1969 Dixie 500

1969 Dixie 500
Race details[1]
Race 36 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season

Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996
Date August 10, 1969 (1969-August-10)
Official name Dixie 500
Location Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)
Average speed 133.001 miles per hour (214.044 km/h)
Attendance 14,300[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 142
Winner
No. 98 LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1969 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 10, 1969 at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.

Background

Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.[3] However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.

The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]

Summary

After 334 laps (3¾ hours of racing), LeeRoy Yarbrough defeated David Pearson by 5½ seconds in front of a live audience of 14300 people.[2] The pole position winner was Cale Yarborough who drove at speeds up to 155.413 miles per hour (250.113 km/h) prior to the race.[2] John Sears had a problem with his engine and had to withdraw from the race on the third lap.[2] All 40 competitors on the racing grid were born in the United States of America; no foreigners attempted to qualify.[2] Nord Krauskopf's entry (with Bobby Isaac as the driver) finished in 34th place.[2]

Ford vehicles managed to dominate the starting grid.[2] The winner of the race received $18,620 of the total winners ($120,151.38 when considering inflation) while the last-place finisher went home with a meager $725 ($4,678.29 when considering inflation).[5]

Last race for the legendary Smokey Yunick's team. Chargin' Charlie Glotzbach brought the #13 Ford home in 4th place for a somewhat fitting final ride.

Top ten finishers

Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Winnings
1 2 98 LeeRoy Yarbrough Ford 334 $18,620
2 7 17 David Pearson Ford 334 $9,750
3 3 43 Richard Petty Ford 334 $6,100
4 6 13 Charlie Glotzbach Ford 333 $3,585
5 5 27 Donnie Allison Ford 393 $2,775
6 9 22 Bobby Allison Dodge 332 $2,200
7 1 21 Cale Yarborough Mercury 331 $2,560
8 4 6 Buddy Baker Dodge 331 $1,555
9 17 48 James Hylton Dodge 327 $1,550
10 15 32 Dick Brooks Plymouth 313 $1,475

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1969 Dixie 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1969 Dixie 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "NASCAR Tracks—The Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  5. ↑ 1969 Dixie 500 racing information at Race-Database
Preceded by
1969 Smoky Mountain 200		 NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1969 		Succeeded by
1969 Yankee 600
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