The 1969 Myers Brothers 250 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Grand National Series event that was held on August 22, 1969, at Bowman Gray Stadium in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

Background

Bowman Gray Stadium is a

sanctioned asphalt flat oval short track and longstanding

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium located in

. It is one of stock car racing's most legendary venues, and is referred to as "NASCAR's longest-running weekly race track". Bowman Gray Stadium is part of the

Winston-Salem Sports and Entertainment Complex The Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex is a group of arenas, sports venues, and entertainment venues in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The complex consists of six structures, five of which are found in the same area along De ...

and is home of the

Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as Slater Industrial Academy o ...

Rams football team. It was also the home of the Wake Forest University football team from 1956 until

Groves Stadium Truist Field at Wake Forest is a football stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The stadium is just west of Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, home of the Wake Forest baseball team. It is primarily used for American football, and ...

(later

BB&T Field Truist Field at Wake Forest is a football stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The stadium is just west of Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, home of the Wake Forest baseball team. It is primarily used for American football, and ...

) opened in 1968. Bowman Gray Stadium would become a popular venue for high school football in the 1970s and 1980s.

Race report

This race was the site of

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

's 100th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the 1969 model year #43 Ford sponsored by

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, North Carolina, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Maurice Petty. The team was later owned by Richard Petty, hi ...

. Achieving this prestigious race victory allowed Richard Petty to join the very elite group of auto racers who won 100 races in their chosen high-level motorsport. This milestone is something that Michael Schumacher failed to achieve in Formula One and for Lewis Hamilton to accomplish in the 21st century along with

Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...

. Two hundred and fifty laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning for a grand total of . The race took one hour and nineteen seconds for

to defeat Bobby Isaac by four seconds in front a live audience of 10,500 people. The race was decided when Petty ran out of gas heading toward the pits and Isaac ran out of gas just after he passed by the pits. The time Isaac lost coasting all the way around was the difference between winning and losing. Notable speeds were: as the average and per hour as the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

speed. Three cautions were given for seventeen laps. Out of the twenty-four cars, eleven had to drop out of the race before it finished. Total winnings for this race were $6,975 in American dollars ($ when adjusted for inflation). All twenty-four drivers were born in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Notable crew chiefs at the race were Harry Hyde,

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

, Dick Hutcherson, and

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

.1969 Myers Brothers 250 crew chiefs information
at Racing Reference The transition to purpose-built racecars 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.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference: # Richard Petty (No. 43) # Bobby Isaac† (No. 71) #

David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to: * David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar * David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion * David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...

† (No. 17) #

Elmo Langley Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Racing career Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Vir ...

† (No. 64) # James Hylton (No. 48) # John Sears† (No. 4) #

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

(No. 06) #

J. D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

† (No. 70) #

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...

† (No. 34) #

E.J. Trivette E. J. Trivette (born June 6, 1936, in Deep Gap, North Carolina, US) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. Career In his thirteen-year career, Trivette has raced 177 races and has accomplished twenty-nine finishes in the top ten. He ha ...

(No. 08) #

Ken Meisenhelder Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

(No. 04) # Ben Arnold (No. 76) # Bill Champion*† (No. 10) #

Henley Gray Clarence Henley Gray Jr. (born January 12, 1933) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977. Career Out of the 76045 laps committed in his career, Gray only led two of them. Gray's total career earnings ...

* (No. 19) # Peter Hazelwood* (No. 12) #

Ed Negre Ed Negre (July 16, 1927June 4, 2014) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979.''E ...

* (No. 8) # Bill Seifert* (No. 45) # James Cox* (No. 23) # Wayne Smith* (No. 33) #

Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon (June 21, 1941 – September 19, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1968 and 1985, he competed in 449 events without winning a race. NASCAR Career as driver Gordon d ...

*† (No. 47) #

Earl Brooks Earl Lee Brooks (August 11, 1929 – July 21, 2010) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1962 to 1979. His career came at a time where NASCAR was less organized than it is today and drivers independently owned their v ...

* (No. 26) #

Wayne Gillette Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...

* (No. 09) # Hoss Ellington*† (No. 61) ''* Driver failed to finish race''
''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Bobby Isaac started the race with the pole position. * Lap 2: Hoss Ellington quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 4: Wayne Gillette quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 16: Earl Brooks quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 24: Cecil Gordon quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 25: Wayne Smith accidentally blew his engine, forcing him to exit the race early. * Lap 26: An oil leak forced James Cox to abandon the race, finishing in 19th place. * Lap 29: Bill Seifert quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 82: Ed Negre had to withdraw from the race due to transmission issues. * Lap 91: Pete Hazelwood quit the race for reasons unknown. * Lap 93: Henley Grey noticed that his brakes stopped working on his racing vehicle. * Lap 153: The brakes on Bill Champion's vehicle stopped working. * Lap 242: Richard Petty took over the leader from Bobby Isaac. * Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{s-end

Myers Brothers 250 Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh"). People *Abram F. Myers (born 1889), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and board chai ...

NASCAR races at Bowman Gray Stadium