1971 Asheville 300

Auto race held at New Asheville Speedway in 1971 February 2025 CUST Race 19 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Asheville 300 Weather information for the 1971 Asheville 300 at The Old Farmers Almanac 1971 May 21 1971 19 48 Asheville 300 New Asheville Speedway, Asheville, North Carolina 0.333 0.535 300 99.9 160.7 Mild with temperatures of 73.9 F C; wind speeds of 15 mph km/h 71.231 mi/h 4,500 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Richard Petty Petty Enterprises 252 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises untelevised none The 1971 Asheville 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 21, 1971, at New Asheville Speedway in Asheville, North Carolina. This race marked the Cup series' return to New Asheville Speedway after an absence of just under three years but it would be the series' final race here as the trimmed down schedule in 1972 eliminated this event. Richard Petty won the prior race in 1968 and won again here with little challenge. Race report Seventeen drivers started the race; seven of them parked over the course of the race (including tenth-place finisher Bill Shirey),1971 Asheville 300 racing information at Racing Reference due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. The other DNFs were due to engine, brake problems, in addition to problems with the ignition system. After nearly one and a half hours of racing 300 laps, Richard Petty scored a relatively easy victory over Elmo Langley by a distance of four laps. This was the last time Elmo Langley led a race. Because Richard Petty only had to contend with 16 other drivers and the race was less than three hours long, this race is not comparable to the wins that were experienced in the NASCAR races of the current era.NASCAR’s Record Keeping Is Holding Back Johnson And Others at Beyond the Flag Dale Inman was the winning crew chief of this race.1971 Asheville 300 racing information at Race-Database Other notable crew chiefs who actively participated in the race were Vic Ballard and Lee Gordon.1971 Asheville 300 crew chiefs at Racing Reference An audience of 4500 people saw four different lead changes, no caution periods along with Petty and Langley constantly fight it out for the lead. Like the 1959 Daytona 500, the 1969 Motor Trend 500 and the 1971 Space City 300, this race is considered to be one of NASCAR's infrequently occurring "perfect games."November 2020 Petty would qualify for pole position driving speeds up to 79.598 mph km/h during solo qualifying sessions. Ironically, the circumstances of this race yielded Dick May's career-best finish in Winston Cup racing, in spite of the fact that he parked halfway through the event. The drivers earned very little for participating in this race compared to the multimillion-dollar purses of today; Petty earned a meager $1,500 ($ when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher Hylton walked away only $220 wealthier ($ when adjusted for inflation).1971 Asheville 300 https://web.archive.org/web/20140811150249/http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar_stats/race.php?sked_id=1971019 2014-08-11 racing information at Driver Averages Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Owner 1 43 Richard Petty '71 Plymouth Petty Enterprises 2 64 Elmo Langley '69 Mercury Elmo Langley 3 24 Cecil Gordon '69 Mercury Cecil Gordon 4 48 James Hylton '71 Ford James Hylton 5 06 Neil Castles '70 Dodge Neil Castles 6 34 Wendell Scott '69 Ford Wendell Scott 7 10 Bill Champion '69 Ford Bill Champion 8 72 Benny Parsons '70 Ford L.G. DeWitt 9 74 Bill Shirey '69 Plymouth Bill Shirey 10 25 Jabe Thomas '69 Plymouth Don Robertson 11 30 Walter Ballard '71 Ford Vic Ballard 12 79 Frank Warren '69 Plymouth Frank Warren 13 4 John Sears '69 Dodge John Sears 14 26 Earl Brooks '69 Ford Earl Brooks 15 67 Dick May '69 Ford Ron Ronacher 16 8 Ed Negre '69 Ford Ed Negre 17 70 J.D. McDuffie '69 Mercury J.D. McDuffie Finishing order 30em Richard Petty (No. 43) Elmo Langley† (No. 64) Cecil Gordon† (No. 24) Jabe Thomas† (No. 25) Bill Champion† (No. 10) Dick May*† (No. 67) J.D. McDuffie*† (No. 70) Earl Brooks*† (No. 26) Frank Warren* (No. 79) Bill Shirey* (No. 74) John Sears*† (No. 4) Benny Parsons*† (No. 72) Walter Ballard* (No. 30) Wendell Scott*† (No. 34) Ed Negre*† (No. 8) Neil Castles* (No. 06) James Hylton*† (No. 48) † signifies that the driver is known to be deceased * Driver failed to finish race Timeline Section reference: Start of race: Richard Petty started the race with the pole position. Lap 1: Neil Castles and James Hylton both quit the race around the same time due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 9: Ed Negre's vehicle developed severe problems with the brakes, ending his day on the track. Lap 14: Elmo Langley takes over the lead from Richard Petty. Lap 15: Wendell Scott's ignition went haywire, forcing him to exit the race prematurely. Lap 32: Walter Ballard's engine developed a problem, ending his day on the track. Lap 33: Benny Parsons's engine would stop working properly, sending him home for the rest of the day. Lap 57: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Elmo Langley. Lap 74: John Sears quit the race due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 79: Bill Shirey quit the race due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 110: Frank Warren quit the race due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 124: Earl Brooks quit the race due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 130: J.D. McDuffie's engine became problematic, causing him to withdraw from the race in a respectable seventh place. Lap 155: Dick May quit the race due to concerns regarding prize money for independent teams. Lap 201: Elmo Langley takes over the lead from Richard Petty. Lap 206: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Elmo Langley. Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event. References 1971 Winston 500 1971 Kingsport 300 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Races 1971 1971 Virginia 500 1971 Pickens 200 Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984 Asheville 300 Asheville 300 Category:NASCAR races at New Asheville Speedway