1969 Motor Trend 500

Last updated
1969 Motor Trend 500
Race details [1] [2] [3]
Race 3 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Riverside Raceway.JPG
Layout of Riverside International Raceway (1969-1988 version)
Date February 1, 1969 (1969-February-01)
Official name Motor Trend 500
Location Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.700 mi (4.345 km)
Distance 186 laps, 502 mi (808 km)
Weather Temperatures of 55.9 °F (13.3 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 110.323 miles per hour (177.548 km/h)
Attendance 46,300
Pole position
Driver
 Jack Bowsher & Associates
Time 88.07 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 103
Winner
No. 43Richard PettyPetty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network Untelevised
Announcers None

The 1969 Motor Trend 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on February 1, 1969, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

Contents

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.

The Permatex 200 for sportsman cars was run as a companion event. The winner after a 10 year break from motorsports was Hershel McGriff, 2nd was Ron Grable, followed by Clem Proctor, J.R. Skinner and Vic Irvan, Ron Hornaday Sr. was 6th.

Race report

One hundred and eighty-six laps were done on a paved road course spanning 2.7 miles (4.3 km). [3] Although A. J. Foyt won the pole position with a qualifying speed of 110.323 miles per hour (177.548 km/h), Richard Petty would win the race by beating Foyt with a margin of 25 seconds using a 1969 Ford Torino vehicle. This was the first time Petty won a race in anything other than a Plymouth and the first time he ran a Cup race in anything but a Plymouth since he switched to the Mopar brand from Oldsmobile near the end of 1959. [3]

More than forty-six thousand fans would watch the race live to see 44 vehicles start (and only 13 of them finish the race). [3] Most of the DNFs were caused by engine issues. [3] Ford vehicles and Chevrolet vehicles made up most of the starting grid. [3] Other notable drivers included: LeeRoy Yarbrough, Ray Elder, Neil Castles, Mario Andretti (his final start), and Elmo Langley. Al Unser would get his last top-five finish at this event, he wouldn't make another NASCAR Grand National Series start until 1986. [3] Engine reliability was awful during this race, approximately 25% of the racing grid was afflicted with engine failures and mechanical issues. This would be considered one of the setbacks with the engine technology of the late-1960s and how they were not really designed to handle the increasingly fast speeds of the NASCAR vehicles of that time. [3]

Notable crew chiefs at the race were Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Glen Wood, and Jake Elder. [4]

West Coast racer Marty Kinerk made his top NASCAR Series debut at this event.

The entire race was completed under the green flag without any laps being taken for either yellow or red flags; [3] with the final race to go the entire distance without a caution was the 2002 EA Sports 500. [5] Average speeds for the entire race approached 105.498 miles per hour (169.783 km/h) and the duration of the race was four hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty-seven seconds. [3] The race's top prize would be $19,650 in American dollars ($138,673 when adjusted for inflation). [3] The overall winnings of this race would be $79,660 in American dollars ($562,174 when adjusted for inflation).

While individual owners would make up the majority of the NASCAR teams during this era, multi-car teams like Holman Moody, Wood Brothers Racing, and K&K Insurance Racing began to emerge during the late 1960s and early 1970s. [6]

Qualifying

Grid [3] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
11 A. J. Foyt '69 Ford Jack Bowsher
298 LeeRoy Yarbrough '69 Mercury Junior Johnson
3121 Dan Gurney '69 Mercury Wood Brothers
443 Richard Petty '69 Ford Petty Enterprises
517 David Pearson '69 Ford Holman-Moody
641 Al Unser '69 Dodge Rudy Hoerr
797 Mario Andretti '69 Ford Holman-Moody
871 Bobby Isaac '69 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
912 Roger McCluskey '69 Plymouth Norm Nelson
1011 Parnelli Jones '69 Ford Holman-Moody

Finishing order

Section reference: [3]

  1. Richard Petty
  2. A. J. Foyt
  3. David Pearson
  4. Al Unser
  5. James Hylton
  6. LeeRoy Yarbrough*
  7. Ray Elder
  8. Scott Cain
  9. John Sears
  10. Harold Hardesty
  11. Ray Johnstone
  12. Dick Bown
  13. Neil Castles
  14. Henley Gray
  15. Bobby Allison*
  16. Ranny Dodd*
  17. Marvin Sjolin
  18. Mario Andretti*
  19. Elmo Langley*
  20. Paul Dorrity*
  21. Don Tarr*
  22. Roger McCluskey*
  23. Wendell Parnell*
  24. Cale Yarborough*
  25. Frank Burnett*
  26. Dan Gurney*
  27. Sam Rose*
  28. Robert Link*
  29. J.D. McDuffie*
  30. Cliff Garner*
  31. Jerry Oliver*
  32. Ralph Arnold*
  33. Don White*
  34. Marty Kinerk*
  35. Jack McCoy*
  36. Robert Hale*
  37. Parnelli Jones*
  38. Bobby Isaac*
  39. Guy Jones*
  40. Dave James*
  41. Joe Frasson*
  42. Jim Cook*
  43. Johnny Steele*
  44. Bob England*

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "1969 Motor Trend 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ↑ "1969 Motor Trend 500 pole qualifying time". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "1969 Motor Trend 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  4. ↑ "1969 Motor Trend 500 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  5. ↑ "EA Sports 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  6. ↑ "1969 Motor Trend 500 racing results". Driver Averages. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
Preceded by Motor Trend 500 races
1964-71		Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1969		Succeeded by
Preceded by Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984		Succeeded by
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