1971 Georgia 500


The 1971 Georgia 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that occurred on November 7, 1971, at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia.
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. 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.

Race report

, Bobby Allison, Jim Paschal, and Tiny Lund would fight for the first-place position in this race; with Allison leading the most laps. Bobby Allison would go on to defeat Tiny Lund by a margin of one lap after more than three hours and twenty minutes of racing. Bill Dennis's last-place finish would occur on the first lap in this 500-lap regulation event due to problems with his driveshaft. Friday Hassler had a great run, leading 12 laps early on the way to a third-place finish.
There were 32 drivers on the grid; all of them were born in the United States of America. Allison would qualify for the pole position with a top speed of and set the pace for the entire event averaging speeds up to to excite the 7,300 live audience members who attended this historic event. NASCAR officials gave out seven caution flags for 44 laps; one of them was related to the Walter Ballard crash on lap 455.
Vic Ballard and Junie Donlavey were the most notable crew chiefs to actively participate in this race.
Engine problems would retire some drivers out of the race in addition to clutch problems and troubles with managing the transmission, the suspension, and the alternator. Manufacturers that are hard to find today like the AMC Javelin, the Pontiac Firebird, and the Camaro once competed alongside "plain Jane" Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge vehicles.
Jimmy Watson would never compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race after this event while Bob Williams would make his introduction into professional stock car racing here. Individual winnings for this event ranged from a handsome $3,275 to a meager $350.
Until the Pontiac Excitement 400 in 1989, this marked the last time that Richard Petty failed to make the starting grid of a Cup race.

Qualifying

Finishing order

  1. Bobby Allison
  2. Tiny Lund
  3. Friday Hassler
  4. Neil Castles
  5. Bill Champion
  6. Earl Brooks
  7. J.D. McDuffie
  8. Ernie Shaw
  9. Frank Sessoms
  10. Frank Warren
  11. Jabe Thomas
  12. Walter Ballard
  13. Wayne Andrews
  14. Wendell Scott
  15. David Sisco
  16. Joe Dean Huss
  17. John Sears
  18. Buck Baker
  19. Randy Hutchison
  20. Dick Brooks
  21. Ed Negre
  22. H.B. Bailey
  23. G.C. Spencer
  24. Jim Paschal
  25. Bill Seifert
  26. Bob Williams
  27. Henley Gray
  28. David Ray Boggs
  29. Dub Simpson
  30. Earle Canavan
  31. Jimmy Watson
  32. Bill Dennis