th in the points.
4-Fred Warren earned his first top 5 of the season, and just his second top 10. Of 23 drivers that have run all 21 races, Warren is last in points.
5-Castles led 7 laps and got his 13th top ten of the season. That ties him with Pearson for most on the circuit.
6-James Hylton led 5 laps in his Ford and is currently 15th in the standings.
7-David Pearson led 17 laps, and moved into 2nd in the championship, just 17 behind Castles.
8-Bobby Allison led 2 laps, and was the first car one lap down to his brother, Donnie. Bobby is now 6th, 210 points behind Castles.
9-Charlie Glotzbach earned his 9th top 10 of the season.
10-#89 Butch Hirst earned his second top 10 of the season in 15 starts.

One driver you'll notice is missing from the top 10 is Shannon Faulkner, who had a 5 race streak of finishing in the top 5. Faulkner finished 38th after leading 7 laps when his brand new Plymouth motor blew up. Bobby Isaac finished 39th, when he crashed on lap 21.

Notables:
11-Buddy Baker expected more out of his Dodge Charger Daytona.
12-Dick Brooks missed out on a top 10, and finished as the first car two laps down to the leaders.
15-Daytona Winner, Bill Champion led 2 laps and sits 19th in the points.
19-A.J. Foyt led 2 laps before being involved in one of the major incidents of the race. Foyt was able to continue, although off the pace while that incident claimed 10 cars.
25-Petty led 11 laps before "The Big One" happen, ending his day as one of the 10 cars unable to continue.
26-Mario Andretti led 4 laps before "The Big One."
30-Cale was also involved in "The Big One" and led 6 laps prior.
35 & 36-Dave Marcis blew a motor right in front of Benny Parsons, sending both into the wall and unable to finish. Benny led 6 laps, while Marcis led 15 before the crash.
38-Faulkner led 7 of the 53 laps he completed before the camshaft snapped in half in his engine.
39-Bobby Isaac had a right rear tire explode while entering turn 3, sending him hard into the wall and ending his day.

Next Up: A Labor Day Tradition
The Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway!
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1971 Southern 500
Darlington Raceway
Race 22 of 29

1971 Southern 500.JPG

First-time Winner Takes Southern 500

Once again "The Lady in Black" proved to be "Too Tough to Tame" for many of NASCAR's top drivers and teams, as 13 of them failed to make it to the finish of the Southern 500. Stars such as Richard Petty, David Pearson, Donnie Allison, Neil Castles, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, and Pete Hamilton all ran into problems in Monday's race.

Bobby Isaac put his #71 Dodge on the pole for the Labor Day race at Darlington Raceway, with Pete Hamilton starting second. Pearson and Petty filled row 2, with Dick Brooks and Yarborough in row 3. Isaac jumped out to the early lead, but was only able to lead 3 laps before the tandem of Pearson and Petty charged by to do battle for the lead. Dave Marcis was also able to get up front and challenge for the race lead.

On lap 115, Petty lost a motor, and finished last on the field. Such a turn-around from his victory at Darlington in the Spring. Seventy laps later, a huge crash during a cycle of green-flag pit-stops took out a number of challengers; Buddy Baker, Donnie Allison, Pearson and Hamilton, were out, along with J.D. McDuffie and tenth place qualifier and Daytona 500 Winner, Bill Champion.

On lap 257, during another cycle of green-flag stops, another crash eliminated Cale Yarborough, and Neil Castles. The race wouldn't see another caution as it ran the final 105 laps under the green flag. During the final run to the finish, there was a terrific battle between Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons and Jabe Thomas as the 3 drivers broke away from the rest of the field.

With Thomas leading, and looking very strong, Parsons looked high and low, waiting for Thomas to make a mistake. Then, with 8 laps to go, "The Lady in Black" reached out and pulled Jabe's #25 Plymouth into the wall. She had struck again! Parsons was able to get by Jabe, and get enough of a lead to collect his first win of the 1971 season, in one of NASCAR's crown jewel events!

Spoiler

Results:
1-Parsons led only 8 laps all day, but they were the final 8.
2-Thomas rebounded to finish 2nd, his second top 5 of the season in 15 starts.
3-Isaac ran in the front pack all day, but managed to lead just 3 laps.
4-Marcis led a total of 26 laps, and moved back to 8th in the standings.
5-A.J. Foyt led the most laps on the day, 85, and moved into 4th in the points.
6-Leeroy Yarbrough had to come from 25th starting position to get a hard fought 6th place finish.
7-Charles Stevens ran solid all day in just his 15th start of the season.
8-Mario Andretti led 78 laps and was very strong all day. His final pit stop was slowed, and perhaps cost him a chance at the win.
9-Bobby Allison was the final driver on the lead lap.
10-Shannon Faulkner came back to where he got his first start. With a new de-tuned motor from Plymouth after last week's blow-up, the team was just looking to get to the finish.

Notables:
13-Dick Brooks led 5 laps and is 11th in points.
31-Cale led 17 laps but crashed on lap 257.
32-Neil Castles led 51 laps before crashing out with Cale.
36-Hamilton was involved in the big crash on lap 188.
38-Pearson led 44 before crashing out.
40-Donnie led just 1 lap, but earned 5 bonus points for doing so.
41-Buddy is now 18th in the standings. A dismal year for the Cotton Owens team.
42-Petty led 20 laps before losing another Plymouth motor on lap 115.

Next Up: The Old Dominion 500 from Martinsville Speedway!
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1971 Old Dominion 500
Martinsville Speedway
Race 23 of 29



1971 Old Dominion 500.jpg

Will Cale Double-Up at Martinsville in '71?

Bobby Isaac got back to his winning ways, collecting the trophy for the Old Dominion 500 from Martinsville Speedway! Isaac was able to hold-off a late race charge from Shannon Faulkner and Eddie Yarboro for his 4th victory of the season, that is currently tied with Richard Petty for most on the circuit. Benny Parsons and James Hylton completed the top-5, and were the last drivers to complete every lap of Sunday's race.

Spoiler

Results:
1-Isaac led 86 laps and jumped to 4th in points.
2-Faulkner led a race-high 186 laps, but could only manage a second place finish, his tenth top-10 of the season, in 14 starts.
3-Eddie Yarboro led 18 laps, and has performed very well in the short-track races that he has entered; only 7 of 23 races.
4-Parsons led 66 laps and moved up to 8th in the standings, 173 out of first.
5-Hylton completed all 500 laps, earning his second top 5 of the season.
6-Leeroy Yarbrough is now 12th in the standings after collecting his 10th top-10 of the season.
7-David Pearson regained the point lead with his 14th top-10, which also leads the series.
8-Donnie Allison led 27 laps from the pole, his first of the season.
9-Bobby Allison is now 6th in the points, just 117 out of the lead.
10-Cale Yarborough led 105 laps and is now 9th in points, 213 out of the lead.
13-Buddy Baker is still mired back in 18th in points, 638 behind the leader.
14-Pete Hamilton now sits 15th in the standings.
15-Richard Petty is 3rd in points, just 60 out of the lead.
17-Dave Marcis had a great qualifying effort of third, but couldn't make the speed translate in the race.
20-Neil Castles struggled, finishing 5 laps off the lead, and handing the point lead over to "The Fox."
23-A.J. Foyt is now 5th in points, just 102 behind Pearson.
27-Mario Andretti left Martinsville shaking his head. No comment was necessary.

Up Next: The Winston Cup Series heads back to Charlotte, for the
National 500!

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1971 National 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 24 of 29


1971 National 500 @ Charlotte.JPG

Cale Yarborough put his #21 Mercury on the pole for the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, sweeping the fast qualifier awards at CMS this season! Maybe winning the pole will give the Wood Brothers and Yarborough the shot in the arm that the team needs. Earlier this season, Cale held the point lead, and was winning races. As of late, the team has been struggling for good finishes, and ending up falling to a low of tenth in the championship chase.

Point leader, David Pearson qualified in the second position, and looks to add to his current point lead. World 600 winner, Elmo Langley starts way back in the 27th position, and has a lot of ground to make-up if he wants to repeat at Charlotte!

Spoiler

Bobby Isaac gets Win #5!

Bobby Isaac flat-out dominated the National 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday by lapping the entire field! Isaac led 253 laps in the 334 lap event, clearly displaying his dominance on his way to his 5th win of the season! The #71 Dodge started 4th, and ran in the front pack all day, avoiding the 4 cautions in the race, while other top drivers wouldn't.

A.J. Foyt, and Bill Champion were swept up in a multi-car crash on lap 19, and couldn't continue. On lap 46 while running in the front pack, Richard Petty lost an oil line, creating a huge wreck, collecting himself, Neil Castles, Benny Parsons, Pete Hamilton, Bobby Allison and Jabe Thomas, all of which were done for the day. Also involved but able to continue, although off the pace, Cale Yarborough, Shannon Faulkner, Dave Marcis and Donnie Allison.

Results:
1-Isaac, earned his 5th win, and is now second in the points.
2-David Pearson finished 2nd, but failed to lead any laps.
3-Buddy Baker was said to be ecstatic after his third place finish.
4-Charlie Glotzbach was the final finisher one lap behind Isaac.
5-Dick Brooks got back into the top 5, his 4th of the season.
6-Richard Brickhouse earned his 3rd top 10.
7-Mario Andrettie got his 6th top 10 of the season.
8-James Hylton was the first driver 3 laps down.
9-#31 Jim Vandiver got his first top 10 of the season.
10-Rookie driver #93 Don White earned his first top 10 of the season as well.

