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1969 Texas 500
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Auto race held at Texas World Speedway in 1969
February 2025
CUST Race 54 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series seasonRace 20 of 20 in the 1969 NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Division season Texas 500 http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/TX/College%20Station/1969-12-07 1969 Texas 500 weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac 2012-09-04 1969 12 7 1969 54 54 Texas World Speedway-Superspeedway.svg Layout of Texas World Speedway Texas 500 Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas 2.000 3.218 250 500 804 Cold with temperatures of 55.9 F C; wind speeds of 15 mph km/h 144.277 mi/h 23,508 https://www.racing-reference.info/race/1969_Texas_500/W 1969 Texas 500 information Racing Reference 2020-03-27 Buddy Baker Owens Racing Buddy Baker Owens Racing 150 71 Bobby Isaac K&K Insurance Racing untelevised none
The 1969 Texas 500 was a NASCAR 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 US$1 per copy ($ when adjusted for inflation).
The extra four degrees of banking made the cars 16 mph km/h or faster than their speeds while racing at Michigan International Speedway.
Race report
Bobby Isaac would win this race in his 1969 Dodge Charger; gaining $15,640 in prize winnings ($ when inflation is taken into effect). He would end an impressive 17-win season with a win in this event. https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/isaacbo01/1969/W Driver Bobby Isaac 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results Racing Reference 2020-02-24
Buddy Baker earned the pole position with a speed of 176.284 mi/h while the average speed of the race was 144.277 mi/h. More than 23,000 race fans would see Donnie Allison lose the race by more than two laps. Don Biederman was the only foreign-born driver (he was born in Port Credit, Ontario) and raced under the employ of Bill Champion for this race in a 1968 Ford Torino. Roy Tyner would finish in last place after picking up an engine problem on lap 2 with his 1969 Pontiac vehicle. Other notable drivers to develop problems in the race were: Elmo Langley, Cale Yarborough, Ed Negre, and Bill Seifert. Wendell Scott (the first 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), 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.
NASCAR on ABC would begin televising a select number of races during the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1960s/1969-nascar.htm 1969 NASCAR Grand National Recap How Stuff Works 2012-09-08 2012-10-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20121007231828/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1960s/1969-nascar.htm dead The televised broadcasting of NASCAR races eventually brought this once-regional motorsport into the national spotlight and eventually gained a major sponsor through Big Tobacco manufacturer 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. http://www.race-database.com/results/results.php?year=1969&race=54&series_id=2 1969 Texas 500 results Race Database 2012-09-08 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) 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. https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1969-54/W/C 1969 Texas 500 crew chiefs Racing Reference 2018-08-16
Qualifying
Grid No. Car number 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:
22em
Bobby Isaac† (No. 71)
Donnie Allison (No. 27)
Benny Parsons† (No. 18)
James Hylton† (No. 48)
Dick Brooks† (No. 32)
Ray Elder† (No. 96)
Jack McCoy (No. 7)
Buddy Baker*† (No. 6)
Dave Marcis (No. 30)
LeeRoy Yarbrough*† (No. 98)
Cecil Gordon† (No. 47)
Jabe Thomas† (No. 25)
E. J. Trivette (No. 08)
Johnny Halford† (No. 57)
Friday Hassler*† (No.39)
Neil Castles (No. 06)
Henley Gray (No. 19)
Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
Don Biederman† (No. 70)
H. B. Bailey*† (No. 36)
Richard Petty* (No. 43)
Dave Alonzo (No. 81)
Bobby Allison*† (No. 22)
Earl Brooks*† (No. 26)
Cale Yarborough*† (No. 21)
David Pearson*† (No. 17)
Elmo Langley*† (No.64)
Bill Shirey* (No. 74)
Ben Arnold* (No. 76)
Frank Warren* (No.8)
Bill Champion*† (No. 10)
John Sears*† (No. 4)
Richard Brickhouse* (No. 99)
Joe Hines* (No.03)
Ed Negre*† (No. 0)
Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
Larry Baumel* (No. 69)
Roy Tyner*† (No. 9)
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
References
1969 Georgia 500 1970 Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1969–70
1968 Peach State 200 1970 Tidewater 300 NASCAR season-ending races 1949-present
30.537 -96.221 title
Texas 500
Texas 500
Category:NASCAR races at Texas World Speedway
Texas 500