April 18, 1971
“Gwyn Staley 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
Bobby Isaac broke the record for consecutive poles at North Wilkesboro Speedway. His fast lap of 21.183 seconds/106.217mph gave him his fifth straight pole at the speedway. Isaac led 204 laps—the most in the race, but engine problems put him out of the race after he completed 355 of the 400 laps. He finished 13th.
It was the 7th win or the ’71 season and the 7th career win for Richard Petty at NWS. Petty started the race in the third position. He led 186 laps and was the only car on the lead lap at the end of the day. Petty’s first win ever was in a Convertible race on the half mile dirt track in Columbia, SC in 1958.
As it happened so many times, Petty and David Pearson finished 1-2. Pearson started the day on the outside pole and led 4 laps in the race. Petty and Pearson eventually would finish 1-2 in 63 NASCAR races. Pearson won 33 of them and Petty 30. At NWS, Petty would win 2 of the 3 races in which the two drivers finished first and second.
Dick Brooks started the race in the fifth position and finished 3rd, four laps down. Brooks led 6 laps in the race. It has been mentioned that Brooks went on to be a pit reporter for MRN. In an age where NASCAR was starting to grow beyond belief, money was coming in like never seen before and the “Corporate Crowd” was starting to get introduced to the sport, you could still find Brooks walking pit road and climbing pit boxes in his blue denim bib overalls just to simply bring an interview to anxious listeners. One of the highlights was Brooks’ report from victory lane where he opened his victory lane comments the same way. “Well Eli, there’s a bunch of happy people down here.” His wit, Southern accent and way with words always made for a special broadcast. We need more Dick Brooks’ in today’s racing just to remind us of its past.
Running 4th was Benny Parsons. He finished 6 laps off the pace. As with Dick Hutcherson, Benny Parsons would have also been a NASCAR Rookie of the Year (in 1970) had it not been for his championship status in another series prior to running NASCAR. In 1968 and ’69, Parson was champion of the ARCA racing circuit. Rules prohibited a champion from another series earning that particular award in NASCAR. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to Benny Parsons as he fights one of the biggest battles he probably has ever faced in his life.
Finishing in the top 10 for the fifth straight race at NWS was Bobby Allison. Bobby Allison had more top 5 and top 10 finishes at North Wilkesboro than he did at any other speedway at which he raced.
The race lasted 2 hours, 32 minutes, 19 seconds. It was a new record as the race went caution free. It was the second time a race had gone caution free at NWS. The first time was in the fall of 1958—a 160 lap race. There were 6 lead changes among the four drivers mentioned. Only 13 of the 30 cars entered finished the race. The most positions gained went to Bill Shirey—14, from 28th to 14th. It was Shirey’s first race in NASCAR’s premier series at the track. Also new to the Winston Cup racing at NWS was the 1971 Rookie of the Year, Walter Ballard. Ballard finished 17th.