Notables:
12-Leeroy Yarbrough had problems in qualifying (39th) as he had a lose plug wire, and was 3 seconds off the pole speed.
17-Cale led 19 laps before getting caught up in the Petty oil line crash.
20-World 600 winner, Elmo Langley never challenged for the top spot.
21-Donnie led 36 laps before the Petty crash.
23-Shannon Faulkner led 2 laps before being involved in the Petty crash.
24-Dave Marcis led 10 laps before the crash.
28-Petty dropped to 4th in points.
29-Castles is now 3rd in the championship after not being able to continue from the Petty crash.
30-Parsons fell to 9th in points.
31-Hamilton was also eliminated with the Petty crash, now 15th in the standings.
32-Bobby Allison falls back to 6th in the standings.
37-Foyt only completed 19 laps as 6 cars were unable to continue from the lap 19 crash.

Next Up: The Delaware 500, from the super fast Dover Downs International Speedway!
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1971 Delaware 500
Dover Downs International Speedway
Race 25 of 29

1971 Delaware 500.jpg

A Sign Of Things To Come?

The Dover Downs International Speedway marketing team was right on! Benny Parsons earned his first pole of the season, with a lap of 153.413 mph! Richard Petty started second, who asked Plymouth for more support after last week's crash, in hopes of winning the inaugural Winston Cup Championship. Pete Hamilton, as Petty's team-mate, would also benefit from the added Plymouth support, and would roll off third, flanked by point leader, David Pearson.

Spoiler

Ask and you shall receive...

Petty put a "whoopin" as stated by David Pearson, on the field in Sunday's Delaware 500, leading an impressive 312 of the 500 laps, and lapping the entire field!

Benny Parsons led the field to the green flag, but his lead would only last 7 laps, as Petty would muscle his way to the lead and pull away. That was the last of the lead Parsons would see, as his motor would expire on lap 162.

The first of 7 caution periods occurred on lap 66 when country singer, Marty Robbins had a right front tire explode as he entered turn 1 and he hit the outside wall a ton, then also hit the inside wall, destroying his #42 Dodge. It was a scary crash, but Robbins was able to walk away.

On lap 120, with Shannon Faulkner leading, a group of cars that were laps down to the leaders got together right in front of Faulkner, creating a big wreck that eliminated the #91 Plymouth. Lap 223 saw David Pearson involved in a crash with James Sears and Charles Stevens who were also multiple laps down. That crash would open the door for a new point leader after the 500 mile race.

Nothing was going to knock Petty from the lead though, he left Dover without a scratch on his car, and mentioned in victory lane that he would be taking that very car to Rockingham next week.

Results:
1-Petty looked unstoppable leading 312 of 500 laps, and now sits third in points, just 54 behind the leader.
2-Bobby Allison came from 26th to lead 9 laps and get back to 5th in points, just 143 behind 1st with just 4 races remaining.
3-Cale Yarborough led 15 laps and is now 7th, 194 back from 1st.
4-A.J. Foyt earned his 8th top 5 of the season.
5-James Hylton came from 37th to gain his 3rd top 5.
6-Buddy Baker and his team have been showing signs of improvement, he led 4 laps and this marked their 9th top 10 of the season.
7-New point leader by 20 points, Bobby Isaac led 57 laps before a pit road penalty cost him. He finished 3 laps behind Petty.
8-Leeroy Yarbrough earned his 11th top 10 of the season.
9-Mario Andretti earned his 7th top 10, and now sits 15th in points.
10-Charlie Glotzbach finished 5 laps down, and is currently in 12th for the season championship.

13-Dave Marcis improves to 9th in points.
19-Neil Castles falls to 4th in points, now 94 behind Isaac.
24-Pete Hamilton falls 3 spots to 18th in the standings.
29-Donnie Allison led 25 laps before falling out of the race on lap 358.
30-Pearson led 57 laps before his crash on lap 223, dropping him to second in points.
33-Parsons started on the pole and led 7 laps before his engine let go on lap 162, dropping him out of the top 10 in points, to 11th.
34-Shannon Faulkner led 14 laps and was taken out in a wreck while leading by lapped cars.

Up Next: The American 500 from North Carolina Motor Speedway!

With just 4 races remaining for the 1971 season, the top 5 in the standings are only separated by 143 points! A driver can earn a maximum of 195 points in a race, while last place awards 37 points, so a 158 point swing is possible!

