1969 American 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 51 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
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| Date | October 26, 1969 | ||
| Official name | American 500 | ||
| Location | North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km) |
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| Distance | 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures reaching a high of 73.4 °F (23.0 °C); wind speeds reaching a maximum speed of 1.90 miles per hour (3.06 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 33,800 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nichels Engineering | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 213 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1969 American 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on October 26, 1969, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.
A lot of the more notable NASCAR Cup Series drivers of this era failed to finish the race. Richard Petty tore his car up hitting the wall and the repairs were not enough to continue.
North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School,
It took four hours and twenty-eight minutes to resolve 492 laps with LeeRoy Yarbrough emerging over David Pearson by 1½ laps. The other drivers in the top ten were: Buddy Baker, Dave Marcis, John Sears, Dick Brooks, Hoss Ellington, Ed Negre, Wendell Scott, and Neil Castles. Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 66 laps. More than 33,000 people would attend this live racing event.Charlie Glotzbach would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 136.972 miles per hour (220.435 km/h) while the average race speed was 111.938 miles per hour (180.147 km/h).
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