1971 Kingsport 300
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 20 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| Date | May 23, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Kingsport 300 | ||
| Location | Kingsport Speedway, Kingsport, Tennessee | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.545 km (0.337 miles) | ||
| Distance | 300 laps, 101.1 mi (165.7 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 7 miles per hour (11 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 63.242 miles per hour (101.778 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 3,800[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | K&K Insurance Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Laps | 294 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 71 | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Kingsport 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 23, 1971, at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Qualifying
There were 25 drivers on the starting grid; 13 drivers would fail to finish the race.[2] Bill Hollar would finish in last-place on the first lap due to an issue with his clutch.[2] Bill Champion received his second straight top-five finish.[2] Richard Childress would be involved in a fire during the race while a crash would take D.K. Ulrich out of the race.[2] 300 laps were performed in front of 3,800 live spectators.[2] Bobby Isaac and Richard Petty were exchanging the lead for the entire race.[2]
Isaac would go on to defeat Elmo Langley after more than 90 minutes of racing action;[2] with Harry Hyde as the winner's crew chief.[3] Isaac's qualifying speed of 75.167 miles per hour (120.970 km/h) earned him the pole position for this race.[2] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Vic Ballard and Lee Gordon.[4]
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.
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '71 Dodge |
| 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | '71 Plymouth |
| 3 | 48 | James Hylton | '71 Ford |
| 4 | 10 | Bill Champion | '69 Ford |
| 5 | 72 | Benny Parsons | '70 Ford |
| 6 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '71 Ford |
| 7 | 34 | Wendell Scott | '69 Ford |
| 8 | 06 | Neil Castles | '70 Dodge |
| 9 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | '69 Mercury |
| 10 | 4 | John Sears | '69 Dodge |
| 11 | 25 | Jabe Thomas | '70 Plymouth |
| 12 | 30 | Walter Ballard | '71 Ford |
| 13 | 8 | Ed Negre | '69 Ford |
| 14 | 40 | D.K. Ulrich | '70 Ford |
| 15 | 26 | Earl Brooks | '69 Ford |
| 16 | 45 | Bill Seifert | '70 Ford |
| 17 | 74 | Bill Shirey | '69 Plymouth |
| 18 | 67 | Dick May | '69 Ford |
| 19 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | '69 Chevrolet |
| 20 | 96 | Richard Childress | '71 Chevrolet |