SOUTH BOSTON GT 100 6-21-1969

SOUTH BOSTON GT 100

South Boston, Va. June 21, 1969

The 12th Grand Touring race of 1969 was held at South Boston Speedway one day after the Norris Friel Memorial at Beltsville and was 267 laps on the 3/8 mile paved oval.

Pete Hamilton qualified on the pole with a time of 15.68 seconds and led the first 11 laps until Ray Hendrick took over the lead thru lap 123. Hamilton went back in front on the 124 ^th lap and led the rest of the way to capture his fourth win of 1969 by a 1 lap margin over Hendrick. There were only 2 cautions for 8 laps. The win made it three in a row for Hamilton after wins at Hickory and Beltsville.

Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out

1 1 25 Pete Hamilton 68 Camaro 267 Running

2 3 67 Ray Hendrick 69 Camaro 266 Running

3 5 27 Jim Paschal 69 Javelin 266 Running

4 2 88 T.C. Hunt 68 Camaro 265 Running

5 4 15 Wayne Andrews 68 Cougar 262 Running

6 7 87 Buck Baker 68 Camaro 261 Running

7 9 10 Charlie Blanton 68 Camaro 261 Running

8 6 2 Randy Hutchinson 68 Camaro 260 Running

9 12 04 C.B. Gwyn 68 Cougar 258 Running

10 8 44 Ken Rush 68 Camaro 257 Running

11 16 74 Al Straub 69 Mustang 251 Running

12 11 9 Stan Starr, Jr. 68 Camaro 249 Running

13 17 17 Ernie Shaw 68 Mustang 247 Running

14 13 21 Frank Sessoms 68 Camaro 240 Running

15 19 48 Tiny Lund 68 Camaro 216 Running

16 21 7 Jimmy Vaughn 68 Camaro 189 Running

17 20 31 Earl Canavan 68 Javelin 124 Wrecked

18 15 54 Bobby Fleming 68 Camaro 47 Head Gasket

19 10 0 Martin Sharpe 68 Camaro 45 Bln. Eng.

20 22 71 Amos Johnson 68 Camaro 37 Bln. Eng.

21 18 41 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 29 Bln. Eng.

22 14 72 Lennie Pond 68 Camaro 7 Clutch

Great post Dennis. Thanks for allowing me to catch up with this series!

I had the good fortune to attend this race with my buddy, Frank Buhrman. I'd be very interested to know who owned the car Ray Hendrick drove to 2nd place. Frank had bad luck driving us from Richmond to South Boston in his '65 Chevy. It had failed a state inspection that afternoon for bad brakes, but Frank drove us with a rejection sticker on the windshield. That didn't play too good with the Virginia State Trooper who stopped Frank for speeding near Charlotte Court House, Virginia. He paid a hefty fine some months later when he appeared in court.

Here's a race preview from the South Boston Gazette-Virginian , the same source as the event coverage clip above in original post. Wonder what happened to DW?

Don't have a clue what happened to DW but here's a picture of Al Straub's Mustangs. Al drove the '69 model in this race so DW must have been scheduled to drive the '68 model.

Here's an ad for the June 21, 1969 South Boston GT 100 for the NASCAR Grand American Series from the South Boston Gazette-Virginian:

I finally solved the mystery of whose car Richmond's Ray Hendrick drove in this event. It was the #67 that had previously been driven by Joie Chitwood, Jr. I'm sure South Boston promoters Dave Blount & Buck Wilkins leveraged a deal with the Chitwoods for the speedway's winningest and most popular driver to take over the ride just as Richmond promoter, Paul Sawyer did with the Chitwoods for his June 1, 1969 GT 300 at the Richmond Fairgrounds. Hendrick literally stole the show in that race, moving from 19th to 1st place, before wrecks and engine problems in the event claimed by Frank Sessoms.

The South Boston paper speculated Hendrick would be a factor in the SoBo Grand American event. They were right. After passing Pete Hamilton, "Mr. Modified" led 111 consecutive laps. It was his second ever Grand American start and he led both races - proving David Pearson correct once again. After watching Hendrick win both halves of a Martinsville Modified / Late Model Sportsman doubleheader, Pearson remarked on the MRN Radio broadcast to Barney Hall, "Ray Hendrick can drive anything, anytime, anywhere and win."

And the winner gets the kisses!

Great find Dave.

ENJOYING ALL OF THESE OLD RACING PHOTOS AND RACING HISTORY.
DOES ANYONE HAS THE HARD COVER BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY?
JUST WONDERING, IF IT IS ANY GOOD?
=======================================================================

IN THE 1970 NASCAR MAGAZINE AND AUTO RACE PROGRAM.

THERE IS TWO 6-21-69 RACE DATES AND RACE RESULTS OF THE 1969 NASCAR GRAND TOURING CIRCUIT RACES.

6-21-69 SOUTH BOSTON, VA. 3/8 PAVED TRACK, WINNER: PETE HAMILTON

6-21-69 MILTON, VT. 1/3 MILE PAVED TRACK WINNER: TINY LUND

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAINED THIS?

Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va.USA

Dennis, The race in Milton Vermont was actually held on Aug. 21, 1969. Part of the 1969 Northern Tour.

Bump