The 1969 Volunteer 500 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 July 20, 1969, at

Bristol International Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track motor racing, short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR ...

in Bristol, Tennessee; which was rebuilt with more banking for this race. 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.

Race report

It took three hours, eight minutes, and seven seconds for the event to reach its conclusion.

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 ...

defeated Bobby Isaac by more than three laps in front of an audience of thirty-two thousand people. Roy Tyner finished 97 laps down and still recorded his only top-10 finish of the season; making this event one of attrition. After this race, Pearson took second on the all-time wins list, where he still sits today some 95 wins behind Petty. Pearson drove his Ford Torino Talladega to one of his eleven victories of the 1969 NASCAR Cup Series season. Speeds were: as the average speed and as the pole position speed. Eight cautions were waved for 56 laps in this race for a total of . This race would bring

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 ...

's first finish in the top five. Even during the late-1960s, starting way back in 24th place and taking fifth at the checkered flag was really considered to be a long distance between the two positions. Total winnings for this race were $27,685 ($ when adjusted for inflation). This race's importance in the history book would be that the famous Apollo 11 moon landing would take place on the same day, with Neil Armstrong making his famous walk on the Moon. Henley Gray deliberately quit the race to get home in time to watch the moon landing on television; according to urban legend. As a result, he won $550 ($ when adjusted for inflation) in prize money and finished only 206 out of the 500 laps of the race. Notable crew chiefs for this race were

Herb Nab In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, 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 ...

Banjo Matthews Edwin Keith "Banjo" Matthews (February 14, 1932 – October 2, 1996) was an American NASCAR driver, car owner, and builder. As a driver, he had 13 top ten finishes in 51 starts. He was the car builder for the 1976 to 1978 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...

Glen Wood Glenn Alexandria Wood (July 18, 1925 – January 18, 2019) was an American NASCAR driver from Stuart, Virginia. Early life He and brother Leonard Wood co-founded the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team in 1953, and won four races over an elev ...

, Dick Hutcherson, and Cotton Owens.1969 Volunteer 500 crew chiefs information
at Racing Reference

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference: # David Pearson† (No. 17) # Bobby Isaac† (No. 71) # Donnie Allison (No. 27) # James Hylton (No. 48) # Cecil Gordon (No. 47) # Ben Arnold (No. 76) # Bill Seifert (No. 45) # Bill Champion† (No. 10) #

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) #

Roy Tyner William Leroy "Roy" Tyner (January 3, 1934 – February 23, 1989) was a Native American ''NASCAR Grand National'' driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, United States. NASCAR career Driver Tyner participated in the 1968 Fireball 300 in add ...

† (No. 9) #

LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when inflation is taken into accoun ...

*† (No. 98) #

Walson Gardener Walson Gardener (born August 21, 1932, in Laurinburg, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver and a competitor at the 1968 Fireball 300 The 1968 Fireball 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 5, 196 ...

* (No. 63) #

Ed Hessert Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

* (No. 15) #

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) #

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) # 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) #

G.C. Spencer Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer (July 9, 1925GC Spencer obituaryhttp://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 . – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/ ...

*† (No. 49) #

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) #

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing 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 ...

* (No. 30) #

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) #

Buddy Young Claude Henry K. "Buddy" Young (January 5, 1926 – September 5, 1983) was an American football player and track and field athlete. A native of Chicago, he was Illinois state champ in the 100-yard dash. The 5'4" Young, also known as the "Bronze Bu ...

* (No. 31) #

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 ...

* (No. 43) #

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

* (No. 21) #

Dick Brooks Richard Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) 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. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker b ...

*† (No. 32) # Bobby Allison* (No. 22) #

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

*† (No. 6) # Jabe Thomas* (No. 25) #

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) # Coo Coo Marlin*† (No. 07) #

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) #

Bobby Mausgrover Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a consta ...

* (No. 57) ''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''
''* Driver failed to finish race''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start: Cale Yarborough was leading the other drivers as the green flag was waved in the air. * Lap 32: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Cale Yarborough. * Lap 33: James Hylton took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 82: David Pearson took over the lead from James Hylton. * Lap 94: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 97: Donnie Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 183: David Pearson took over the lead from Donnie Allison. * Lap 345: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 358: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 359: David Pearson took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough. * Finish: David Pearson was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

Volunteer 500 The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City Dirt Race, but it is by far the mor ...

NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway