1969 Texas 500

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Coordinates: 30°32′13″N 96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°W / 30.537; -96.221
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30°32′13″N 96°13′16″W / 30.537°N 96.221°W / 30.537; -96.221

1969 Texas 500
Race details[1]
Race 54 of 54 in the
1969 NASCAR Grand National Series
season
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Date December 7, 1969 (1969-December-07)
Official name Texas 500
Location Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures of 55.9 °F (13.3 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed 144.277 miles per hour (232.191 km/h)
Attendance 23,508[2]
Pole position
Driver
Owens Racing
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker
Owens Racing
Laps 150
Winner
No. 71 Bobby Isaac
Network
 untelevised
Announcers none

The 1969 Texas 500 was a

Grand National Series event that was held on December 7, 1969, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas
.

Souvenir racing programs were sold at the event for the then-inexpensive cost of $1 USD per copy ($8.31 when adjusted for inflation).

The extra four degrees of banking made the cars 16 miles per hour or 26 kilometres per hour faster than their speeds while racing at Michigan International Speedway.

Race report

Bobby Isaac would win this race in his 1969 Dodge Charger; gaining $15,640 in prize winnings ($129,945.41 when inflation is taken into effect).[2] He would end an impressive 17-win season with a win in this event.[3]

African American driver in NASCAR history to win a race), Buddy Baker (who was the highest finishing driver to DNF from the race in 8th place[2]), and Benny Parsons
were three other notable drivers of this decade who participated in the race.

Yarborough would acquire a serious injury after clobbering his vehicle into one of the walls.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for the 1971 season. This alliance between tobacco and stock car racing would last until the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series
season. The transition to purpose-built racecars 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.

Biederman would make his grand exit from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race while Joe Hines would make his introduction into top-level stock car racing here.[5] David Pearson would eventually merge as the eventual champion for the year. Pearson would later be recognized for winning his races more consistently than Richard Petty (who finished 21st in this race and would stop racing in Ford vehicles after this race[2]) but would have an abbreviated racing career compared to him.

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Herb Nab, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Banjo Matthews, Glen Wood, Dick Hutcherson, and Cotton Owens.[6]

Qualifying

Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 6 Buddy Baker '69 Dodge Cotton Owens
2 17 David Pearson '69 Ford Holman-Moody Racing
3 98 LeeRoy Yarbrough '69 Ford Junior Johnson
4 21 Cale Yarborough '69 Mercury Wood Brothers
5 99 Richard Brickhouse '69 Dodge Ray Nichels
6 27 Donnie Allison '69 Ford Banjo Matthews
7 71 Bobby Isaac '69 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
8 22 Bobby Allison '69 Dodge Mario Rossi
9 96 Ray Elder '69 Dodge Fred Elder
10 30 Dave Marcis '69 Dodge Milt Lunda
11 48 James Hylton '69 Dodge James Hylton
12 32 Dick Brooks '69 Plymouth Dick Brooks
13 10 Bill Champion '68 Ford Bill Champion
14 8 Frank Warren '67 Plymouth G.C. Spencer
15 76 Ben Arnold '68 Ford Don Culpepper
16 4 John Sears '69 Ford L.G. DeWitt
17 39 Friday Hassler '69 Chevrolet Friday Hassler
18 06 Neil Castles '69 Dodge Neil Castles
19 74 Bill Shirey '69 Plymouth Bill Shirey
20 45 Bill Seifert '69 Ford Bill Seifert

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. Bobby Isaac† (No. 71)
  2. Donnie Allison (No. 27)
  3. Benny Parsons† (No. 18)
  4. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  5. Dick Brooks† (No. 32)
  6. Ray Elder† (No. 96)
  7. Jack McCoy (No. 7)
  8. Buddy Baker*† (No. 6)
  9. Dave Marcis (No. 30)
  10. LeeRoy Yarbrough*† (No. 98)
  11. Cecil Gordon† (No. 47)
  12. Jabe Thomas† (No. 25)
  13. E. J. Trivette (No. 08)
  14. Johnny Halford† (No. 57)
  15. Friday Hassler*† (No.39)
  16. Neil Castles (No. 06)
  17. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  18. Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
  19. Don Biederman† (No. 70)
  20. H. B. Bailey*† (No. 36)
  21. Richard Petty* (No. 43)
  22. Dave Alonzo (No. 81)
  23. Bobby Allison* (No. 22)
  24. Earl Brooks*† (No. 26)
  25. Cale Yarborough* (No. 21)
  26. David Pearson*† (No. 17)
  27. Elmo Langley*† (No.64)
  28. Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
  29. Ben Arnold* (No. 76)
  30. Frank Warren* (No.8)
  31. Bill Champion*† (No. 10)
  32. John Sears*† (No. 4)
  33. Richard Brickhouse* (No. 99)
  34. Joe Hines* (No.03)
  35. Ed Negre*† (No. 0)
  36. Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
  37. Larry Baumel* (No. 69)
  38. Roy Tyner*† (No. 9)

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

References

  1. ^ "1969 Texas 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "1969 Texas 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  3. ^ "Driver Bobby Isaac 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  4. ^ "1969 NASCAR Grand National Recap". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  5. ^ "1969 Texas 500 results". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  6. ^ "1969 Texas 500 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1969–70 		Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR season-ending races
1949-present 		Succeeded by
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