Official name Georgia 500 | ||
Date November 9, 1969; 47 years ago (1969-11-09) Location Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, Georgia Course Permanent racing facility
0.548 mi (0.882 km) Distance 500 laps, 227 mi (441 km) Weather Temperatures reaching up to 73 °F (23 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
The 1969 Georgia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on November 9, 1969, at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia. An earlier race was run on November 1968 with the same name and year number.
Contents
The transition to purposely-built racers 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; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.
Summary
It took two hours and thirty-seven minutes to thoroughly complete 500 laps worth of racing. LeeRoy Yarbrough quit for reasons unknown after just 64 laps; causing him to become the last-place finisher. Larry Baumel became the lowest-finishing driver who did not quit the race. James Cox also quit the race, but only after competing in 131 laps.
Richard Petty had an engine problem and secure himself a sixth-place finish while Earl Brooks ended up more than 100 laps behind the lead lap drivers. A NASCAR-following audience of ten thousand strong supporters ended up seeing Bobby Allison besting David Pearson by a distance of five stock car lengths. While David Pearson, Bobby Isaac and Richard Petty dominated the first 100 laps, the final 100 laps were monopolized by David Pearson and Bobby Allison.
Don Biederman was the only Canadian in a field of 29 mostly American-born drivers. Bobby Isaac's pole position speed of 94.148 miles per hour (151.517 km/h) exceeded the average race speed of 81.079 miles per hour (130.484 km/h) by an incredible amount of time. Individual post-race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $3,050 ($19,919.10 when considering inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $350 ($2,285.80 when considering inflation). The total prize purse that was offered by the organizers was $19,075 ($124,576.02 when considering inflation).
Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race