1969 National 500

1969 National 500
Race details
Race 48 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season

Map of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date October 12, 1969
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (804 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 82 °F (28 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)[1]
Average speed 131.271 miles per hour (211.260 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Cale Yarborough Wood Brothers
Most laps led
Driver Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews
Laps 161
Winner
No. 27
 Donnie Allison
 Banjo Matthews
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jim McKay
Chris Economaki

The 1969 National 500 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series, also formerly known as the Winston Cup Series and the Winston Cup Grand National Series) racing event that took place on October 12, 1969, at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina, USA).[2] This race is still being held in today's Sprint Cup Series as the Bank of America 500.

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.

Summary

It took three hours and forty-two minutes to complete the race.[2] Nine cautions were given out for fifty laps but Donnie Allison defeated Bobby Allison[3] by sixteen seconds.[2] Fifty thousand people attended this live race to see speeds averaging 131.271 miles per hour (211.260 km/h) and Cale Yarborough earning his pole position by qualifying with a speed of 162.162 miles per hour (260.974 km/h).[2] While most of the drivers were under the banner of a multi-car team during this era, there were still a good amount of drivers who were either independent owner-drivers or were employed by independent-minded vehicle owners.[4]

Sheraton (a popular chain of hotels and resorts even back then) was the only official driver sponsor that wasn't linked with the automotive industry for this particular race.[2] Other notable drivers in this race include: A.J. Foyt, Coo Coo Marlin, Cale Yarborough, J.D. McDuffie, Wendell Scott, and Richard Petty.[2] This would become the forty-eighth racing officially sanctioned by NASCAR out of the 54 that would be raced in 1969.[2] The 1969 NASCAR Grand National season would later mark its conclusion with the 1969 Texas 500 race on December 7, 1969, with David Pearson emerging as the eventual champion for the year.[2] Pearson would later become recognized for winning races more consistently than Richard Petty but having an abbreviated racing career compared to him.[2]

Had Pearson been able to participate in the number of races as Petty, he might have beaten Richard Petty's record of 200 career race wins. The winner's purse was considered to be $20,280 ($130,421.38 when considering inflation).[2]

Finishing order

  1. Donnie Allison (highest finishing Ford vehicle)
  2. Bobby Allison (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
  3. Buddy Baker
  4. Charlie Glotzbach
  5. David Pearson
  6. Dick Brooks
  7. Neil Castles
  8. Friday Hassler (highest finishing Chevrolet vehicle)
  9. Don Tarr
  10. John Sears* (highest finishing driver to DNF in the race due to engine issues)
  11. James Hylton
  12. Wayne Smith
  13. Elmo Langley
  14. Hoss Ellington
  15. John Kennedy
  16. Bill Seifert
  17. Wendell Scott
  18. Ben Arnold
  19. Cecil Gordon
  20. Dub Simpson
  21. Henley Gray
  22. Bill Champion
  23. Wayne Gillette
  24. J.D. McDuffie*
  25. Cale Yarborough*
  26. Jabe Thomas
  27. Richard Petty*
  28. Dave Marcis*
  29. Earl Brooks*
  30. G.C. Spencer*
  31. Roy Tyner*
  32. Sonny Hutchins*
  33. E.J. Trivette*
  34. Jim Lineberger* (crashed into a wall on lap 132)
  35. Buddy Young*
  36. Buddy Arrington*
  37. Richard Brickhouse*
  38. LeeRoy Yarbrough*
  39. Coo Coo Marlin*
  40. A.J. Foyt*
  41. Bobby Isaac*
  42. Bill Dennis*
  43. Jim Vandiver*
  44. Bob Cooper*
  45. Frank Warren*

* Driver failed to finish race

References

  1. ↑ "1969 National 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 "1969 National 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  3. ↑ "1969 National 500 results". Super Bird Club. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  4. ↑ "1969 National 500 results (ownership information)". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
Preceded by
1969 Wilkes 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1969 		Succeeded by
1969 untitled race at Savannah Speedway
Preceded by
1968		 National 500 races
1969 		Succeeded by
1970