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.
Race report
It took three hours and forty-two minutes to complete the race.[2] Nine cautions slowed the race for 50 laps. Donnie Allison defeated Bobby Allison[3] by sixteen seconds.[2] Fifty thousand people attended this race to see speeds averaging 131.271 miles per hour (211.260km/h) and Cale Yarborough earning his pole position by qualifying with a speed of 162.162 miles per hour (260.974km/h).[2][4] There was a consolation race for the drivers who failed to qualify, only three cars finished that race; the winner was J.C. Spradley in a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle.
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 race sanctioned by NASCAR out of the 54 in 1969.[2] The 1969 NASCAR Grand National season would later mark its conclusion with the 1969 Texas 500 on December 7, 1969, with David Pearson emerging as the eventual champion for the year.[2]
The winner's purse was considered to be $20,280 ($168,497 when considering inflation).[2] Jim Lineberger would make his only NASCAR Cup Series appearance this event while Bob Cooper would bow out of professional stock car racing after this race.[5] This was the only career start for Wayne Gillette where his vehicle qualified for the race and made it to the finish; Gillette would fail to qualify in two other races in the NASCAR Grand National Cup Series.[2]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
