1969 Georgia 500 (November)
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 53 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
| Date | November 9, 1969 | ||
| Official name | Georgia 500 | ||
| Location | Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.548 mi (0.882 km) |
||
| Distance | 500 laps, 227 mi (441 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 73 °F (23 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 81.079 miles per hour (130.484 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 10,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | K&K Insurance Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | David Pearson | Holman Moody | |
| Laps | 218 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 22 | Bobby Allison | Mario Rossi | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1969 Georgia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on November 9, 1969 at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia. An earlier race was run on November 1968 with the same name and year number.
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 any more.
Summary
It took two hours and thirty-seven minutes to thoroughly complete 500 laps worth of racing. LeeRoy Yarbrough quit for reasons unknown after just 64 laps; causing him to become the last-place finisher. Larry Baumel became the lowest-finishing driver who did not quit the race. James Cox also quit the race, but only after competing in 131 laps.[2]
Richard Petty had an engine problem and secure himself a sixth-place finish while Earl Brooks ended up more than 100 laps behind the lead lap drivers. A NASCAR-following audience of ten thousand strong supporters ended up seeing Bobby Allison besting David Pearson by a distance of five stock car lengths. While David Pearson, Bobby Isaac and Richard Petty dominated the first 100 laps, the final 100 laps were monopolized by David Pearson and Bobby Allison.[2]
Don Biederman was the only Canadian in a field of 29 mostly American-born drivers. Bobby Isaac's pole position speed of 94.148 miles per hour (151.517 km/h) exceeded the average race speed of 81.079 miles per hour (130.484 km/h) by an incredible amount of time.[2] Individual post-race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $3,050 ($19,681.08 when considering inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $350 ($2,258.48 when considering inflation). The total prize purse that was offered by the organizers was $19,075 ($123,087.41 when considering inflation.[3]
Finishing order
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- Bobby Allison
- David Pearson
- Bobby Isaac†
- John Sears†
- Bill Champion†
- Richard Petty*
- Cecil Gordon†
- Ben Arnold
- Henley Gray
- James Hylton
- Bill Seifert
- Don Patton
- Jabe Thomas
- Wendell Scott†
- Earl Brooks†
- Neil Castles*
- Pete Hazelwood*
- E.J. Trivette*
- Ed Negre*
- Elmo Langley*†
- Johnny Halford*
- Friday Hassler*†
- Roy Mayne*
- Dick Brooks*†
- Don Biederman*†
- James Cox*
- Don Tarr*
- Larry Baumel*
- LeeRoy Yarbrough*†
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
References
- ↑ Weather information for the 1969 Georgia 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Racing information for the 1969 Georgia 500 at Racing Reference
- ↑ Racing information for the 1969 Georgia 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1969 |
Succeeded by 1969 Texas 500 |
| Preceded by | Georgia 500 races 1969 |
Succeeded by 1970 |
