Sunday 17th October 1971

Richard Petty took advantage of Bobby Allison’s misfortune to prevail in the Delaware 500 at Dover International Speedway, Delaware, US. It was the 18th of 21 victories for Petty that season, which ended in his seventh and final championship in NASCAR’s top series. Allison led 394 of the 500 laps from the pole position before a late pit stop with a two-lap lead revealed broken lug nuts on his Holman-Moody Mercury. Petty cruised from there, finishing one lap ahead of runner-up Charlie Glotzbach and third-place Bobby Isaac. Allison trudged home to a fourth-place finish, two laps behind.