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The1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on January 10 and ended on November 20.Richard Petty was the champion for thisWinston Cup season. After 20 years of being named theNASCAR Grand National Series,R. J. Reynolds first became the primary sponsor in a decade where the growing anti-tobacco movement banned its advertisement on television and motorsports was the ideal place to place their advertisements. Through NASCAR,Winston merchandise was unveiled to live viewers of the races (since they were not allowed to advertise to a televised audience). This kind of merchandise would also be given out at stores that sold cigarettes in subsequent years. Race car drivers were encouraged to smokecigarettes (when not racing) until the mid-2000s brought in strictdrug testing policies in addition to asmoking cessation program byNicorette, aGlaxoSmithKline brand (Goody's Headache Powders, a long-time NASCAR sponsor, is a GSK brand; as of 2023, GSK sponsors both the Truck series race, and the spring Cup race atMartinsville Speedway).
Note: Some races were combined races for Grand American and Grand National cars. Races marked Combined Races were won by Grand American cars. The driver who finished first among Grand National cars is listed.
The1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first official race inNASCAR'sWinston Cup era. Drivers had to contend with 191 laps on a 2.620 mileroad course atRiverside International Raceway inRiverside,California.Ray Elder won the race.
The 12th annual Daytona 500 was run on February 14 atDaytona International Speedway inDaytona Beach,Florida.A. J. Foyt won the pole andRichard Petty would win his third Daytona 500.
Top Ten Results
The Miller High Life 500 was run on February 28 atOntario Motor Speedway.A. J. Foyt would win this race after more than three hours of racing (from the pole position).
The Greenville 200 was the first live flag-to-flag telecast of a NASCAR race. The race was run on Saturday, April 10 atGreenville-Pickens Speedway and was carried live onABC withJim McKay,Chris Economaki andKen Squier.Bobby Isaac won the race.
TheRebel 400 was run on May 2 atDarlington Raceway inDarlington,South Carolina.Donnie Allison won the pole andBuddy Baker would win his third Rebel 400.
TheWinston 500 was run on May 16 atAlabama International Motor Speedway inTalladega,Alabama.Donnie Allison won the pole and won the race. He defeated Bobby by some seconds.
The World 600 was run on May 30 atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord,South Carolina.Charlie Glotzbach won the pole andBobby Allison would win the 1971 World 600 (defeating his brother).
The1971 Myers Brothers 250 was aNASCARWinston Cup Series event that took place on August 6, 1971, atBowman Gray Stadium in the American community ofWinston-Salem,North Carolina.Due to the reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the support NASCAR Grand American Series.
Three of these races were won by drivers who raced in Grand American cars. Tiny Lund (Hickory and North Wilkesboro) and Bobby Allison (Winston-Salem). Lund was credited with the win in his races, but Allison was not credited with a win until the publicity event for the2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in October 2024, shortly before his death that November at 86. Allison was declared the race winner and given the Grand National race win for that race, even though technically, the correct Grand National class winner was never credited with the win.
Under current regulations for NASCAR Holdings, Inc. owned series (NASCAR and IMSA) that feature multiple classes of cars in combination races such as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with GTP, LMP 2, GTD Pro, and GTD classes, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with GT4 and TCR classes, and the ARCA Menards Series combination races with the national series and either East or West cars, there is a winner for each class of car. Richard Petty finished second overall, winning the Grand National class, but NASCAR has never credited Petty with the class win as would be the case in multiple class events.
The Yankee 400 was run on August 15 atMichigan International Speedway inBrooklyn,Michigan.Pete Hamilton won the pole andBobby Allison would win the 1971 Yankee 400.
The1971 Delaware 500 is aNASCARWinston Cup Series race that took place on October 17, 1971.Richard Petty defeatedCharlie Glotzbach by more than one lap in front of eighteen thousand people.
| Pos. | Driver | Races | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Petty | 46 | 21 | 38 | 41 | 4435 |
| 2 | James Hylton | 46 | 0 | 14 | 37 | 4071 |
| 3 | Cecil Gordon | 46 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 3677 |
| 4 | Bobby Allison | 42 | 11 | 27 | 31 | 3636 |
| 5 | Elmo Langley | 46 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 3356 |
| 6 | Jabe Thomas | 43 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 3200 |
| 7 | Bill Champion | 45 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 3058 |
| 8 | Frank Warren | 47 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2886 |
| 9 | J. D. McDuffie | 43 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2862 |
| 10 | Walter Ballard | 41 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 2633 |
| 11 | Benny Parsons | 35 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 2611 |
| 12 | Ed Negre | 43 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2528 |
| 13 | Bill Seifert | 37 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2403 |
| 14 | Henley Gray | 39 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2392 |
| 15 | Buddy Baker | 19 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 2358 |
| 16 | Friday Hassler | 29 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 2277 |
| 17 | Earl Brooks | 35 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2205 |
| 18 | Bill Dennis | 28 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 2181 |
| 19 | Wendell Scott | 37 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2180 |
| 20 | John Sears | 37 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2167 |
| 21 | Dave Marcis | 29 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 2049 |
| 22 | Neil Castles | 38 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2036 |
| 23 | Bobby Isaac | 25 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 1819 |
| 24 | Pete Hamilton | 22 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 1739 |
| 25 | Joe Frasson | 17 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1619 |
| 26 | Ben Arnold | 18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1618 |
| 27 | Ron Keselowski | 20 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1446 |
| 28 | Bill Shirey | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1303 |
| 29 | Donnie Allison | 13 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 1280 |
| 30 | Dean Dalton | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1276 |