1971 Yankee 400
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 36 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Layout of Michigan International Speedway
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| Date | August 15, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Yankee 400 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway (Brooklyn, Michigan, USA) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km) |
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| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 149.862 miles per hour (241.180 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Owens Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Allison | Holman Moody | |
| Laps | 155 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 12 | Bobby Allison | Holman Moody | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Yankee 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place at the Michigan International Speedway on August 15, 1971.[2] The entire purse that the racers competed for in this event was $51,015 ($298,083.54 when adjusted for inflation).[3] Maynard Troyers only finish in the "top five" was recorded at this event.[4]
During this era, Michigan International Speedway was a Mercury-dominated track. It was also a track that suited a smooth driver or a driver that could change his driving tactics for Michigan International Speedway.
Summary
There were 26,000 fans on attendance for this two-hour-and-forty-minute race in the American community of Brooklyn, Michigan[2] (compared to the 103,000 fans who attended the 2009 Carfax 400). There were two cautions for twelve laps and the victory margin was three seconds.[2] Average speed was 149.862 miles (241.180 km) per hour while the pole speed was 161.901 miles (260.554 km) per hour.[2] All forty competitors in this race were born in the United States of America.[2] 197 laps were undertaken on a paved oval track spanning 2.040 miles (3.283 km).[2] Coca-Cola was the most major sponsor (and was sponsoring the winner of that race).[2]
Manufacturers involved in this race included Mercury, Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, and Plymouth.[2] Pontiac failed to provide a racing vehicle in this series[2] and only American manufacturers were allowed to race during this era after seeing foreign models dominate the 1950s and most of the 1960s.
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.
Finishing order
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- Bobby Allison (winner)
- Richard Petty (the eventual season champion)
- Buddy Baker†
- Maynard Troyer
- Joe Frasson
- Cecil Gordon†
- Ron Keselowski (uncle of Brad Keselowski)
- James Hylton
- Jabe Thomas
- Neil Castles
- Tommy Gale†
- Marv Acton
- Ben Arnold
- Frank Warren
- Bill Dennis
- Richard D. Brown
- Raymond Williams
- J.D. McDuffie†
- Charlie Roberts
- Walter Ballard
- Elmo Langley†
- George Altheide
- Wendell Scott†
- Earl Brooks†
- Bobby Mausgrover
- Bill Champion†
- Charlie Glotzbach*
- Dean Dalton*
- Bill Seifert*
- Johnny Halford*
- Pete Hamilton*
- Dick May*†
- Coo Coo Marlin*†
- John Sears*†
- Dave Marcis*
- Ed Negre*
- Henley Gray*
- Benny Parsons*†
- Bobby Isaac*†
- Friday Hassler*†
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
References
| Preceded by | NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1971 |
Succeeded by 1971 Talladega 500 |
