1970 Greenville 200

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1970 Greenville 200
Race details[1]
Race 23 of 48 in the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date June 27, 1970; 53 years ago (1970-06-27)
Official name Greenville 200
Location Greenville-Pickens Speedway
Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 82 °F (28 °C); average wind speed of 5.18 miles per hour (8.34 km/h)
Average speed 75.345 miles per hour (121.256 km/h)
Attendance 7,000[2]
Pole position
Driver K&K Insurance Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Isaac K&K Insurance Racing
Laps 190
Winner
No. 71 Bobby Isaac K&K Insurance Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1970 Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on June 27, 1970 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina. The series is now referred to as the Sprint Cup Series.

Summary

Seven thousand racing fans were in attendance to see Bobby Isaac defeat Bobby Allison by ½ of a lap.[2] The pole position was earned by the eventual race winner with a qualifying speed of 82.372 miles per hour (132.565 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 74.345 miles per hour (119.647 km/h).[2] It took one hour and thirty-three seconds for the race to reach its conclusion. All twenty-nine competitors were born in the United States of America with no foreign-born drivers unlike today.[2] Carburetors were still in wide use in both passenger automobiles and with the NASCAR vehicles during the early 1970s; requiring plenty of physically-intensive labor from the people who would maintain the vehicles between races.[3]

Notable drivers in the field included: Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Elmo Langley (died of a heart attack after driving the pace car at an exhibition race in Japan), Roy Tyner (murdered in his vehicle), and J.D. McDuffie (killed after colliding with turn 5 at the 1991 Budweiser At The Glen race at Watkins Glen International).[2] The winner's purse was considered to be $1,500 ($9,140.1 when adjusted for inflation).[2]

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.

Finishing order

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  1. Bobby Isaac†
  2. Bobby Allison
  3. Dick Brooks
  4. James Hylton
  5. Benny Parsons
  6. Elmo Langley
  7. Jabe Thomas
  8. Bill Champion
  9. Ed Negre
  10. Ken Meisenhelder (the only Chevrolet entry for the race)
  11. Wendell Scott
  12. J.D. McDuffie† (the only Buick entry for the race)
  13. Ben Arnold
  14. Neil Castles*
  15. Bill Seifert
  16. Lee Gordon
  17. Johnny Halford*
  18. Roy Tyner†
  19. Richard Petty* (crashed into the wall at lap 138)
  20. Dave Marcis
  21. Raymond Williams*
  22. Frank Warren*
  23. Henley Gray*
  24. John Sears*†
  25. Earl Brooks*
  26. Cecil Gordon*†
  27. Pete Hazelwood*
  28. Bill Shirey*
  29. John Jennings*

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

Timeline

  • Start of race: Bobby Isaac started the race with the pole position
  • Lap 3: John Jennings managed to overheat his vehicle
  • Lap 10: Bill Shirey managed to overheat his vehicle
  • Lap 23: Oil pressure issues managed to put Pete Hazelwood out to pasture for the day
  • Lap 34: Transmission issues forced Cecil Gordon to quit racing for the rest of the day
  • Lap 37: Earl Brooks managed to abuse his brakes, forcing him to exit the race too soon
  • Lap 40: Steering issues got the best of John Sears
  • Lap 46: Henley Gray managed to overheat his vehicle
  • Lap 63: Raymond Williams managed to overheat his vehicle; Frank Warren managed to lose the rear end of his vehicle
  • Lap 124: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Bobby Isaac
  • Lap 125: Bobby Allison takes over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 134: Bobby Isaac takes over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 137: Richard Petty had a terminal crash, causing him not to finish the race
  • Lap 163: Johnny Halford developed problems with his oil pressure, forcing him out of the race
  • Lap 175: The rear end of Neil Castles' vehicle fell off, ending his day on the track
  • Finish: Bobby Isaac was officially declared the winner of the event

References

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Preceded by NASCAR Grand National races
1970
Succeeded by
1970 Firecracker 400