1969 American 500

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1969 American 500
Race details [1]
Race 51 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Rockingham Speedway.svg
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Date October 26, 1969 (1969-10-26)
Official name American 500
Location North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 1.636 km (1.017 miles)
Distance 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures reaching a high of 73.4 °F (23.0 °C); wind speeds reaching a maximum speed of 1.90 miles per hour (3.06 km/h)
Average speed 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h)
Attendance 33,800 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 Nichels Engineering
Most laps led
Driver LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 213
Winner
No. 98LeeRoy YarbroughJunior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1969 American 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 26, 1969, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.

Contents

A lot of the more notable NASCAR Cup Series drivers of this era failed to finish the race. Richard Petty tore his car up hitting the wall and the repairs were not enough to continue.

Background

North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School, [3]

Summary

It took four hours and twenty-eight minutes to resolve 492 laps with LeeRoy Yarbrough emerging over David Pearson by 1½ laps. [2] The other drivers in the top ten were: Buddy Baker, Dave Marcis, John Sears, Dick Brooks, Hoss Ellington, Ed Negre, Wendell Scott, and Neil Castles. [2] Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 66 laps. More than 33,000 people would attend this live racing event. [2] Charlie Glotzbach would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 136.972 miles per hour (220.435 km/h) while the average race speed was 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h). [2]

John Kennedy would receive the last-place finish due to a one-car crash on lap 17. [2] This would be the 51st race out of the 54 officially sanctioned racing events of the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series [2] in addition to being the first race done with the present-day configuration for North Carolina Motor Speedway. Lennie Pond would make his NASCAR debut here.

The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.

Ten notable crew chiefs were in attendance for the race; including Cotton Owens, Dick Hutcherson, Banjo Matthews and Harry Hyde. [4]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturerOwner
199Charlie Glotzbach'69 DodgeRay Nichels
222Bobby Allison'69 DodgeMario Rossi
321Cale Yarborough'69 MercuryWood Brothers
417David Pearson'69 FordHolman-Moody Racing
527Donnie Allison'69 FordBanjo Matthews
66Buddy Baker'69 DodgeCotton Owens
743Richard Petty'69 FordPetty Enterprises
871Bobby Isaac'69 DodgeNord Krauskopf
998LeeRoy Yarbrough'69 FordJunior Johnson
1030Dave Marcis'69 DodgeMilt Lunda
1188Richard Brickhouse'69 DodgeBill Ellis
1267Buddy Arrington'69 DodgeBuddy Arrington
1332Dick Brooks'69 PlymouthDick Brooks
144John Sears'69 FordL.G. DeWitt
1548James Hylton'69 DodgeJames Hylton

Failed to qualify: Ed Hessert (#15) [5]

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

References

  1. ↑ "1969 American 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1969 American 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ "1969 American 500 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ "1969 American 500 qualifying results". Racing Reference. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
Preceded by
1969 untitled race at Augusta Speedway
NASCAR Grand National Season
1969		Succeeded by
Preceded by American 500 races
1969		Succeeded by
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