1969 Volunteer 500

1969 Volunteer 500

Race details[1]
Race 33 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Layout of Bristol Motor Speedway
Date	July 20, 1969 (1969-July-20)
Official name	Volunteer 500
Location	Bristol International Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.857 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.8 km)
Weather	Very hot with temperatures of 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed	79.737 miles per hour (128.324 km/h)
Attendance	32,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Wood Brothers
Most laps led
Driver	David Pearson	Holman-Moody
Laps	316
Winner
No. 17	David Pearson	Holman-Moody
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1969 Volunteer 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 20, 1969, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee; which was rebuilt with more banking for this race.

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.

It took three hours, eight minutes, and seven seconds for the event to reach its conclusion.^[2] David Pearson defeated Bobby Isaac by more than three laps in front of an audience of thirty-two thousand people. Roy Tyner finished 97 laps down and still recorded his only top-10 finish of the season; making this event one of attrition.^[2] After this race, Pearson took second on the all-time wins list, where he still sits today some 95 wins behind Petty.^[3]

Pearson drove his Ford Torino Talladega to one of his eleven victories of the 1969 NASCAR Cup Series season.^[4] Speeds were: 79.737 miles per hour (128.324 km/h) as the average speed and 103.424 miles per hour (166.445 km/h) as the pole position speed.^[2] Eight cautions were waved for 56 laps in this race for a total of 266.5 miles (428.9 km).^[2] This race would bring Cecil Gordon's first finish in the top five.^[2] Even during the late-1960s, starting way back in 24th place and taking fifth at the checkered flag was really considered to be a long distance between the two positions.^[2]

Total winnings for this race were $27,685 ($230,022 when adjusted for inflation).^[2]

This race's importance in the history book would be that the famous Apollo 11 Moon landing would take place on the same day, with Neil Armstrong making his famous walk on the Moon. Henley Gray deliberately quit the race to get home in time to watch the Moon landing on television; according to urban legend. As a result, he won $550 ($4,570 when adjusted for inflation) in prize money and finished only 206 out of the 500 laps of the race.^[2]

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Herb Nab, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Banjo Matthews, Glen Wood, Dick Hutcherson, and Cotton Owens.^[5]

Section reference:^[2]

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

Section reference:^[2]

• Start: Cale Yarborough was leading the other drivers as the green flag was waved in the air.
• Lap 32: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
• Lap 33: James Hylton took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 82: David Pearson took over the lead from James Hylton.
• Lap 94: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from David Pearson.
• Lap 97: Donnie Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac.
• Lap 183: David Pearson took over the lead from Donnie Allison.
• Lap 345: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from David Pearson.
• Lap 358: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from Bobby Isaac.
• Lap 359: David Pearson took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough.
• Finish: David Pearson was officially declared the winner of the event.