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Factory Support

With Richard Petty calling on Plymouth for more factory support after the race at Charlotte, receiving more support, then winning Dover in dominating fashion, Ford Motor Company had decided not to let this year's Winston Cup Championship slip away, and they will be heavily increasing support to their premier teams immediately.

The best chance Ford has at the Championship is David Pearson in his Torino Cobra. "The Fox" is second in points to Dodge's Bobby Isaac by just 20 points going into Rockingham this weekend. Pearson only has 1 win on the season, compared to Isaac and Petty's 5 each, with Petty just 54 points out of the title lead. Neil Castles' Plymouth is fourth, 94 points back on strength of his 13-top 10's this season. Fifth is Bobby Allison's Dodge, 143 points back. Bobby and Neil each have 1 victory this year, but have better "bad day" finishes than Pearson, Isaac and Petty.

Upon hearing that Ford Motor Company is making a final push for the championship, the heads at Chrysler also confirmed that they will be increasing support for their top teams, starting this weekend at the North Carolina Motor Speedway! You can expect to see a packed garage area when the Winston Cup Series rolls into Rockingham on Friday.

Ford drivers receiving extra factory support:
David Pearson
AJ Foyt
Cale Yarborough
Donnie Allison
Benny Parsons
Leeroy Yarbrough
James Hylton
Mario Andretti

Chrysler drivers receiving extra factory support:
Richard Petty
Bobby Isaac
Neil Castles
Bobby Allison
Shannon Faulkner
Charlie Glotzbach
Pete Hamilton

We'll see how all this plays out next week!

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1971 American 500
North Carolina Motor Speedway
Race 26 of 29

1971 American 500.jpg

Manufacturers Battle, Stars Shine!

Donnie Allison put his Ford Torino Cobra on the pole with a lap of 24.605 seconds, 148.799 mph in Saturday's qualifying session! David Pearson made it a clean sweep of the front row for Ford, with his timed lap. The Dodges of Bobby Isaac and Bobby Allison made up the second row, followed by Shannon Faulkner's Plymouth and Buddy Baker's Dodge.

With a more than full garage area with all the extra manufacturer engineers, competition was at it's highest. We are in the home stretch to claim the first ever Winston Cup Championship, a title that everybody wants! Sunday's race would take center stage, as the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler would battle it out on the track, for a grueling 500 miles!

Spoiler

The top three drivers in the series, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Bobby Isaac, showed precisely why they are atop the point standings. Between the 3 standouts, they led 454 of the 492 laps of the American 500. In all, there were 7 different leaders, swapping the lead 40 times.

Donnie Allison and Pearson led the field to the green flag with Allison leading the first 4 laps, all he would lead all day, before Bobby Isaac would chase him down and overtake him, dominating the first third of the race. Richard Petty would find his way to Isaac's bumper and do battle, with Petty eventually taking over the top spot. Petty would take over as the dominant driver for the middle of the race. Towards the latter part of the race, David Pearson began to show why he's nicknamed "The Fox" as he would chase down Petty under one of the race's long green-flag runs, and take over the lead. Nobody was going to outfox "The Fox" and Pearson would beat Petty to the finish line by two seconds! This was only David's second win of the season, but it came at the right time!

Results:
1-Pearson led 192 laps, and now leads the points by 5 with 3 races remaining.
2-Petty led 120 laps, still just 54 points out of the championship lead.
3-Isaac led 142 laps and sits 2nd in points.
4-Cale Yarborough led 12 laps, and earned his 9th top 5 of the season.
5-Shannon Faulkner led 17 laps, earning his 8th top 5 of the season in just 17 starts.
6-A.J. Foyt finished as the first car 1 lap down to the leaders.
7-Bobby Allison sits 5th in the points, still in the hunt just 172 back.
8-Pete Hamilton led 5 laps early, now with 10 top-10's for the year.
9-Donnie led 4 laps from the pole, but finished 2 laps off the leaders pace.
10-Neil Castles came from 34th starting spot to grab his 14th top 10 of the season.
11-Leeroy Yarbrough picked up one championship position, now 12th.
12-Elmo Langley was the top finisher without factory support, 3 laps down.
13-Dave Marcis is still 9th in points, 322 out of the lead, but only 65 in front of 11th place.
14-Benny Parsons got back up to 10th in the standings, just 44 ahead of Dick Brooks.
15-Buddy finished as the first car 4 laps down.
21-Andretti race in the 20's all day, and lost 3 points positions, now 18th.
34-Charlie Glotzbach sputtered around the second half of the race on 7 cylinders.

The Winston Cup Championship battle heats up next week at the Richmond Fairgrounds Speedway for the Capital City 400!
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