1969 American 500
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 51 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
|
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| Date | October 26, 1969 | ||
| Official name | American 500 | ||
| Location | North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km) |
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| Distance | 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures reaching a high of 73.4 °F (23.0 °C); wind speeds reaching a maximum speed of 1.90 miles per hour (3.06 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 33,800[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nichels Engineering | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 213 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1969 American 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on October 26, 1969 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.
A lot of the more notable NASCAR Cup Series drivers of this era failed to finish the race. Richard Petty tore his car up hitting the wall and the repairs were not enough to continue.
Summary
It took four hours and twenty-eight minutes to resolve 492 laps with LeeRoy Yarbrough emerging over David Pearson by 1½ laps.[2] The other drivers in the top ten were: Buddy Baker, Dave Marcis, John Sears, Dick Brooks, Hoss Ellington, Ed Negre, Wendell Scott, and Neil Castles.[2] Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 66 laps. More than 33,000 people would attend this live racing event.[2] Charlie Glotzbach would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 136.972 miles per hour (220.435 km/h) while the average race speed was 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h).[2]
John Kennedy would receive the last-place finish due to a one-car crash on lap 17.[2] This would be the 51st race out of the 54 officially sanctioned racing events of the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series[2] in addition to being the first race done with the present-day configuration for North Carolina Motor Speedway. Lennie Pond would make his NASCAR debut here.
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
References
| Preceded by
1969 untitled race at Augusta Speedway
|
NASCAR Grand National Season 1969 |
Succeeded by 1969 Jeffco 200 |
| Preceded by | American 500 races 1969 |
Succeeded by 1970 |
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