September 13, 1969 - Big Bill and The PDA square off

After a series of driver deaths and injuries through much of the 1960s - in NASCAR, USAC and F1 - NASCAR's top drivers met in a secret location in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 14, 1969. The result of that meeting was the formation of the Professional Drivers Association - the PDA.

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/33705/august-14-1969-a-secret-meeting-results-in-a-public-decision

Big Bill France thought little of the PDA, and he didn't give it much more thought - at least publicly. The elephant in the room that loomed was the upcoming inaugural GN race at France's new Alabama International Motor Speedway - Talladega.

The combination of the new pavement, high speeds, questionable tires, and an obstinate attitude by France led to a fairly well known stand-off between France, NASCAR officials, and the members of the PDA led by its president, King Richard. - Ray Lamm

On September 13, 1969, the day before the Talladega 500, the stand-off resulted in a drive-off. The teams loaded their cars, and the transporters left the track - led by the 43 Ford team from Level Cross.

From Gadsden Times

From Gadsden Times

From there, most are familiar with Bill France's next two actions:

• Suiting up himself in a #53 Ford to prove how safe his new track was, and
• Running the 500 anyway - filled with a few GN regulars and a bunch of GT cars that had raced the day before in the Bama 400.

Photos from  Talladega Spoiler Registry

In the end, France got his way as usual. His mantra of the show must go on prevailed. The PDA's leverage disappeared really before it had a chance to develop. Yet, Petty, Lee Roy, Bobby Allison, and the other PDA members made a point as well by leaving.

Interesting to note that one of the just 4 Grand National drivers who went on the track after the Saturday GT race was Bobby Isaac, who'd later "hear voices" at the same Talladega track and step out of his Bud Moore ride during an event.

Monday's Daytona paper listed all Talladega entrants who walked out, as well as carrying a story about an "Appearance Bond" to be posted by the boycotters at future NASCAR races.

Great read Chase. Thanks !

Very interesting Dave. In recent years as I've blogged about Petty wins or searched for supplemental articles for posts by folks such as yourself and Tim Leeming, I've often been intrigued by the minimal NASCAR coverage by the Daytona paper over the decades.

The DBMJ generally covered Speedweeks pretty well, but the rest of the year rarely had much in-depth coverage. I thought that to be odd with NASCAR being HQ'd in Daytona Beach.

Yet, here is an article detailing name for name of those who chose not to the run the 1969 Talladega race. My hunch is someone pretty high up in the beach suite made a personal call to the sports editor to ensure his point of view was conveyed in the local paper.

Six days after the September 13, 1969 Talladega pullout, the Spartanburg paper carried this Associated Press report datelined Charlotte on September 19:

Do you suppose Bill France's incident at indianapolis years earlier as he lobbied to build Daytona

had any effect on his determination to make Talledaga work?