1971 Motor Trend 500
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Riverside International Raceway (1969-1988 version) | |||
| Date | January 10, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Motor Trend 500 | ||
| Location | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.345 km (2.700 miles) | ||
| Distance | 191 laps, 500 mi (806 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 23,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ray Elder | Fred Elder | |
| Laps | 67 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 96 | Ray Elder | Fred Elder | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first race in NASCAR's Winston Cup era (also known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series) that took place on January 10, 1971. 191 laps on a road course at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California that spanned a total distance of 2.620 miles (4.216 km).[2]
Attendance was estimated at 23,000. It took four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and fifty-five seconds.[2]
Due to a then-struggling economy, both Ford and Chevrolet cut back on factory support for the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.[3] NASCAR would also limit engines in the aerodynamic superspeedway cars to 305 cubic inches starting in this race.[3]
Qualifying
Defending NASCAR Grand National West series champion Ray Elder won the race; making it the first time that the 500-mile event at Riverside was won by a manufacturer other than Ford.[2] The average speed was 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) while the pole speed was 107.084 miles per hour (172.335 km/h). 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).[2] Elder became the first winner in NASCAR's "modern" history.
Only 11 cars finished this 5-hour marathon.[2] The 8th-place finisher was 22 laps down, and the 11th-place finisher dropped out with 34 laps to go.[2] The top prize at this race was $18,715 ($145,307 when adjusted for inflation) and the prize for finishing last (40th) was $1,015 ($7,881 when adjusted for inflation).[2] Richard Petty competed in this race but failed to finish; he would end up in 20th after starting from the pole position.[2] The majority of the drivers who failed to finish had an engine problem.[2] 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.[2]
Harry Hyde and Dale Inman were notable crew chiefs for this event; working for Richard Petty (Inman) and fourth-place finisher Bobby Isaac (Hyde).[4]
At the end of the race, the margin between Elder and Bobby Allison was ten and a half seconds.[2] Ray Elder would score the first of his two NASCAR cup victories here[2] (with his second victory taking place at the 1972 Golden State 400[5]). 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.
| Grid[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Richard Petty | '70 Plymouth |
| 2 | 12 | Bobby Allison | '70 Dodge |
| 3 | 96 | Ray Elder | '70 Dodge |
| 4 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '71 Dodge |
| 5 | 48 | James Hylton | '70 Ford |
| 6 | 02 | Dick Bown | '70 Plymouth |
| 7 | 72 | Benny Parsons | '69 Ford |
| 8 | 04 | Hershel McGriff | '70 Plymouth |
| 9 | 39 | Friday Hassler | '69 Chevrolet |
| 10 | 32 | Kevin Terris | '70 Plymouth |
| 11 | 38 | Jimmy Insolo | '69 Chevrolet |
| 12 | 10 | Bill Champion | '69 Ford |
| 13 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | '69 Ford |
| 14 | 44 | Dick Guldstrand | '68 Chevrolet |
| 15 | 08 | John Soares, Jr. | '70 Plymouth |
| 16 | 17 | David Pearson | '70 Ford |
| 17 | 19 | Henley Gray | '69 Ford |
| 18 | 88 | Don Noel | '70 Ford |
| 19 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '69 Mercury |
| 20 | 83 | Joe Clark | '69 Chevrolet |
| 21 | 99 | Pat Fay | '71 Ford |
| 22 | 26 | Carl Joiner, Jr. | '69 Chevrolet |
| 23 | 6 | Jerry Oliver | '70 Oldsmobile |
| 24 | 95 | Bob Kauf | '69 Chevrolet |
| 25 | 15 | Paul Dorrity | '71 Chevrolet |
| 26 | 82 | Ron Gautsche | '69 Ford |
| 27 | 4 | Dick Kranzler | '70 Chevrolet |
| 28 | 07 | Ivan Baldwin | '69 Chevrolet |
| 29 | 23 | G.T. Tallas | '69 Ford |
| 30 | 00 | Frank James | '69 Chevrolet |
| 31 | 7 | Jack McCoy | '70 Dodge |
| 32 | 77 | Ray Johnstone | '69 Plymouth |
| 33 | 5 | Ron Grable | '70 Ford |
| 34 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | '69 Mercury |
| 35 | 148 | Harry Schilling | '69 Dodge |
| 36 | 177 | Roy Collins | '69 Dodge |
| 37 | 79 | Frank Warren | '69 Plymouth |
| 38 | 108 | Mike Pittelkow | '69 Chevrolet |
| 39 | 33 | Glenn Francis | '70 Chevrolet |
| 40 | 18 | Bob England | '70 Chevrolet |