The 1969 National 500 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) racing event that took place on October 12, 1969 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...

 (Concord

Concord, North Carolina

Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

). This race is still being held in today's Sprint Cup Series as the Bank of America 500

Bank of America 500

The Bank of America 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that is hosted annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States. The race is usually held in the month of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is 500 miles long...

.

Summary

It took three hours and forty-two minutes to complete the race. Nine cautions were given out for fifty laps but Donnie Allison

Donnie Allison

Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...

 defeated Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

 by sixteen seconds. Fifty thousand people attended this live race to see speeds averaging 131.271 mi/h and Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

 earning his pole position by qualifying with a speed of 162.162 mi/h.

Sheraton

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand . Starwood's headquarters are in White Plains, New York.-Sheraton history:...

 (a popular chain of hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

s and resort

Resort

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....

s even back then) was the only official driver sponsor that wasn't linked with the automotive industry

Automotive industry

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

 for this particular race. Other notable drivers in this race include: A.J. Foyt, Coo Coo Marlin

Coo Coo Marlin

Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...

, Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

, J.D. McDuffie

J.D. McDuffie

John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...

, Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott

Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...

, and Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

. This would become the forty-eighth racing officially sanctioned by NASCAR out of the 54 that would be raced in 1969. The 1969 NASCAR Grand National season would later mark its conclusion with the 1969 Texas 500

1969 Texas 500

The 1969 Texas 500 was a NASCAR Grand National race that took place on December 7, 1969 at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas, USA.-Summary:David Pearson would eventually merge as the eventual champion for the year...

 race on December 7, 1969 with David Pearson emerging as the eventual champion for the year. Pearson would later become recognized for winning races more consistently than Richard Petty but having an abbreviated racing career compared to him.

Had Pearson been able to participate in the number of races as Petty, he might have beaten Richard Petty's record of 200 career race wins. The winner's purse was considered to be $20,280 ($ in today's money).

Finishing order

1. Donnie Allison (highest finishing Ford vehicle)
2. Bobby Allison (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
3. Buddy Baker
   Buddy Baker
   Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
   
   
4. Charlie Glotzbach
   Charlie Glotzbach
   Charles "Charlie: Glotzbach is a former ARCA and was a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Charlie holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He was also known as "The Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie"....
   
   
5. David Pearson
6. Dick Brooks
   Dick Brooks
   Richard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500...
   
   
7. Neil Castles
   Neil Castles
   Neil "Soapy" Castles is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver that participate from 1957 to 1976.-History:...
   
   
8. Friday Hassler
   Friday Hassler
   Raymond "Friday" Hassler was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver.-Summary:He made his debut in 1960 but only drove a handful of races per year until 1967 when he drove 21 of the 49 races for Red Sharp and finished 32nd in points. He improved to 27th for Sharp the next year and...
   
    (highest finishing Chevrolet vehicle)
9. Don Tarr
   Don Tarr
   Donald "Don" James Tarr was a Welsh international hooker who played club rugby for Swansea and Cardiff, county rugby for Hampshire and invitational rugby for the Barbarians...
   
   
10. John Sears* (highest finishing driver to DNF in the race due to engine issues)
11. James Hylton
    James Hylton
    James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
    
    
12. Wayne Smith
13. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    
14. Hoss Ellington
    Hoss Ellington
    Hoss Ellington is a retired NASCAR driver and team owner. He made 31 starts as a driver between 1968 and 1970 in the Grand National ., finishing in the top 10 four times, all in 1969. He later became a successful team owner, with five wins, four of them by Donnie Allison and the other one by David...
    
    
15. John Kennedy
16. Bill Seifert
    Bill Seifert
    Bill Seifert is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.-Summary:Seifert raced 41,875 laps for . His grand total for race winnings is $147,831 USD . Seifert's average career start is 21st and his average career finish is 19th...
    
    
17. Wendell Scott
18. Ben Arnold
19. Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....
    
    
20. Dub Simpson
21. Henley Gray
    Henley Gray
    Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...
    
    
22. Bill Champion
    Bill Champion
    Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...
    
    
23. Wayne Gillette
24. J.D. McDuffie*
25. Cale Yarborough*
26. Jabe Thomas
    Jabe Thomas
    Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid 1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989.-Career:Thomas drove 75243 laps of racing and earned $295,497 in total...
    
    
27. Richard Petty*
28. Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...
    
    *
29. Earl Brooks*
30. G.C. Spencer
    G.C. Spencer
    G. C. Spencer July 9, 1925 in Owensboro, Kentucky – September 20, 2007 in Johnson City, Tennessee was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1977...
    
    *
31. Roy Tyner*
32. Sonny Hutchins
    Sonny Hutchins
    Ernest Lloyd "Sonny" Hutchins was a stock car driver who raced in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup Series from 1955 to 1974. He died in 2005.-External links:*...
    
    *
33. E.J. Trivette
    E.J. Trivette
    E.J. Trivette is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver.-Career summary:...
    
    *
34. Jim Lineberger* (crashed into a wall on lap 132)
35. Buddy Young
    Buddy Young
    Claude "Buddy" Young was an American football player. A native of Chicago, the 5'4" Claude "Buddy" Young, also known as the "Bronze Bullet," had exceptional quickness and acceleration. He is one of the shortest men ever to play NFL football...
    
    *
36. Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
    
    *
37. Richard Brickhouse
    Richard Brickhouse
    Richard Brickhouse is a retired NASCAR driver. He is best known for winning the inaugural Talladega 500 in 1969 after a boycott of the top stars of the sport at the time because concerns with tire wear with the high rate of speeds at the racetrack. He retired in 1982 with 13 career top 10's in 39...
    
    *
38. LeeRoy Yarbrough
    LeeRoy Yarbrough
    Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...
    
    *
39. Coo Coo Marlin
    Coo Coo Marlin
    Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...
    
    *
40. A.J. Foyt*
41. Bobby Isaac
    Bobby Isaac
    Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...
    
    *
42. Bill Dennis
    Bill Dennis
    Bill Dennis is a former NASCAR driver and rookie of the year in the Grand National Series .-Racing career:...
    
    *
43. Jim Vandiver
    Jim Vandiver
    Jim Vandiver is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup driver that raced from 1968 to 1983.-Summary:...
    
    *
44. Bob Cooper
    Bob Cooper (NASCAR driver)
    Bob Cooper is a retired driver that raced in the NASCAR Grand National Series . Cooper has raced 64 races over the course of 8 years - resulting in 9 finishes in the top ten. He has also done 8982 laps; earning $17,495 in the process...
    
    *
45. Frank Warren
    Frank Warren (NASCAR driver)
    Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race