The 1971 West Virginia 500 was a

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 Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

racing event that took place on August 8, 1971, at International Raceway Park in

Ona, West Virginia Ona is a small unincorporated community along US 60 (the old Midland Trail) in Cabell County, West Virginia, United States. It is situated roughly halfway between the towns of Barboursville to the west and Milton to the east. Ona is a part of t ...

. The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of

homologation Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

(and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power any more.

Race report

Five hundred laps took place on a paved

oval track Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic ...

spanning . The total time of the race was two hours and fifty-seven minutes. The average speed of the race was while the qualifying speed for the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

was . Ten thousand people would attend the live race to see

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 ...

defeat

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 ...

by more than two laps. It was quite the battle between Petty and Allison during the course of the race. Petty beat on Allison all night and at one point pinned Allison against the wall so hard that both cars came to a stop. There was a grid of 32 competitors; only 14 of them were counted as finishing the race. Notable crew chiefs to participate in this race were

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 ...

Vic Ballard Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, and Lee Gordon. Jerry Churchill decided to quit the race after the first lap; giving him a meager $300 paycheck ($ in current US dollars).

Bill Shirey Bill Shirey (born February 28, 1932) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. Career Shirey accomplished three finishes in the "top ten" ( 1970 Richmond 500, 1971 Asheville 300, and 1971 Kingsport 300) and has driven for 9588 laps - the eq ...

would also quit on lap 31; earning the same amount that Churchill did.

Bill Seifert William John Seifert (born July 2, 1939 - Skyland, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.illness A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

brought on by dehydration in the West Virginia summertime heat. No replacement was found and he brought home $330 from his hard day of racing ($ in today's American dollars).

Qualifying

Finishing order

(No. 43) #

(No. 49) #

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 ...

† (No. 48) #

Tiny Lund DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund (November 14, 1929 – August 17, 1975) was an American stock car racer. He was a journeyman racer-for-hire in the top level NASCAR Grand National Series, running partial seasons for a number of years, including a vict ...

† (No. 55) #

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 ...

† (No. 24) #

Jim Paschal James Roy Paschal, Jr. (December 5, 1926 – July 5, 2004) was a Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career summary Paschal won twenty-five races and twelve poles over his career. Elected to the "Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame" in 1 ...

*† (No. 14) # Gary Myers (No. 41) #

Walter Ballard Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (born January 12, 1933) is a former NASCAR driver from Houston, Texas. In 1971, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series (known as the NASCAR Cup Series as of 2021), in its fir ...

(No. 30) # Bill Champion† (No. 10) #

Jabe Thomas Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas (May 12, 1930 – June 4, 2015) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989 ...

† (No. 25) #

Earl Brooks Earl Lee Brooks (August 11, 1929 – July 21, 2010) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1962 to 1979. His career came at a time where NASCAR was less organized than it is today and drivers independently owned their v ...

† (No. 26) #

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 ...

† (No. 70) #

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...

† (No. 34) #

David Ray Boggs David Ray Boggs (born September 8, 1943) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a former competitor in the NASCAR Grand American Series, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and the ARCA Racing Series. NASCAR career Boggs made ...

(No. 86) # Joe Dean Huss (No. 33) #

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

*† (No. 87) # Randy Hutchinson* (No. 2) #

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

* (No. 06) # Jimmy Vaughn* (No. 7) # John Sears*† (No. 4) # Gordon Birkett* (No. 50) #

Ed Negre Ed Negre (July 16, 1927June 4, 2014) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979.''E ...

*† (No. 8) # Wayne Andrews* (No. 15) #

Bill Seifert William John Seifert (born July 2, 1939 - Skyland, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.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 ...

*† (No. 64) # Junior Spencer* (No. 11) #

Charlie Glotzbach Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an Auto Racing Club of America, ARCA and NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the record for fas ...

* (No. 3) #

Pee Wee Wentz Jerry E. "Pee Wee" Wentz Jr. (born October 6, 1941 in Danville, Virginia, Danville, Virginia, United States, USA) is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Winston Cup Series driver. He has done a grand total of 1234 laps and of total NASCAR Cup Se ...

* (No. 5) #

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...

* (No. 47) # Al Straub* (No. 94) # Frank Warren* (No. 79) #

* (No. 74) #

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 ...

* (No. 19) #

Paul Tyler Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

* (No. 78) # Jerry Churchill*† (No. 73) ''* Driver failed to finish race''
''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Bobby Allison lead the starting grid as the green flag was waved. * Lap 1: Jerry Churchill chose to quit the race. * Lap 11: Paul Tyler's engine stopped working properly. * Lap 30: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 31: Bill Shirey chose to quit the race. * Lap 53: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 55: Tiny Lund took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 75: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Tiny Lund. * Lap 100: Pee Wee Wentz' engine stopped working properly. * Lap 112: Ignition problems took Junior Spencer out of the race. * Lap 141: Ignition problems took Elmo Langley out of the race. * Lap 148: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 187: A sudden medical issue forced Bill Seifert out of the event prematurely. * Lap 206: Wayne Andrews managed to overheat his vehicle. * Lap 214: Carburetor problems forced Ed Negre into a 22nd-place finish. * Lap 224: Ignition problems took John Sears out of the race. * Lap 234: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 298: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 300: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 312: Neil Castles' engine stopped working properly. * Lap 316: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 349: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 362: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 413: Buck Baker's engine stopped working properly. * Lap 420: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 424: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 477: Jim Paschal's engine stopped working properly. * Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{authority control West Virginia 500 West Virginia 500 NASCAR races at International Raceway Park