1970 Motor Trend 500

1970 Motor Trend 500
Race details
Race 1 of 48 in the 1970 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date February 1, 1970 (1970-February-01)
Location Riverside International Raceway (Riverside, California)
Course Permanent racing facility
2.700 mi (4.345 km)
Distance 400 laps, 502 mi (808 km)
Avg Speed 97.450 miles per hour (156.831 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Dan Gurney Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Parnelli Jones Wood Brothers
Laps 88
Winner
11
 A.J. Foyt
 Jack Bowsher
Television
Network Untelevised
Announcers None

The 1970 Motor Trend 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on January 18, 1970 at the now defunct Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, USA.[1]

Summary

The Plymouth Superbird would make its first ever NASCAR appearance during this race. Six cautions were handed out by NASCAR for 31 complete laps.[1] A.J. Foyt was the winner of the race in his 1970 Ford Torino; defeating Roger McCluskey by 3½ seconds.[1] There were forty-four competitors in this race; 43 were from the United States of America while one competitor (Lothar Motschenbacher) was from Cologne, West Germany.[1] Jim Cook was involved in a major accident that would leave him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life on lap 94.[1] The other finishers in the top ten were: LeeRoy Yarbrough, Donnie Allison, Richard Petty, Dan Gurney, Neil Castles, Friday Hassler, Jerry Oliver, and Dick Guldstrand.[1] Motschenbacher would start in 31st place and finish the race in 40th.[1]

The average speed of the race was 97.045 miles per hour (156.179 km/h) while Dan Gurney earned the pole position with a qualifying speed of 112.006 miles per hour (180.256 km/h).[1] There was a live attendance of 43,200 fans waiting to see 193 laps of action on a road course.[1] The previous year's event was notable for being a "perfect race."[2] However, this event included yellow flags.[1]

The winner's purse was considered to be $19,700 ($111,424.42 in today's money).[1]

Top twenty finishers

  1. A.J. Foyt
  2. Roger McClunskey
  3. LeeRoy Yarbrough
  4. Donnie Allison
  5. Richard Petty
  6. Dan Gurney
  7. Neil Castles
  8. Friday Hassler
  9. Jerry Oliver
  10. Dick Guldstrand
  11. Parnelli Jones
  12. Kevin Terris
  13. Bobby Allison
  14. Dave Marcis
  15. Sam Rose
  16. Dave Alonzo
  17. David Pearson
  18. Dick Kranzler
  19. Paul Dorrity
  20. Joe Frasson

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "1970 Motor Trend 500 information". Racing Reference. http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1970-01&series=W. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  2. ^ "1969 Motor Trend 500 racing results". Racing Reference. http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1969_Motor_Trend_500/W. Retrieved 2011-01-20. 
Preceded by
1969 Motor Trend 500		 Motor Trend 500 races
1964-71		 Succeeded by
1971 Motor Trend 500
Preceded by
1969 Texas 500		 NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1969		 Succeeded by
1970 Daytona 500