1971 Daytona 500

Background

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 mi long. The track also features two other layouts that utilize portions of the primary high speed tri-oval, such as a 3.56 mi sports car course and a 2.95 mi motorcycle course. The track's 180 acre infield includes the 29 acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004, and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.

The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.

Race report

The manufacturers that were involved included Chevrolet, Mercury, Ford, Plymouth, and Dodge. For the 500 miles the average speed was 144.462 mi/h.

The fastest qualifying speed for the 1971 Daytona 500 was more than 190 mi/h. The forty car field included legends like A. J. Foyt and David Pearson, both eventually acquiring top-five finishes. A.J. Foyt in the Wood Bros. Mercury had the car to beat all day, but the crew had trouble filling it with gas. He ran out while leading on lap 162. Foyt's crew found out someone crushed the filler neck on the gas tank. There were 34 lead changes in the first 250 miles of the race.

First Daytona 500 starts for Bill Dennis and Maynard Troyer. Only Daytona 500 start for Pedro Rodriguez, Freddy Fryar, Marv Acton, and Larry Baumel. Last Daytona 500 starts for Fred Lorenzen, LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Friday Hassler.

Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were: Ed Negre (#8), Vic Elford (#59), Charlie Roberts (#63), Dick May (#67), J.D. McDuffie (#70), Bill Shirey (#74), Dick Poling (#78), Joe Hines (#80), Bobby Mausgrover (#84), Butch Hirst (#87), Leonard Blanchard (#95), Robert Brown (#58), E.J. Trivette (#56), Roy Mayne (#46), Jimmy Crawford (#02), Pedro Rodríguez (#14), Dub Simpson (#16), Fritz Schultz (#23), Earl Brooks (#26), Bill Hollar (#28), Walter Ballard (#30), Wendell Scott (#34), Blackie Wangerin (#38) and Ken Meisenhelder (#41).

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Paul Goldsmith, Junie Donlavey, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, Vic Ballard, Jake Elder among others.

Race results

Timeline

Section reference:

• Start: A.J. Foyt was leading the race as the checkered flag was being waved, Ron Keselowski quit the race.
• Lap 7: Tiny Lund's vehicle had some ignition problems.
• Lap 9: Maynard Troyer spun to the apron of Turn Two and tumbled to the entry to the backstretch, rolling 15 times.
• Lap 24: Neil Castles' vehicle had some ignition problems.
• Lap 38: Friday Hassler fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 39: Benny Parsons' vehicle had some ignition problems.
• Lap 45: An oil line problem forced LeeRoy Yarborough out of the race; the car caught fire before Yarbrough could reach the pits.
• Lap 61: Cale Yarborough fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 91: Red Farmer managed to ruin his vehicle's engine.
• Lap 93: Henley Gray just could not steer his vehicle properly.
• Lap 111: Bill Seifert just could not steer his vehicle properly.
• Lap 126: John Sears managed to ruin his vehicle's engine.
• Lap 157: Pete Hamilton managed to ruin his vehicle's engine.
• Lap 162: Bill Dennis' vehicle developed a problematic clutch.
• Lap 170: Donnie Allison had a terminal crash, forcing him to leave the event early.
• Lap 173: Dave Marcis managed to ruin his vehicle's engine.
• Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the race.

Post-race report

Winnings and championship potential

The winner's purse for the 1971 Daytona 500 was $45,450 American dollars ($ when inflation is taken into effect). Last place finisher received $1,000 ($ with inflation). Richard Petty would go on to win four more Daytona 500 races (1973, 1974, 1979, and 1981). There were seven cautions for forty-four laps.

Attendance

Attendance for the 1971 Daytona 500 reached 80,000 spectators; Expansion in the next eighteen years would bring attendance up to 180,000 people. ABC's Wide World of Sports televised the race. The commentary was done by the legendary Chris Economaki who did the Daytona 500 races in the 1970s.

End of a tradition

All of the vehicles utilized during that running of the Daytona 500 were based on street version sheet metal and engine blocks of cars manufactured between 1969 and 1971. Deviation of up to two or three model years was expected because parity wasn't enforced by NASCAR during that era and different teams had different budgets from each other.

Out of the forty racers competing in the 1971 Daytona 500, thirty-nine were American and one was Mexican. Pedro Rodriguez (who would finish in thirteenth place) would have an asphalt racing course named after him after he died six months later in Germany during a sports car race (along with his older brother Ricardo Rodríguez).

In this race, Dick Brooks would be the final driver to make a competitive run with a winged vehicle. Following the 1970 season, special, limited production 'aero' cars such as the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, as well as the Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Spoiler II, were restricted to a 305 ci engine. Brooks' Mario Rossi team was the only team to run a winged car in the race, and although they had a 7th-place run in the race, elected to run a conventional big-block powered car the rest of the season. Rear wings would not appear again in NASCAR until 2007 with the 'Car of Tomorrow'.

References

Notes

References

1. "Weather History for the 1971 Daytona 500 race". The Old Farmers' Almanac.
2. "1971 Daytona 500 information". Racing-Reference.
3. "Daytona 500 information for Richard Petty". Daytona International Speedway.
4. "Race Tracks". Turner Sports.
5. "Track facts". Daytona International Speedway.
6. (June 14, 2015). "The History of ISC". International Speedway Corporation.
7. (March 24, 2004). "Daytona Announces Facility Renovation Plans, No Track Alterations". Roadracing World Publishing, Inc..
8. (April 24, 2010). "Daytona International Speedway set to repave following the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola". Daytona International Speedway.
9. (May 10, 2012). "What Makes Daytona Special".
10. (January 19, 2007). "World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report". Initiative.
11. "1971's Average Race Winning Speed". About.com (NASCAR).
12. [http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1971-04/W Qualifying information for the 1971 Daytona 500] at Racing Reference
13. [https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1971-04/W/C 1971 Daytona 500 crew chiefs] at Racing Reference
14. [https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1971_Daytona_500/W/ 1971 Daytona 500]