The 1971 World 600, the 12th running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

racing event that took place on May 30, 1971, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...

. It marked the return of

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

to NASCAR.''An unheralded World 600 that boosted two NASCAR icons''
at Scene Daily Chevrolet would go on to dominate NASCAR during the subsequent decades.

Qualifying

Summary

There were 40 drivers in this 400-lap race;

Walter Ballard Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (January 12, 1933 – October 26, 2024) was an American NASCAR driver from Houston, Texas. In 1971, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series (known as the NASCAR Cup Series as ...

received the last place finish due to a crash on the eleventh lap.''1971 World 600''
at Racing Reference The race took more than four hours to complete. There were 13 lead changes and three caution period for 24 laps. Charlotte Motor Speedway had just gone bankrupt a year earlier and the district judge assigned ownership of the floundering track to Mr. Richard Howard; who owned a furniture store in the area.
at Mopar Action He came up with the idea of having two

pace car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable th ...

s advertise his furniture at this race and at the 1971 National 500. As a result, the speedway managed to recover and it still hosts Cup Series races to this day.

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant ...

defeated

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the " Alabama Gang", and is the br ...

by 34 seconds in front of an audience of 78000; starting the first of five consecutive wins for Bobby Allison.

Charlie Glotzbach Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an American Auto Racing Club of America, ARCA and NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the recor ...

won the pole position with a speed of while the average race speed was . The other finishers in the top ten were:

Pete Hamilton Peter Goodwill Hamilton (July 20, 1942 – March 21, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving ...

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...

Fred Lorenzen Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (December 30, 1934 – December 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", "Fast Freddie", "the Elmhurst Express" and "Fearless Freddy", was an American NASCAR driver from Elmhurst, Illinois. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won ...

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 19 ...

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, an ...

Friday Hassler Raymond Lee "Friday" Hassler (July 29, 1935 – February 17, 1972) was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career Hassler made his debut in 1960 but only drove a handful of races per year until 1967 when he drove 21 of the 49 ...

(the fastest Chevrolet driver),

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

and

Dick Brooks Richard Harold Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy ...

. Notable crew chiefs for the race were

Paul Goldsmith Paul Edward Goldsmith (October 2, 1925 – September 6, 2024) was an American racing driver. During his career he raced A.M.A. Grand National Championship, motorcycles, Stock car racing, stock cars, and American open-wheel car racing, Indianapol ...

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey e ...

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/ Winston Cup Series crew chief. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three decades. They won 188 races and seven championsh ...

Tom Vandiver Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

, and Lee Gordon.1971 World 600 crew chiefs information
at Racing Reference

Speedy Thompson Alfred Bruce "Speedy" Thompson (April 3, 1926, in Monroe, North Carolina – April 2, 1972, in Charlotte, North Carolina) was an American stock car racer in the NASCAR Grand National series from 1950 to 1971, capturing 20 wins along the way. R ...

made his last start of his NASCAR Cup Series career and would finish in 16th place despite being absent from the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for nearly nine years.''1971 World 600''
results at Race Database Larry Smith would begin his tragically short NASCAR career during this race; resulting in a 22nd-place finish. One of the most eagerly anticipated races ever as it marked the first competitive entry of a Junior Johnson-owned Chevy. Chevrolet had gone several years without a win in the Grand National division and nearly ended that dry spell in this race. Glotzbach was running strong when he tangled with the lapped car of Thompson and crashed on lap 234, ending his day. Kevin Terris tried to qualify for this race in a

Plymouth Road Runner The Plymouth Road Runner is a muscle car introduced by Chrysler in the United States for the 1968 model year and marketed under its Plymouth brand. Initially based on the Belvedere, the brand's basic mid-size model, the Road Runner combined a ...

,Qualifying attempt of ''Kevin Terris''
at AeroWarriors.com but he failed to qualify.

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Bobby Allison emerged the ahead of the pack as the green flag was waved. * Lap 6: Charlie Glotzbach took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 11: Walter Ballard had a terminal crash. * Lap 17: Dave Marcis took over the lead from Charlie Glotzbach, Charlie Roberts' engine stopped working. * Lap 24: James Hylton took over the lead from Dave Marcis. * Lap 25: Bobby Allison took over the lead from James Hylton. * Lap 60: G.C. Spencer's engine stopped working. * Lap 77: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 79: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Buddy Baker. * Lap 92: Charlie Glotzbach took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 94: An oil leak occurred in David Pearson's vehicle. * Lap 98: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Charlie Glotzbach. * Lap 137: Charlie Glotzbach took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 160: Bobby Isaac's radiator acted strangely. * Lap 175: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Charlie Glotzbach. * Lap 195: Charlie Glotzbach took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 211: Raymond Williams' engine stopped working. * Lap 227: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Charlie Glotzbach. * Lap 234: Charlie Glotzbach had a terminal crash. * Lap 330: Richard D. Brown had a terminal crash. * Finish: Bobby Allison was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{Coca-Cola 600

World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960 in NASCAR, 1960, was a ...

NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway