That's right... the first live flag to flag NASCAR event telecast came on a Saturday afternoon of Easter weekend in 1971 from the recently paved 1/2-mile Greenville-Pickens Speedway ( turn on White Horse Road ) in Greenville, SC.
I love seeing stuff like Rookie of the Year Bill Dennis in Junie Donlavey's beautiful #90. The video quality is outstanding. The first clip is a retrospective.
This is the full 200-lap telecast. Beautiful color.
1971?? Say, was this considered a Winston Cup race - or just regular Grand National?
*grin*
*duck/cover*
I actually had a hand in seeing that this ever saw the light of day. A few years back, had a media friend of mine that secured a copy of it from a relative of the speedway's owners, and after some shrewd negotiating with the guy, secured my copy, as well as copies for several others in the tape trading circuit. I think this ranks up there amongst the holy grails of lost racing footage, even now.
If you go to the end of the full version, that is the 1971 Miss Winston holding the trophy with Bobby Isaac in Victory Lane. CASE CLOSED!!!
Great work Jay. We leased the track to test for Derrike Cope in 1986 before our top-10 rookie effort at Martinsville.
Courtesy of Racing Reference:
1971 Greenville 200
NASCAR Winston Cup race number 12 of 48
April 10, 1971 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville, SC
200 laps on a .500 mile paved track (100.0 miles)
Time of race: 1:16:46
Average Speed: 78.159 mph
Pole Speed: 82.557 mph Cautions: 1 for 5 laps
Margin of Victory: 2 laps +
Attendance: 15,000
Lead changes: 1
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 2 71 Bobby Isaac K & K Insurance (Nord Krauskopf) '70 Dodge 200 1,430 running 181
2 1 17 David Pearson Purolator (Holman-Moody) '70 Ford 198 1,030 running 19
3 9 22 Dick Brooks Mario Rossi '69 Dodge 198 830 running 0
4 12 2 Dave Marcis Dave Marcis '69 Dodge 198 780 running 0
5 3 72 Benny Parsons Montgomery Motors (L.G. DeWitt) '69 Ford 198 755 running 0
6 14 48 James Hylton Hylton Engineering (James Hylton) '71 Ford 196 730 running 0
7 4 43 Richard Petty Benson Chrysler & Plymouth (Petty Enterprises) '70 Plymouth 196 705 running 0
8 21 39 Friday Hassler Friday Hassler '69 Chevrolet 195 700 running 0
9 8 06 Neil Castles Neil Castles '70 Dodge 195 695 running 0
10 24 20 Elmo Langley Clyde Lynn '70 Mercury 193 690 running 0
11 13 30 Walter Ballard Ballard Racing (Vic Ballard) '71 Ford 191 685 running 0
12 7 24 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon '69 Mercury 190 680 running 0
13 22 10 Bill Champion Bill Champion '69 Ford 184 675 running 0
14 19 25 Jabe Thomas Don Robertson '69 Plymouth 182 670 running 0
15 25 76 Ben Arnold Ben Arnold '69 Ford 178 665 running 0
16 26 68 Larry Baumel Auto Lad (Allan Schlauer) '69 Ford 177 655 running 0
17 23 49 Ed Negre G.C. Spencer '69 Plymouth 103 650 vibration 0
18 15 38 Charlie Glotzbach John McCarthy '69 Dodge 85 645 overheating 0
19 18 45 Bill Seifert Bill Seifert '70 Ford 60 640 engine 0
20 5 12 Bobby Allison Coca-Cola (Bobby Allison) '70 Dodge 56 635 oil leak 0
21 20 34 Wendell Scott Wendell Scott '69 Ford 56 620 oil leak 0
22 16 46 Roy Mayne Tom Hunter '69 Chevrolet 26 625 engine 0
23 17 88 Frank Warren Roger Lubinski '70 Dodge 25 625 overheating 0
24 6 90 Bill Dennis Junie Donlavey '69 Mercury 11 625 overheating 0
25 10 32 Marv Acton Dick Brooks '70 Plymouth 7 625 oil leak 0
26 11 47 Raymond Williams Bill Seifert '70 Ford 4 625 fender 0
At Richmond, we had the ABC Wide World of Sports segment from the 1965 Richmond 250 on the dirt 1/2-mile won by Junior Johnson, featuring the famous turn 1 rollover by Dick Hutcherson that shows him running to and climbing the wooden fence for safety after he exits the car.
The track can no longer find that tape since the purchase by ISC.
Dave why did you post this? Here goes another 1;28 of my life getting nothing done.
lol... I won't tell if you won't!!
This is true and I was there!
