1969 Volunteer 500

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1969 Volunteer 500
Race details [1]
Race 33 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Bristol Motor Speedway map.png
Layout of Bristol Motor Speedway
Date July 20, 1969 (1969-07-20)
Official name Volunteer 500
Location Bristol International Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 0.857 km (0.533 miles)
Distance 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.8 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed 79.737 miles per hour (128.324 km/h)
Attendance 32,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Holman-Moody
Laps 316
Winner
No. 17 David Pearson Holman-Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1969 Volunteer 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 20, 1969, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee; which was rebuilt with more banking for this race.

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.

Race report

It took three hours, eight minutes, and seven seconds for the event to reach its conclusion. [2] David Pearson defeated Bobby Isaac by more than three laps in front of an audience of thirty-two thousand people. Roy Tyner finished 97 laps down and still recorded his only top-10 finish of the season; making this event one of attrition. [2] After this race, Pearson took second on the all-time wins list, where he still sits today some 95 wins behind Petty. [3]

Pearson drove his Ford Torino Talladega to one of his eleven victories of the 1969 NASCAR Cup Series season. [4] Speeds were: 79.737 miles per hour (128.324 km/h) as the average speed and 103.424 miles per hour (166.445 km/h) as the pole position speed. [2] Eight cautions were waved for 56 laps in this race for a total of 266.5 miles (428.9 km). [2] This race would bring Cecil Gordon's first finish in the top five. [2] Even during the late-1960s, starting way back in 24th place and taking fifth at the checkered flag was really considered to be a long distance between the two positions. [2]

Total winnings for this race were $27,685 ($230,022 when adjusted for inflation). [2]

This race's importance in the history book would be that the famous Apollo 11 Moon landing would take place on the same day, with Neil Armstrong making his famous walk on the Moon. Henley Gray deliberately quit the race to get home in time to watch the Moon landing on television; according to urban legend. As a result, he won $550 ($4,570 when adjusted for inflation) in prize money and finished only 206 out of the 500 laps of the race. [2]

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Herb Nab, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Banjo Matthews, Glen Wood, Dick Hutcherson, and Cotton Owens. [5]

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturer
121Cale Yarborough'69 Mercury
243Richard Petty'69 Ford
317David Pearson'69 Ford
422Bobby Allison'69 Dodge
56Buddy Baker'69 Dodge
698LeeRoy Yarbrough'69 Ford
771Bobby Isaac'69 Dodge
830Dave Marcis'69 Dodge
948James Hylton'69 Dodge
104John Sears'67 Ford
1131Buddy Young'67 Chevrolet
1249G.C. Spencer'67 Plymouth
1332Dick Brooks'69 Plymouth
1476Ben Arnold'68 Ford
1506Neil Castles'69 Dodge
1609Wayne Gillette'67 Chevrolet
1764Elmo Langley'68 Ford
1815Ed Hessert'69 Plymouth
1910Bill Champion'68 Ford
2007Coo Coo Marlin'69 Chevrolet
2134Wendell Scott'67 Ford
2208E.J. Trivette'69 Chevrolet
2325Jabe Thomas'68 Plymouth
2447Cecil Gordon'68 Ford
2545Bill Seifert'69 Ford
2619Henley Gray'69 Ford
2726Earl Brooks'67 Ford
2893Walson Gardener'67 Ford
2957Bobby Mausgrover'67 Dodge
309Roy Tyner'69 Pontiac
3170J.D. McDuffie'67 Buick
3227Donnie Allison'69 Ford

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. David Pearson† (No. 17)
  2. Bobby Isaac† (No. 71)
  3. Donnie Allison (No. 27)
  4. James Hylton (No. 48)
  5. Cecil Gordon (No. 47)
  6. Ben Arnold (No. 76)
  7. Bill Seifert (No. 45)
  8. Bill Champion† (No. 10)
  9. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  10. Roy Tyner† (No. 9)
  11. LeeRoy Yarbrough*† (No. 98)
  12. Walson Gardener* (No. 63)
  13. Ed Hessert* (No. 15)
  14. Elmo Langley*† (No. 64)
  15. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
  16. John Sears*† (No. 4)
  17. Neil Castles* (No. 06)
  18. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
  19. Wendell Scott*† (No. 34)
  20. Dave Marcis* (No. 30)
  21. E.J. Trivette* (No. 08)
  22. Buddy Young* (No. 31)
  23. Richard Petty* (No. 43)
  24. Cale Yarborough*† (No. 21)
  25. Dick Brooks*† (No. 32)
  26. Bobby Allison*† (No. 22)
  27. Buddy Baker*† (No. 6)
  28. Jabe Thomas*† (No. 25)
  29. Wayne Gillette* (No. 09)
  30. Coo Coo Marlin*† (No. 07)
  31. Earl Brooks*† (No. 26)
  32. Bobby Mausgrover* (No. 57)

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

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

References

  1. "1969 Volunteer 500 weather results". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "1969 Volunteer 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  3. Driver David Pearson Career Statistics at Racing Reference
  4. Craft, John Albert. The winning vehicle of the 1969 Volunteer 500. ISBN   9781610608848 . Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  5. 1969 Volunteer 500 crew chiefs information at Racing Reference
Preceded by Volunteer 500 races
1968
Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Season
1969
Succeeded by