1971 Sandlapper 200

1971 Sandlapper 200
Race details[1]
Race 38 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date August 27, 1971 (1971-08-27)
Official name Sandlapper 200
Location Columbia Speedway, Columbia, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 110
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1971 Sandlapper 200 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 27, 1971, at Columbia Speedway[2] in Columbia, South Carolina.[3]

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 (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 anymore.

Background

Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. It was the site of auto races for NASCAR's top series from 1951 through 1971.[4] For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three Grand National races ever held on a dirt track.[5]

The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971.

Summary

Two hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) in only one hour and thirty-four minutes.[2][3] Six cautions were given for forty-one laps; Richard Petty managed to defeat Tiny Lund by ten car lengths.[2][3] Local track announcer Jim Seay would realize the charismatic potential of Petty and interviewed him right after the race in front of a regional crowd.[6] Eight thousand people showed up in person to see cars achieve speeds of up to 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h).[2][3] Richard Petty, however, would achieve the pole position speed of 85.137 miles per hour (137.015 km/h).[3] Ron Keselowski would crash prior to the first lap of the race.[2][3]

The combined winnings purse for this race would be $9,275 ($54,285.81 when adjusted for inflation); the winner would receive $1,500 of it ($8,779.38 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher took home a meager $200 ($1,170.58 when adjusted for inflation).[7]

H. B. Bailey was running in second place until a freak crash on 55 made him finish in 24th place (a loss of 22 positions).[2][3]

Top ten finishers

  1. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  2. Tiny Lund (No. 55)
  3. Jim Paschal (No. 14)
  4. James Hylton (No. 48), 3 laps behind
  5. Jabe Thomas (No. 25), 4 laps behind
  6. Wayne Andrews (No. 15), 4 laps behind
  7. Elmo Langley (No. 64), 6 laps behind
  8. Walter Ballard (No. 30), 7 laps behind
  9. Randy Hutchison (No. 2), 7 laps behind
  10. Ken Meisenhelder (No. 41), 10 laps behind

Timeline

References

  1. "1971 Sandlapper 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1971 Sandlapper 200 racing results (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1971 Sandlapper 200 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  4. Columbia Speedway page of Racing-Reference website , retrieved 8 May 2007.
  5. Fielden, Greg, "NASCAR Cleans Up", Speedway Illustrated, September 2004.
  6. "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas". Google Books. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  7. "1971 Sandlapper 200 weather information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
Preceded by
1971 West Virginia 500
Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984
Succeeded by
1971 Delaware 500
Preceded by
1971 Talladega 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1971
Succeeded by
1971 Buddy Shuman 276
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