1969 Motor State 500
The 1969 Motor State 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on June 15, 1969, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Highlights from this event were featured on the television show Car and Track; hosted by race commentator Bud Lindemann.
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 24 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Michigan International Speedway | |||
| Date | June 15, 1969 | ||
| Official name | Motor State 500 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, (Brooklyn, Michigan) | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km) | ||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (743 km) | ||
| Weather | Chilly with temperatures of 63 °F (17 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 139.254 mph (224.108 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 46,238[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Banjo Matthews | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 136 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Bud Lindemann | ||
During this era, Michigan International Speedway was a Mercury-dominated track. It was also a track that suited a smooth driver or a driver that could change his driving tactics for Michigan International Speedway.
Background
Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[3] Groundbreaking took place on September 28, 1967. Over 2.5 million cubic yards (1.9×106 m3) of dirt were moved to form the D-shaped oval. The track opened in 1968 with a total capacity of 25,000 seats. The track was originally built and owned by Lawrence H. LoPatin, a Detroit-area land developer who built the speedway at an estimated cost of $4–6 million.[4] Financing was arranged by Thomas W Itin. Its first race took place on Sunday, October 13, 1968, with the running of the USAC 250 mile Championship Car Race won by Ronnie Bucknum.
Race report
A grand total of 38 American-born drivers competed in this 250-lap racing event.[2] Wayne Gillette ended up becoming the last-place finisher due to troubles with the rear end of the vehicle only after completing a single lap.[2] While LeeRoy Yarbrough would lead the most laps, Cale Yarborough would defeat David Pearson by a distance of five car lengths after more than three and a half hours of racing.[2] Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough got together during the final lap and LeeRoy tried to limp back to the finish line but came up just short.[2]
A faulty vehicular oil line managed to take Buddy Young out of the race on lap 62.[2] Bobby Wawak fell out with engine failure on lap 74 while Bobby Allison did the same thing on lap 78.[2] Dick Johnson noticed that his vehicle's clutch was having problems; forcing him to leave the race on lap 80.[2] Between lap 94 and lap 150, five of the competing drivers would notice that their engines stopped working.[2] Some faulty lug bolts would relegate Ben Arnold to the sidelines on lap 155.[2] Bill Seifert, Paul Deal Holt, Dave Marcis and Henley Gray would end up blowing their engines between lap 183 and lap 191.[2] Yarbrough's day would end when his car suddenly crashed on lap 249; but not without picking up a respectable fourth-place finish in the process.[2]
Donnie Allison would become known as the fastest driver in qualifying; he earned his pole position after driving speeds up to 160.135 miles per hour (257.712 km/h) by himself on the track.[2] Earl Brooks would become known for being the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event; he was 85 laps behind the lead lap drivers.[2] The vehicles in this event ranged from 1967 to 1969; most of the vehicles raced here were Fords and Dodges; all built nearby in the assembly plants of Dearborn, Flint and Detroit. The racing grid was forced to slow down a total of seven times for a duration of 35 laps; more than 46,000 people would purchase tickets for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race set in the "Irish Hills" of Michigan.[2] LeeRoy Yarbrough and David Pearson both lead a respectable number of green flags and were tough opponents to deal with while under pressure. With the first-place position being exchanged a whopping 35 times throughout the event, it felt more like an Academy Award-winning movie than an actual NASCAR event.[2]
Individual race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $17,625 ($122,879 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $622 ($4,337 when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR officials were authorized to hand out a grand total of $73,548 in post-race winnings to all the drivers who managed to qualify for this event ($512,767 when adjusted for inflation).[5]
At least ten notable crew chiefs were recorded as attending this race; including Cotton Owens, Dick Hutcherson, Glen Wood, Banjo Matthews and Dale Inman.[6]
Qualifying
| Grid[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Donnie Allison | '69 Ford |
| 2 | 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | '69 Mercury |
| 3 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '69 Dodge |
| 4 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | '69 Mercury |
| 5 | 43 | Richard Petty | '69 Ford |
| 6 | 6 | Charlie Glotzbach | '69 Dodge |
| 7 | 17 | David Pearson | '69 Ford |
| 8 | 99 | Paul Goldsmith | '69 Dodge |
| 9 | 22 | Bobby Allison | '69 Dodge |
| 10 | 32 | Dick Brooks | '69 Plymouth |
| 11 | 4 | John Sears | '69 Ford |
| 12 | 03 | Richard Brickhouse | '67 Plymouth |
| 13 | 61 | Hoss Ellington | '67 Mercury |
| 14 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '68 Ford |
| 15 | 15 | Ed Hessert | '68 Plymouth |
| 16 | 76 | Ben Arnold | '68 Ford |
| 17 | 10 | Bill Champion | '68 Ford |
| 18 | 80 | Wayne Gillette | '67 Chevrolet |
| 19 | 96 | Frank Warren | '68 Ford |
| 20 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | '67 Buick |
| 21 | 0 | Dick Poling | '67 Chevrolet |
| 22 | 23 | Paul Dean Holt | '67 Ford |
| 23 | 47 | Cecil Gordon | '68 Ford |
| 24 | 45 | Bill Seifert | '68 Ford |
| 25 | 48 | James Hylton | '69 Dodge |
Top 20 finishers
| Pos[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Laps led | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | Mercury | 250 | 38 | 3:35:26 |
| 2 | 17 | David Pearson | Ford | 250 | 57 | +5 seconds |
| 3 | 43 | Richard Petty | Ford | 250 | 0 | Lead lap under green flag |
| 4 | 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Mercury | 249 | 136 | Terminal vehicle damage |
| 5 | 6 | Charlie Glotzbach | Dodge | 249 | 2 | +1 lap |
| 6 | 99 | Paul Goldsmith | Dodge | 248 | 4 | +2 laps |
| 7 | 48 | James Hylton | Dodge | 244 | 2 | +6 laps |
| 8 | 06 | Neil Castles | Dodge | 242 | 0 | +8 laps |
| 9 | 4 | John Sears | Ford | 240 | 1 | +10 laps |
| 10 | 25 | Jabe Thomas | Plymouth | 227 | 0 | +23 laps |
| 11 | 15 | Ed Hessert | Plymouth | 224 | 0 | +26 laps |
| 12 | 34 | Wendell Scott | Ford | 216 | 0 | +34 laps |
| 13 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Buick | 211 | 0 | +39 laps |
| 14 | 61 | Hoss Ellington | Mercury | 210 | 0 | +40 laps |
| 15 | 08 | E.J. Trivette | Chevrolet | 210 | 0 | +40 laps |
| 16 | 47 | Cecil Gordon | Ford | 206 | 0 | +44 laps |
| 17 | 44 | Bob Ashbrook | Ford | 198 | 0 | +52 laps |
| 18 | 19 | Henley Gray | Ford | 193 | 0 | Engine failure |
| 19 | 30 | Dave Marcis | Dodge | 191 | 0 | Engine failure |
| 20 | 23 | Paul Dean Holt | Ford | 187 | 0 | Engine failure |
References
- Weather information for the 1969 Motor State 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- Racing information for the 1969 Motor State 500 at Racing Reference
- "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- "Track History". Michigan International Speedway. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009.
- Winnings information for the 1969 Motor State 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
- 1969 Motor State 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
| Preceded by 1969 Maryville 300 |
NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1969 |
Succeeded by 1969 Kingsport 250 |