NASCAR Winston Cup Series Greenville 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway - 4-10-1971 - Greenville 200 [Kosjeyr]seeders: 0
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NASCAR Winston Cup Series Greenville 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway - 4-10-1971 - Greenville 200 [Kosjeyr] (Size: 1.7 GB)
Description Greenville Pickens autograph sessions on its front stretch are always a popular attraction with the fans. Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway is one of NASCAR’s most historic tracks. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. promoted the first stock car race at the track on July 4, 1946. In the modern era, Greenville Pickens was one of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series founding tracks dating back to 1982. The track opened as a flat red clay half-mile horse racing track in 1940. The facility included stables to accommodate 65 horses. It closed in 1941 due to World War II and reopened in 1946. Deep in the heart of stock car racing country, France envisioned auto races on the track and promoted the first race there in 1946. Ed Samples won the race in a 1937 Ford Coupe, and took home the winner’s purse of $500 After France founded NASCAR in 1948, the dirt track soon became a staple of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Over the 20 years between 1951 and 1971 Greenville-Pickens Speedway hosted 29 series events. Six of Richard Petty’s 200 wins came there while popular David Pearson from nearby Spartanburg won four races and five poles. 2011_NWAAS_30_Seasons_Running_Features_200Pearson won the Greenville track championship in 1959, giving him familiarity that helped him win NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races there in the 1960s. “I’ve always liked Greenville. I really have,” Pearson said. “I still enjoy going over there. I won a lot of races there on both dirt and asphalt.” The track was paved for the 1970 season and Bobby Isaac, who won the last two Greenville NASCAR Sprint Cup races on dirt, made it four in a row by winning the first two races on asphalt in 1970 and 1971. Petty won the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the track on June 26, 1971. Isaac’s win in the April 10, 1971 Greenville race was notable because the race was the first automobile race to be televised live flag to flag. ABC’s Wide World of Sports anchor Jim McKay and National Speed Sport News editor Chris Economaki led the broadcast team. Greenville-Pickens Speedway also hosted the NASCAR Nationwide Series twice in 1983 with the 200-lap races won by Jack Ingram and Butch Lindley; four NASCAR Convertible Division races between 1956 and 1959 won by Curtis Turner (twice), Bob Welborn and Lee Petty; a NASCAR Grand National East race in 1972 won by Neil Castles, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour events in 2006 and 2007, both won by Junior Miller; and has held an annual NASCAR K&N Pro Series East since 2006 with races won by Sean Caisse, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Brian Ickler and Darrell Wallace Jr. The Blackwell family, led by brothers Tom, Pete and Lewis purchased the track in 1955, and began hosting weekly Saturday night racing in 1957. Earnhardt family racing patriarch Ralph Earnhardt won Greenville championships in 1965 and 1966, often accompanied by his young son Dale. Dexter Canipe won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship racing at Greenville in 1997. In 2010, Marty Ward tied the retired Donnie Bishop as the all-time track championship winners with six each. Tom Blackwell operated the track until 2003 when it was sold to Greenville Chevrolet dealer Kevin Whitaker. Blackwell remained a fixture in the track’s day-to-day operations until his passing in 2010. A unique tribute to the track’s featured division champions began in 1975 when the Blackwell brothers began having champions’ names painted on the track’s retaining wall starting with 1957 champion Grady Hawkins. The tradition continues annually. The 155 acre property has also hosted the annual Upper South Carolina State Fair since 1964, and added a drive through Christmas light attraction “Celebration of Lights” starting in 2007. TRACK NAME: Greenville-Pickens Speedway LOCATION: Greenville LENGTH: 0.500 Miles SURFACE: Pavement PURSE: $18,690 RACE NUMBER: 12 NAME: Greenville 200 DATE: 04-10-1971 LAPS / MILES: 200 / 100 CAUTIONS / LAPS: 1 / 5 WINNER NAME: Bobby Isaac CAR MAKE: 1970 Dodge AVG SPEED: 78.159 START POSITION: 2nd LEAD CHANGES: 1 Sharing Widget |