Official name Sandlapper 200 | ||
Date August 27, 1971; 45 years ago (1971-08-27) Course Permanent racing facility0.500 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) | ||
The 1971 Sandlapper 200 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 27, 1971, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.
Contents
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. 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.
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. Six cautions were given for forty-one laps; Richard Petty managed to defeat Tiny Lund by ten car lengths. 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. Eight thousand people showed up in person to see cars achieve speeds of up to 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h). Richard Petty, however, would achieve the pole position speed of 85.137 miles per hour (137.015 km/h). Ron Keselowski would crash prior to the first lap of the race.
The combined winnings purse for this race would be $9,275 ($54,849.77 when adjusted for inflation); the winner would receive $1,500 of it ($8,870.58 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher took home a meager $200 ($1,182.74 when adjusted for inflation).
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).
Top ten finishers
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Tiny Lund (No. 55)
- Jim Paschal (No. 14)
- James Hylton (No. 48), 3 laps behind
- Jabe Thomas (No. 25), 4 laps behind
- Wayne Andrews (No. 15), 4 laps behind
- Elmo Langley (No. 64), 6 laps behind
- Walter Ballard (No. 30), 7 laps behind
- Randy Hutchison (No. 2), 7 laps behind
- Ken Meisenhelder (No. 41), 10 laps behind