1971 Motor Trend 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Layout of Riverside International Raceway
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| Date | January 10, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Motor Trend 500 | ||
| Location | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.700 mi (4.345 km) |
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| Distance | 191 laps, 500 mi (806 km) | ||
| Weather | Chilly with temperatures approaching 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 23,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ray Elder | Fred Elder | |
| Laps | 67 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 96 | Ray Elder | Fred Elder | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Motor Trend 500 was the first official race in NASCAR's Winston Cup era (also known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series until approximately 1985) that took place on January 10, 1971. Drivers had to contend with 191 laps on a road course at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, USA that spanned a total distance of 2.620 miles (4.216 km). Many people who followed NASCAR during the 1960s and the 1970s found Riverside International Raceway to be one of their favorite "road course" tracks.
Despite its connections to Big Tobacco, the Winston Cup era in NASCAR ended up becoming the most popular among traditionalists and racing purists alike. Attendance for this racing event was estimated at 23,000 people. It took four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and fifty-five seconds for the race to resolve itself from the first green flag to the checkered flag. No tickets were required to tour certain places of the track (particularly on the area of the track that was near the chicanes). NASCAR would tighten up their security in the later years; requiring patrons to have special passes to attend pit road prior to the race.
Due to a then-struggling economy, both Ford and Chevrolet cut back on factory-manufacturing new vehicles for the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. NASCAR would also limit the aerodynamics of the vehicles to 305 cubic inches starting in this race. All 40 vehicles that participated in the race were basically either new or used vehicles purchased from automobile retailers open to the general public for less than $2,500 ($14,784.31 when adjusted for inflation). The costs of hiring a pit crew and driver were much cheaper during the early 1970s than it is today, making it more incentive for professional businessmen like Nord Krauskopf to attempt a full-blown career as a NASCAR team owner.
Defending NASCAR Grand National West series champion Ray Elder won the race. The average speed was 100.783 miles per hour (162.195 km/h) while the pole speed was 107.084 miles per hour (172.335 km/h). Elder essentially became the first winner in NASCAR's "modern" history; carving out a pathway for drivers like Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
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