During 1971, the United States found itself in the midst of a mild recession, produced by of a slight increase in the Federal Funds rate.  The Federal Reserve raised its lending rate in an effort to help keep down a double-digit inflation that was beginning to grip the country.  The inflation was caused by the Government's need to increase the money supply in order to fund the cost of the country's involvement in South East Asia. During the late sixties, both Ford and Chrysler were quite active in their financial support of stock car automobile racing.  Unfortunately, both Ford and Chrysler soon came to the realization that racing expenditures were not generating adequate returns on their income statements.  This factor coupled with the country’s economic difficulties soon convinced Detroit that NASCAR was no longer a cost effective venture.  The “factory era” of NASCAR came to a close in 1971 as only a few teams received any corporate funding.

The 1971 NASCAR Grand National season would be the last for tracks smaller than a half mile.  The short-track promoters were having such a hard time filling starting fields that NASCAR begin letting the Mustang, Camaro and Javelin race cars from its Grand American Division enter Grand National events.  Since the flow of funds from Detroit had been reduced, the “trickle down” of parts to the independent NASCAR team stopped and as a result their operating costs increased.   The dire economic situation was making it almost impossible for many of the independent teams to even travel to the races. As a result, car counts in 1971 would be considerably lower than in previous years at many of the smaller, lower paying tracks.  NASCAR officials were also concerned that its floundering Grand American Division might become a casualty of the country’s economic difficulties.

On August 6^th, 1971, NASCAR President Bill France announced that Grand American cars would be eligible to compete at all NASCAR Grand National events hosted at tracks that were smaller than ½ mile.  This would encompass eight remaining races on the 1971 schedule; however, the owners of both Martinsville and Richmond decided to opt out of the France arrangement  This would drop the number to six Grand National / Grand American combined events.  Many NASCAR insiders felt that the smaller Grand American cars would hold a distinct advantage over the much larger Grand National series cars. The Grand American cars had a smaller wheelbase and therefore would be able to enter and exit the corners quicker than the full-sized Grand National Cars.  “It didn’t matter to me what they brought” remarked James Hylton “I was there to race whatever kind of car showed up. Mustangs, Torinos, its just didn't matter.”  The Grand American cars did have some disadvantages, namely engine size, tire width and  two less crew members allowed over the wall during pit stops.

The first combined NASCAR Grand National / Grand American race would be contested on August 6, 1971 at the historic quarter-mile Bowman-Gray Speedway in Winston-Salem, N.C.  The Myers Brothers 250 would be captured by Bobby Allison in a 1969 Ford Mustang (pictured at left during qualifying) with Richard Petty finishing second in a 1970 Plymouth.  The event was deemed a success by NASCAR and the stands at Bowman-Gray were packed with a sell-out crowd of 14,000.  The Grand American cars would make an exceptional showing with 7 finishers in the Top 10.  James Hylton and his 115” wheelbase 1970 Ford Torino would be plagued with steering problems and finish the race in 22^nd place.  Two days later on August 8, James Hylton would push his 1970 Ford Torino to an impressive third place finish at Ona, West Virginia.  The race was captured by Richard Petty in his 1970 Plymouth and this time the full-sized Grand National cars excelled with six Top-10 finishers. Remarkably, the West Virginia 500 would start an incredible 35 cars on the 4/10 mile oval. “I remember that race very well” stated James Hylton “the lights went out and we had to stop racing for a while. That’s the first time that had ever happened.” There was some controversy starting to brew for the combined series events as Bobby Allison had been informed that he would not receive credit for his victory at the Myers Brothers 250.  For the official NASCAR Grand National record, there would be no winner in a combined event captured by a Grand American car.  This would deter Allison and other Grand National regulars from further competition using Grand American cars.

The Grand National and Grand American cars would next do battle at the Sandlapper 200 at Columbia Speedway in South Carolina.  Hylton would pilot his Torino to a fourth place finish, three laps behind the winning Plymouth of Richard Petty.  Tiny Lund had dominated the second half of the race until being passed by Petty with 13 laps to go.  “The track at Columbia was pretty hard on tires” stated Hylton “it was real sandy and would wear a set of tires out real quick.”  The Grand National cars would claim round three of the battle with six Top-Ten finishes.   The next day, the series moved north to Hickory, North Carolina for the Buddy Shuman 276.  The race would be won by Tiny Lund in a Ronnie Hopkins owned 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, besting second place finisher Elmo Langley by almost a lap.  Hylton and his Torino would finish two laps off the pace in sixth position.  The Grand National cars would claim eight Top-10 positions and a Dodge Charger driven by Dave Marcis led 152 laps before being sidelined with rear-end problems. 

The Grand National / Grand American battle would renew at November 7^th’s Georgia 500 at Macon, G.A.  The race would be captured by Bobby Allison in a Holman-Moody Torino with Tiny Lund (pictured at left) finishing second in his Camaro.  The Grand National division competitors would capture seven Top-10 finishing positions as the Torino, Charger and Chevelle drivers were now able to easily handle the smaller Grand American Mustangs, Camaros and Javelins.  James Hylton would not compete in the race due to schedule issues.  The last competition between the two divisions would take place on Nov 21^st at  the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  Tiny Lund would once again take the checkered flag in his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with James Hylton finishing seventh in his Torino.  The Grand National cars would again best their Grand American competition with seven Top-10 finishes. 

The changing financial structure of NASCAR culminated in 1972, with NASCAR (along with series sponsor R. J. Reynolds / Winston) cutting all tracks shorter than 1/2 mile from the schedule as well as any race with a posted distance of less than 250 miles in length.  Gone from the 1972 schedule were Hickory NC, Columbia SC, Greenville-Pickens SC, Smokey Mountain Raceway (Maryville) TN, South Boston VA, New Ashville NC, Kingsport TN, Meyer Speedway (Houston) TX, Malta NY, Islip NY, West Virginia International (Ona) WV, Bowman-Gray (Winston-Salem) NC and Middle Georgia (Macon) GA.  The 1972 Winston Cup would be contested over a 31 race season consisting of 20 superspeedway races, nine short track races and two road course races.  Also, the two 125 mile qualifying races at Daytona would no longer count in the Grand National points total. “Changing of the times” remarked Hylton “it was impossible to run all those races.  We sometimes ran three or four races a week.  It took a toll on both you and your equipment.”

To fill the racing void left at the tracks that were dropped from the 1972 schedule, NASCAR would establish the Grand National East Division.  Grand National East would allow both Grand National and Grand American cars to participate as well as allow 1969 models to compete in the series.  In 1972, the Grand National East championship would be contested over 15 races primarily on the tracks that had been dropped from the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Schedule. 

The Grand American Series would contest only four races during the 1972 season and by 1973, the series would be only a memory.