1969 Richmond 500

Last updated
1969 Richmond 500
Race details [1] [2]
Race 14 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Richmond International Speedway.png
Layout of Richmond Raceway
Date April 13, 1969 (1969-April-13)
Official name Richmond 500
Location Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 500 laps, 271 mi (436 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures of 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 73.752 miles per hour (118.692 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Holman Moody
Most laps led
DriverDavid PearsonHolman Moody
Laps 416
Winner
No. 17David PearsonHolman Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1969 Richmond 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 13, 1969, at Richmond Fairgrounds (now Richmond Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

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.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. [3] The original track was paved in 1968. [4] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Race report

It took three hours, twenty-three minutes, and twenty-three seconds to finish. David Pearson defeated Richard Petty by one full lap. [5] [6] [7] The average speed of the race was 73.752 miles per hour (118.692 km/h). [5] [6] [7] Starting at 1:00 PM, the race concluded at 4:23 PM. The cost of attending this event was $8 ($59.11 when adjusted for inflation). [8]

There were six cautions for forty laps and there were six lead changes among four leaders. [5] [6] [7] This race would be Worth McMillion's final race and serve as a debut race for Ed Hessert and John Kenney. Kenney would be black flagged in the race and became the last-place finisher due to a disqualification. [7] Other notable racers included J.D. McDuffie, Elmo Langley, Wendell Scott, and Neil Castles. [5] [6]

Bobby Isaac was a pre-race favorite as he came into this race riding a three-race winning streak in the #71 K&K Insurance Dodge Charger. Isaac put his red car on the front row in qualifying but a blown motor in the opening laps ended his bid for a fourth win in a row. Pearson was vocally disappointed at that turn of events in victory lane, he thought he had a car that could beat Isaac straight up and had been hoping to beat him in a direct fight. [5] [6]

Richmond's hometown hero Sonny Hutchins qualified Junie Donlavey's famous #90 Ford 4th but a failed rear end get took him out early on. [5] [6] He'd get a much better result when the series returned to Richmond in the fall. Modified ace Ray Hendrick was the other hometown entry and he too when out with mechanical failure. [5] [6]

The winner of the race walked away with $3,650 ($26,971 when adjusted for inflation) [5] [6] out of the total prize purse of $18,900 ($139,658 when adjusted for inflation). [7] While there were several cautions the only notable wreck was Cecil Gordon and Dr. Ed Hessert's early incident in Turn 4 that put both their cars out. [5] [6] Gordon's car owner Bill Seifert hit the inside wall on the frontstretch but still finished in the top-5. [5] [6]

Notable crew chiefs at this event were John Hill, Dick Hutcherson, Dale Inman, and Harry Hyde. [9]

Qualifying

Grid [5] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
117David Pearson'69 Ford Holman-Moody
271Bobby Isaac'69 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
343Richard Petty'69 Ford Petty Enterprises
490Sonny Hutchins'67 Ford Junie Donlavey
548James Hylton'69 Dodge James Hylton
625Jabe Thomas'68 Plymouth Don Robertson
710Bill Champion'68 Ford Bill Champion
84John Sears'67 Ford L.G. DeWitt
918Dick Johnson'68 FordDick Johnson
1067Buddy Arrington'69 Dodge Buddy Arrington

Finishing order

Section reference: [5]

  1. David Pearson† (No. 17)
  2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  3. Elmo Langley† (No. 64)
  4. Neil Castles (No. 06)
  5. Bill Seifert (No. 45)
  6. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  7. Bill Champion*† (No. 10)
  8. E.J. Trivette (No. 80)
  9. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  10. Pete Hazelwood* (No. 12)
  11. Dick Johnson* (No. 18)
  12. Jabe Thomas† (No. 25)
  13. Ray Hendrick*† (No. 20)
  14. Worth McMillion*† (No. 9)
  15. James Hylton*† (No. 48)
  16. Paul Dean Holt* (No. 23)
  17. Earl Brooks*† (No. 26)
  18. John Sears*† (No. 4)
  19. Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
  20. Sonny Hutchins*† (No. 90)
  21. Cecil Gordon*† (No. 47)
  22. Ed Hessert* (No. 56)
  23. Buddy Arrington* (No. 67)
  24. Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
  25. Ben Arnold* (No. 76)
  26. Dick Poling* (No. 82)
  27. Bobby Isaac*† (No. 71)
  28. John Kenney* (No. 1)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [5]

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References

  1. ↑ 1969 Richmond 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  2. ↑ Weather information for the 1969 Richmond 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  3. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  4. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1969 Richmond 500 race information at Race Database
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1969 Richmond 500 racing information Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine at Everything Stock Car
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 1969 Richmond 500 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  8. ↑ Time of race and ticket cost for the 1969 Richmond 500 at NASCAR Ticket Stubs
  9. ↑ 1969 Richmond 500 crew chief information at Racing Reference
Preceded by Grand National Series races
1969		Succeeded by
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