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1969 National 500

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1969 National 500
Race details[1]
Race 48 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date October 12, 1969 (1969-October-12)
Official name National 500
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (804 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 82 °F (28 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed 131.271 miles per hour (211.260 km/h)
Attendance 57,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers
Most laps led
Driver Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews
Laps 161
Winner
No. 27 Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jim McKay
Chris Economaki

The 1969 National 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series stock car race that was held on October 12, 1969, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. This race is still being held in today's Sprint Cup Series as the 'Bank of America 500'.

The transition to purposely-built racers 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; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.

Summary

It took three hours and forty-two minutes to complete the race.[2] Nine cautions were given out for fifty laps but Donnie Allison defeated Bobby Allison[3] by sixteen seconds.[2] Fifty thousand people attended this live race to see speeds averaging 131.271 miles per hour (211.260 km/h) and Cale Yarborough earning his pole position by qualifying with a speed of 162.162 miles per hour (260.974 km/h).[2] While most of the drivers were under the banner of a multi-car team during this era, there were still a good amount of drivers who were either independent owner-drivers or were employed by independent-minded vehicle owners.[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 who participated 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 racing officially sanctioned by NASCAR out of the 54 that would be raced in 1969.[2] The 1969 NASCAR Grand National season would later mark its conclusion with the 1969 Texas 500 race on December 7, 1969, with David Pearson emerging as the eventual champion for the year.[2] Pearson would later become recognized for winning races more consistently than Richard Petty but having an abbreviated racing career compared to him.[2]

Had Pearson been able to participate in the number of races as Petty, he might have beaten Richard Petty's record of 200 career race wins. The winner's purse was considered to be $20,280 ($168,496.99 when considering inflation).[2]

Finishing order

  1. Donnie Allison (highest finishing Ford vehicle)
  2. Bobby Allison (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
  3. Buddy Baker†
  4. Charlie Glotzbach
  5. David Pearson
  6. Dick Brooks
  7. Neil Castles
  8. Friday Hassler (highest finishing Chevrolet vehicle)
  9. Don Tarr
  10. John Sears* (highest finishing driver to DNF in the race due to engine issues)
  11. James Hylton
  12. Wayne Smith
  13. Elmo Langley
  14. Hoss Ellington
  15. John Kennedy
  16. Bill Seifert
  17. Wendell Scott
  18. Ben Arnold
  19. Cecil Gordon
  20. Dub Simpson
  21. Henley Gray
  22. Bill Champion
  23. Wayne Gillette
  24. J.D. McDuffie*
  25. Cale Yarborough*
  26. Jabe Thomas
  27. Richard Petty*
  28. Dave Marcis*
  29. Earl Brooks*
  30. G.C. Spencer*
  31. Roy Tyner*
  32. Sonny Hutchins*
  33. E.J. Trivette*
  34. Jim Lineberger* (crashed into a wall on lap 132)
  35. Buddy Young*
  36. Buddy Arrington*
  37. Richard Brickhouse*
  38. LeeRoy Yarbrough*
  39. Coo Coo Marlin*
  40. A.J. Foyt*
  41. Bobby Isaac*
  42. Bill Dennis*
  43. Jim Vandiver*
  44. Bob Cooper*
  45. Frank Warren*

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

  • Start of race: Donnie Allison officially began the race with the pole position
  • Lap 9: Caution due to Buddy Young's accident on turn 2, ended on lap 13
  • Lap 21: Frank Warren managed to ruin his engine beyond immediate repair
  • Lap 25: Caution due to engine problems, ended on lap 31
  • Lap 55: Bob Cooper managed to lose the rear end of his vehicle
  • Lap 64: Jim Vandiver just couldn't steer his vehicle properly anymore
  • Lap 69: Bill Dennis managed to destroy his vehicle's engine by racing at excessively high speeds
  • Lap 81: Bobby Isaac's engine couldn't handle the pressures of high-speed racing anymore
  • Lap 88: A wheel bearing came off A.J. Foyt's vehicle, giving him a miserable 40th-place finish
  • Lap 90: Coo Coo Marlin's race engine no longer worked properly
  • Lap 94: LeeRoy Yarbrough's engine had seen better laps around this time
  • Lap 95: Richard Brickhouse's engine became as useless as a brick, eliminating him from the race
  • Lap 103: Buddy Arrington's engine could no longer stand up to the pressures of stock car racing
  • Lap 104: Caution due to engine problems, ended on lap 106
  • Lap 109: The rear end of Buddy Young's vehicle came off in a relatively unsafe manner
  • Lap 114: Caution due to debris, ended on lap 118
  • Lap 126: Caution due to Jim Lineberger's accident on turn 2, ended on lap 131
  • Lap 131: Jim Lineberger had a terminal crash
  • Lap 170: E.J. Trivette's engine just couldn't handle high-speed racing anymore
  • Lap 175: Sonny Hutchins' engine stopped working around this time
  • Lap 195: Caution due to engine problems, ended on lap 199
  • Lap 205: Caution due to an oil slick on turn 1, ended on lap 211
  • Lap 240: Caution due to engine problems, ended on lap 243
  • Lap 260: Caution due to engine problems, ended on lap 267
  • Finish: Donnie Allison was officially declared the winner of the event

References

  1. ^ "1969 National 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1969 National 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  3. ^ "1969 National 500 results". Super Bird Club. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  4. ^ "1969 National 500 results (ownership information)". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Series season
1969 		Succeeded by
1969 untitled race at Savannah Speedway
Preceded by National 500 races
1969 		Succeeded by
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