1971 Miller High Life 500

The 1971 Miller High Life 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California.[2]

1971 Miller High Life 500
Race details[1]
Race 5 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date February 28, 1971 (1971-February-28)
Official name Miller High Life 500
Location Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures of 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 134.168 miles per hour (215.922 km/h)
Attendance 78,810[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Time 118.646 seconds
Most laps led
Driver A.J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing
Laps 118
Winner
No. 21 A.J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jim McKay
Jackie Stewart

Race report

Two hundred laps were raced on the paved oval track spanning 2.500 miles (4.023 km).[2] The total time of the race was three hours, forty-three minutes, and thirty-six seconds.[2] This would be the first event to ever take place at Ontario Motor Speedway, on February 28, 1971.[2] The only Cup race with a driver from Utah entered.[2] Art Pollard was a DNQ and the sole Utahan to enter a national level NASCAR race until Michael Self's Xfinity starts 44 years later.[2]

The average speed was 134.168 miles per hour (215.922 km/h) and the pole position speed was 151.711 miles per hour (244.155 km/h).[2] There were five cautions for 21 laps and the margin of victory was 8½ seconds.[2] With an attendance of nearly seventy-nine thousand people.[2][3] Notable crew chiefs at this event included Paul Goldsmith, Richard Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Lee Gordon and Paul Burchard.[4]

In the 51-car racing grid, there were 50 Americans and one Mexican, Pedro Rodríguez who finished in 47th due to an electrical fault.[2] It was the 1000th race in NASCAR history. Rodríguez would retire from the NASCAR Winston Cup Series after his race here. Dean Dalton would finish in last place due to being black flagged and disqualified on lap 2. The only car in the same league with Foyt was Fred Lorenzen until Lorenzen's engine blew and he crashed on the front straight with a fire. At the end, Petty had a chance to win, but he missed his pit under the green flag and had to come back in and finished third. Foyt won the first two Ontario races.[2]

The total winnings of the race were $180,200 ($1,137,614.3 when adjusted for inflation) - making it the biggest non-Daytona purse during that era.[2] Manufacturers involved in the event included Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Mercury, and Plymouth.[2] Other notable drivers included Elmo Langley, Fred Lorenzen, and Ron Hornaday, Sr. (whose son is a four-time Craftsman Truck Series champion).[2] Marty Kinerk would also retire after this race along with Jim McElreath, Pedro Rodríguez and Johnny Steele.[5]

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Speed[6] Qualifying time[6] Owner
1 21A. J. Foyt'69 Mercury151.7111:58.646Wood Brothers
2 71Bobby Isaac'71 Dodge150.0971:59.922Nord Krauskopf
3 43Richard Petty'71 Plymouth149.6302:00.297Petty Enterprises
4 6Pete Hamilton'71 Plymouth149.2562:00.598Cotton Owens
5 99Fred Lorenzen'71 Plymouth149.0482:00.766Ray Nichels
6 11Buddy Baker'71 Dodge146.7922:02.622Petty Enterprises
7 96Ray Elder'70 Dodge146.4432:02.915Fred Elder
8 72Benny Parsons'69 Mercury145.6452:03.588L.G. DeWitt
9 39Friday Hassler'69 Dodge144.1422:04.877Friday Hassler
10 55Tiny Lund'69 Mercury143.7122:05.250John McConnell

Failed to qualify: Jack Roberts (#20), John W. Anderson (#57), Ben Arnold (#76), Sam Rose (#09), Walter Ballard (#30), Jerry Barnett (#55), D.K. Ulrich (#40), Earle Wagner (#01), Art Pollard (#94), Harold Pagon (#36), Larry Baumel (#68), Leonard Blanchard (#95), Frank Burnett (#43W), Scotty Cain (#1), Neil Castles (#06), Markey James (#31), Vic Irvan (#5), Paul Tyler (#95), Tru Cheek (#62), Marion Collins (#78), Chris Connery (#11W), Jim Danielson (#64W), Jack DeWitt (#17W), Paul Dorrity (#15), Vallie Engelauf (#65), Doc Faustina (#5), Glenn Francis (#33), Les Loeser (#40W), Ed Negre (#8), Bill Champion (#10)[6]

Finishing order

Section reference:[2]

  1. A. J. Foyt
  2. Buddy Baker
  3. Richard Petty
  4. Bobby Isaac
  5. Dick Brooks
  6. LeeRoy Yarbrough
  7. Ray Elder
  8. Tiny Lund
  9. Benny Parsons
  10. James Hylton
  11. Elmo Langley
  12. Marv Acton
  13. Jack McCoy
  14. Bill Seifert
  15. Carl Joiner
  16. Friday Hassler
  17. Jimmy Insolo
  18. Jabe Thomas
  19. Cecil Gordon
  20. Bobby Wawak
  21. Frank James
  22. Ron Hornaday
  23. Earl Brooks
  24. Dick Guldstrand
  25. Harry Schilling
  26. Ivan Baldwin
  27. Dick Bown
  28. Hershel McGriff
  29. Henley Gray
  30. Fred Lorenzen
  31. Pete Hamilton
  32. Pat Fay
  33. Ray Johnstone
  34. Marty Kinerk
  35. J.D. McDuffie
  36. Jim McElreath
  37. Johnny Steele
  38. John Soares, Jr.
  39. Bobby Allison
  40. Red Farmer
  41. Bob England
  42. Kevin Terris
  43. Bill Champion
  44. Don Noel
  45. G.T. Tallas
  46. Bill Osborne
  47. Pedro Rodríguez
  48. Dick Kranzler
  49. Ron Gautsche
  50. Frank Warren
  51. Dean Dalton
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References
  1. "1971 Miller High Life 500 weather information". The Old Farmer's Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  2. "1971 Miller High Life 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  3. "1971 Miller High Life 500 information (third reference)". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  4. "1971 Miller High Life 500 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  5. Drivers who retired after this race at Race Database
  6. "1971 Miller High Life 500 qualifying information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
Preceded by
1971 Daytona 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1971		 Succeeded by
1971 Richmond 500
Preceded by
none		 Miller High Life 500 races
1971		 Succeeded by
1972
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