Wilkes 400

Dennis Andrews
@dennis-andrews
7 years ago
835 posts

WILKES 400

North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro, NC

Sunday, November 21, 1971

Race #17 of the 1971 for the Grand American Challenge Series was the sixth combination event that included Grand National cars and Grand American cars and was held at the historic 5/8 mile paved oval in Wilkes County. It was the last race of 1971. Tiny Lund came into the event with a narrow point lead over Buck Baker and ended the day with his 3 rd Grand American/Grand Touring Championship. The combination events were the result of a lack of Grand National cars at short tracks and promoters not wanting to schedule Grand American events because they were not profitable enough. Of the six combination events held in 1971 two were won by Bobby Allison (one in a GA car and one in a GN car), two were won by Richard Petty and two by Tiny Lund. Some thought the GA cars would have an unfair advantage as they were lighter and could run farther on a tank of fuel but NASCAR took that possibility away when they mandated pit stops at Hickory. The fact that the GA cars had to run their normal (smaller) tires and could only have two men over the wall on a pit stop took away any possible advantage. The only up side for the GA cars were that they were lighter and more agile than the GN cars but in a door slamming battle the GN cars were hard to move. The end result was a tie, three wins for the GA cars and three for the GN cars.

Going into the previous race at Macon Lund had a 4 point lead on Baker and Baker had 10 points on Wayne Andrews in third. All three had a shot at the title. Lund stretched his lead a little by finishing second at Macon with Baker 18 th with heating problems. Andrews suffered ignition problems late and finished 13 th which but him and Baker neck to neck for second in the points heading into North Wilkesboro. Lund claimed the championship with the win at Wilkesboro and Baker finished 6 th to earn second in the points as Andrews was not allowed to race and had to settle for third in points. The first scheduled date for the North Wilkesboro race was Sept. 19 th but it was rained out. That was also the date for the USAC sanctioned Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono which Andrews had entered along with NASCAR regulars Jim Paschal, George Wiltshire, Bobby Wawak and Bobby Mausgrover. When Andrews showed up at North Wilkesboro after 2 rain delays NASCAR would not let him through the gate.

Only 7 GA cars were in the field of 30. Lund won with Baker 6 th , Frank Sessoms 8 th , Joe Dean Huss 14 th , Bob Williams 20 th , Jimmy Vaughn 23 rd and Randy Hutchison 27 th . Ron Trout, Tom Pistone, Glenn Brewer and David Boggs had posted entries for the original date in GA cars but only Pistone’s car was listed in the final results with Jimmy Vaughn behind the wheel.

Tim Leeming has posted this event before so I will only attach the article below and make these few notes. I thought it was great when many writers called the GA drivers “field fillers” and they won half the combination races. Charlie Glotzbach put Jr, Johnson’s Chevy on the pole with the first qualifying lap ever turned in less than 21 seconds. Richard Petty started on the outside pole and finished third which made it the 16 th time in the last 16 races he had finished in the top 3. This would be Wendell Scott’s last race at North Wilkesboro. The race results list 31 drivers but only 30 took the green. Walter Ballard got the alternate spot when James Cox failed to make the grid. He started on the back row and finished 13 th gaining the most spots from his starting position of any driver in the field.

wilkes400.jpg

Tiny Lund was named the Most Popular Driver in the Grand American Challenge Series with Bobby Allison getting that honor in the Grand National division, Ray Elder in the Western Grand National division and Red Farmer in Late Model Sportsman.

1971 Grand American Final Point Standings

 

            Driver                                                  Points              St         W        T5        T10

1          Tiny Lund                                           1000                17        6          12        13

2          Buck Baker                                         984                  17        2          6          7

3          Wayne Andrews                                 880                  16        0          6          9

4          Jimmy Vaughn                                    880                  14        0          6          7

5          Bob Williams                                      873                  13        0          0          3

6          David Boggs                                       868                  14        0          1          5

7          Ernie Shaw                                          826                  13        0          0          1

8          Al Straub                                             779                  12        0          3          5

9          Bobby Brewer                                     731                  10        0          0          4

10        Bobby Fleming                                   632                  11        0          1          5

11        Jimmy Capps                                       601                  9          0          2          5

12        Baxter Price                                        601                  6          0          0          4

13        Randy Hutchison                                575                  11        0          0          2

14        Tommy Andrews                                537                  11        0          2          5

15        H. B. Bailey                                        512                  9          1          2          2

16        Jim Paschal                                          491                  10        0          2          4

17        Ron Trout                                            471                  4          0          0          1

18        Joe Dean Huss                                     329                  6          0          0          1

19        James Ramey                                      299                  6          0          2          2

20        Glenn Brewer                                      298                  6          0          0          2

21        Tommy Lechlider                                285                  5          0          0          1

22        Pee Wee Wentz                                   274                  4          0          0          0

23        Steve McWhite                                   248                  6          0          0          2

24        Bobby Wilson                                     236                  2          0          0          0

25        C. B. Gwyn                                         231                  4          0          0          1

26        Stan Starr                                            229                  6          0          0          0

27        Gene Parsons                                      201                  3          0          0          2

28        Billy Hagan                                         194                  4          0          0          0

29        Stan Starr, Jr.                                      183                  3          0          0          2

30        E. J. Trivette                                        183                  3          0          1          1

31        Jimmy Hailey                                      179                  6          0          0          0

32        Gary Myers                                         172                  5          0          2          3

33        Randy Bannister                                 151                  3          0          0          0

34        Coy Blue                                             147                  4          0          0          0

35        Richard Childress                               138                  2          0          0          1

 

11 Grand American Challenge Series events of which 3 were NASCAR/ARCA races. 6 events were NASCAR races that combined the Grand National and Grand American cars.

12814551_1014971708552667_2432795563628894087_n.jpg


updated by @dennis-andrews: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM
Dennis Andrews
@dennis-andrews
7 years ago
835 posts

First attempt in the new format and it did not turn out like I wanted. Don't know how to insert pictures where you can see them or in the order wanted like the old site.


updated by @dennis-andrews: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM
TMC Chase
@tmc-chase
7 years ago
4,073 posts

Dennis - try editing your post. Go to where you want pics inserted. Click Embed Local Media.

media.png
Then click Upload An Image. In this screen shot, the size I've got is 512 pixels. But I suggest using the 800 one.
insert_pic.png



--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

updated by @tmc-chase: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM