1970 Daytona 500

Last updated
1970 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 4 of 48 in the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1970 Daytona 500 program cover and logo.jpg
1970 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 22, 1970 (1970-02-22)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 64.9 °F (18.3 °C); wind speeds approaching 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) [1]
Average speed 149.601 miles per hour (240.759 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Holman Moody
Laps 82
Winner
No. 40 Pete Hamilton Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers Keith Jackson
Chris Economaki

The 1970 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series race held on February 22, 1970, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Contents

First Daytona 500 starts for Joe Frasson, Dick Trickle, Tommy Gale, Ron Keselowski, and Jim Vandiver. [2] Only Daytona 500 start for Butch Hirst, Paul Feldner, Ron Grana, and Leonard Blanchard. [2] Last Daytona 500 starts for Richard Brickhouse, Roy Mayne, and Dr. Don Tarr. [2]

Summary

NASCAR's modern era would commence with this race. Winged, aerodynamic cars built specifically for high-speed superspeedway racing such as the Plymouth Superbird and Ford Torino Talladega made their debut. Pete Hamilton, hired by Petty Enterprises shortly before the season, won the race in the #40 Plymouth Superbird just three car lengths over David Pearson, after passing him with nine laps to go. It was the first win for the new Plymouth Superbird. [2]

This race would last 200 minutes, with an audience of 103,800 people watching. [2] A grand total of 24 lead changes were made with an average green flag run of 22 laps. [2] 23% of the race was held under a yellow flag; blown engines were the primary culprit behind the caution periods. [2]

On lap 7, Cecil Gordon and Richard Petty blew their engines. [2] Jim Vandiver blew his engine on lap 15 while Cale Yarborough would do the same thing on lap 32. [2] A. J. Foyt would also blow his engine on lap 58 while Buddy Arrington wrecked his vehicle on lap 77 by crashing it into a wall. [2] The final caution the race came when Dick Brooks blew his engine on lap 181. [2]

Buddy Arrington had a brand new #5 Dodge Daytona for the 1970 season but totaled it out here with a hard crash at full speed into the outside wall. [2] He hit the wall so hard the big wing on the Charger actually broke with its top cross bar ripping off the car then flying 60 feet down the track spinning in the air. [2]

Following the wreck NASCAR mandated that all of the wing cars would have to have a steel cable to anchor the wing to the frame to avoid a repeat of this incident. John Sears actually drove under the flying piece of Arrington's wing as it soared over the track. He was apparently quite scared it was going to hit him. Arrington later said this was the worst wreck of his entire NASCAR career; as it left him with several broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. The Daytona 500 was not a race that Buddy Arrington would finish in good form; finishing in 29th place after qualifying in 32nd place. [2] Arrington eventually got back on the track a few months later at the 1970 Rebel 400.

David Pearson tried to slingshot Pete Hamilton in the last turn, but got very loose and finished second. [2]

Race results

PosGridNo.DriverEntrantManufacturerLapsWinningsLaps ledTime/Status
1940 Pete Hamilton Petty Enterprises 1970 Plymouth 200$44,850133:20:32
23117 David Pearson Holman-Moody 1969 Ford 200$17,65082+3 car lengths
3622 Bobby Allison Mario Rossi1969 Dodge 199$9,9506+1 Lap
4499 Charlie Glotzbach Ray Nichels 1969 Dodge 199$5,85036+1 Lap
5371 Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf 1969 Dodge 198$4,45030+2 Laps
61014 Richard Brickhouse Bill Ellis1970 Plymouth 198$3,1750+2 Laps
73459 Jim Hurtubise Tom Pistone 1970 Ford 197$2,5750+3 Laps
8157 Ramo Stott Ramo Stott 1970 Plymouth 194$2,5252+6 Laps
9598 LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates 1969 Ford 193$2,1751+7 Laps
103330 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing 1969 Dodge 193$2,0250+7 Laps
111296 Ray Elder Fred Elder 1969 Dodge 189$1,9250+11 Laps
123506 Neil Castles Neil Castles 1969 Dodge 188$1,8250+12 Laps
13855 Tiny Lund John McConnell1969 Dodge 187$1,8603Engine
141488 Benny Parsons Benny Parsons 1969 Ford 187$1,7250+13 Laps
151639 Friday Hassler James Hanley1969 Chevrolet 187$1,6750+13 Laps
162246 Roy Mayne Tom Hunter1969 Chevrolet 184$1,6500+16 Laps
172786 John Sears Dennis Gallion1969 Dodge 184$1,6200+16 Laps
184007 Coo Coo Marlin H.B. Cunningham1969 Chevrolet 182$1,6100+18 Laps
191332 Dick Brooks Dick Brooks 1970 Plymouth 181$1,7000Engine
202479 Frank Warren Frank Warren 1969 Plymouth 181$1,5900+19 Laps
212682 Joe Frasson Joe Frasson 1970 Dodge 175$1,6750+25 Laps
222123 James Hylton Don Robertson1969 Plymouth 174$1,1900+26 Laps
233989 Butch Hirst Morris Davis1969 Ford 172$1,1850+28 Laps
242093 Paul Feldner Jack Janos1969 Dodge 167$1,1800+33 Laps
251925 Jabe Thomas Don Robertson1969 Plymouth 140$1,1750+60 Laps
263609 Dick Trickle Fran Kelly1969 Ford 131$1,1700Head gasket
2726 Buddy Baker Cotton Owens 1969 Dodge 122$2,2651Ignition
282564 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley 1969 Mercury 109$1,1600Ignition
29325 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington 1969 Dodge 77$1,2550Crash
301805 Ron Grana C. J. Grana1969 Ford 72$1,1500Engine
312903 Tommy Gale Walt Valerio1969 Mercury 70$1,1150Engine
322811 A. J. Foyt Jack Bowsher 1969 Ford 58$1,2400Engine
333795 Leonard Blanchard Leonard Blanchard1970 Ford 57$1,1350Overheating
343862 Ron Keselowski John Keselowski1969 Dodge 46$1,2300Valve
35727 Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews 1969 Ford 41$1,2250Engine
362337 Don Tarr Don Tarr1969 Dodge 41$1,1200Steering
37121 Cale Yarborough Wood Brothers Racing 1969 Mercury 31$7,46526Engine
38173 Jim Vandiver Ray Fox 1969 Dodge 15$1,1100Clutch
391143 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises 1970 Plymouth 7$1,1050Engine
403024 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon 1968 Ford 7$1,1000A-frame
Source: [3]

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References

  1. "Weather of the 1970 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Racing information for the 1970 Daytona 500 at Racing Reference. Accessed 2013-06-24. 2013-06-30.
  3. 1970 Daytona 500