The 1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first race in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

era (also known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series) that took place on January 10, 1971. 191 laps on a

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that spanned a total distance of . Attendance was estimated at 23,000. It took four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and fifty-five seconds. Due to a then-struggling economy, both

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

cut back on factory support for the

1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on Sunday January 10 and ended on Sunday November 20. Richard Petty was the champion for this Winston Cup season. After 20 years of being named the ''NASCAR Grand National Series'', R. J. Reynolds fi ...

season. NASCAR would also limit engines in the aerodynamic superspeedway cars to 305 cubic inches starting in this race.

Race report

Defending NASCAR Grand National West series champion

Ray Elder Raymond Marvin Elder (August 19, 1942 – November 24, 2011) was a NASCAR Nextel Cup, Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He participated primarily in west coast races at Riverside International Raceway and Ontario Motor Speedway from ...

won the race; making it the first time that the 500-mile event at Riverside was won by a manufacturer other than Ford. The average speed was while the pole speed was . This race was the final NASCAR Cup Series event with triple-digit numbered cars; with three of them qualifying for the race. (Kittlekow #107, Schilling #148, Collins #177). Elder became the first winner in NASCAR's "modern" history. Only 11 cars finished this 5-hour marathon. The 8th-place finisher was 22 laps down, and the 11th-place finisher dropped out with 34 laps to go. The top prize at this race was $18,715 ($ when adjusted for inflation) and the prize for finishing last (40th) was $1,015 ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

competed in this race but failed to finish; he would end up in 20th after starting from the pole position. The majority of the drivers who failed to finish had an

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

problem. 43-year-old Hershel McGriff entered and raced a Cup race for the first time since 1954, when he won a Grand National race at North Wilkesboro in an Oldsmobile, back when he was 26. McGriff would qualify in 8th and finish 12th.

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

and

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

were notable crew chiefs for this event; working for Richard Petty (Inman) and fourth-place finisher Bobby Isaac (Hyde). At the end of the race, the margin between Elder and Bobby Allison was ten and a half seconds. Ray Elder would score the first of his two NASCAR cup victories here (with his second victory taking place at the 1972 Golden State 400). This race was Ron Grable's only start in the NASCAR Cup series and that G.T. Tallas finished the race with his career best of 11th place.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and ...

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

James Hylton James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second i ...

Friday Hassler Raymond "Friday" Hassler (July 29, 1935 – February 17, 1972) was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career Hassler made his debut in 1960 but only drove a handful of races per year until 1967 when he drove 21 of the 49 race ...

# Kevin Terris # Carl Joiner #

Henley Gray Clarence Henley Gray Jr. (born January 12, 1933) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977. Career Out of the 76045 laps committed in his career, Gray only led two of them. Gray's total career earnings ...

Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon (June 21, 1941 – September 19, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1968 and 1985, he competed in 449 events without winning a race. NASCAR Career as driver Gordon d ...

# G.T. Tallas #

Hershel McGriff Hershel Eldridge McGriff Sr. (born December 14, 1927) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A long-time competitor in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, formerly known as the Winston West Series, he won the series' 1986 championship, a ...

# Bob England # Dick Kranzler #

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

# Dick Bown #

Elmo Langley Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Racing career Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Vir ...

Jack McCoy John James McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama ''Law & Order''. He was created by Dick Wolf and Michael S. Chernuchin and has been portrayed by Sam Waterston during both the show's original run from 1994 to 2010 and since it ...

Ron Gautsche Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media *Big Ron (EastEnders), Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character *Ron (King of Fighters), Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the pr ...

# John Soares, Jr. #

Frank James Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla; in the post-Civil War period, he was an outlaw. The older brother of outlaw Jesse James, Frank was also part of the James–Younger ...

# Ron Grable # Dick Guldstrad #

Jimmy Insolo Jimmy Insolo (born February 4, 1943) is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race driver whose career spanned from 1970 to 1983. Career Insolo began his career at Saugus Speedway, where he became one of the top drivers at the track. In addition to his W ...

# Bill Champion # Bob Kauf # Paul Dorrity #

Jerry Oliver Jerry A. Oliver (November 30, 1930 – September 25, 2020) was an American basketball coach who served as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team during the 1969–70 season and for the final game of the 1970–71 season. Oli ...

# Frank Warren # Mike Pittelkow # Ray Johnstone # Don Noel # Glenn Francis # David Pearson #

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

# Harry Schilling # Roy Collins # Ivan Baldwin # Pat Fay

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Richard Petty had the lead position as the green flag was waved. * Lap 4: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 5: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 21: Joe Clark's vehicle developed transmission issues. * Lap 25: Richard Petty took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 36: Ray Johnstone had a terminal crash. * Lap 38: Problems with the vehicle's clutch ended Mike Kittlekow's day on the track. * Lap 40: Frank Warren developed terminal issues with his transmission. * Lap 56: Bob Kauf's vehicle had a terminal transmission issue which knocked him out of the race. * Lap 58: Bill Champion's vehicle had a terminal transmission issue which knocked him out of the race. * Lap 76: Dick Guldstrad managed to lose a frame out of his vehicle, making his car too unsafe for further racing. * Lap 84: Ray Elder took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 97: Frank James developed a faulty transmission in his vehicle. * Lap 107: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Ray Elder. * Lap 118: A faulty lug bolt ended Ron Gaustche's race. * Lap 120: Ray Elder took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 133: Steering issues brought Dick Bown's day on the track to a premature halt. * Lap 136: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Ray Elder. * Lap 150: Ray Elder took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 155: Bob England managed to render his vehicle's engine non-functional. * Lap 156: Hershel McGriff ruined the ignition of his vehicle by driving at high speeds. * Lap 157: G.T. Tallas managed to render his vehicle's engine non-functional. * Lap 166: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Ray Elder. * Lap 180: Ray Elder took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Finish: Ray Elder was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

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Motor Trend 500 The Winston Western 500 was an annual NASCAR Winston Cup race held at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, United States, in January, and then in later years, November. From 1963 to 1981, the race was held in January and was ...

NASCAR races at Riverside International Raceway