1971 Sandlapper 200
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 38 of 48 in the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| Date | August 27, 1971 | ||
| Official name | Sandlapper 200 | ||
| Location | Columbia Speedway, Columbia, South Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.500 mi (0.804 km) |
||
| Distance | 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km) | ||
| Weather | Hot with temperatures approaching 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 110 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1971 Sandlapper 200 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 27, 1971, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. It was the site of auto races for NASCAR's top series from 1951 through 1971. For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three Grand National races ever held on a dirt track.
The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971.
Two hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) in only one hour and thirty-four minutes. Six cautions were given for forty-one laps; Richard Petty managed to defeat Tiny Lund by ten car lengths. Local track announcer Jim Seay would realize the charismatic potential of Petty and interviewed him right after the race in front of a regional crowd. Eight thousand people showed up in person to see cars achieve speeds of up to 64.831 miles per hour (104.335 km/h). Richard Petty, however, would achieve the pole position speed of 85.137 miles per hour (137.015 km/h).Ron Keselowski would crash prior to the first lap of the race.
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