HAMPTON GT 250

Hampton, Va. Nov. 15, 1969

The 34th Grand Touring race of 1969 was held at Langley Field Speedway and was 250 laps on the 4 tenths mile paved oval. Randy Hutchison came back to his home track, qualified on the pole, and led the first 6 laps before Pete Hamilton took over and led thru lap 120. Hutchinson went back out front and led thru lap 202 when Hamilton went out front and stayed there the rest of the way to record his 11^th win of the season. There were 5 cautions for 37 laps. Frank Sessoms needed a good run to stay in the points battle and finishedfifthbut Ken Rush came in 7^th and virtually assured himself the points title.

The date may be in error as I have one document that gives the date as the 15^th which was on a Saturday and one that gives the date as the 16^th.

Great report as always Dennis. Thanks for keeping this series alive for us.

#90 Al Grinnan 68 Camaro
started 12th
finish 12th
laps run 213 Running

WAS THIS AN JUNIE DONLAVEY #90 68 CHEVY CAMARO?

ANYBODY GOT PHOTO OF THIS #90 68 CHEVY CAMARO?

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

Dennis, I don't know for sure but I think the car Al Grinnan (thanks for the spelling correction, NASCAR Newsletter had it wrong) was driving that day was a Stan Starr Sr. car that was normally #9.

Greatful for the GT and GN east reports , thanks I really enjoy them . Do you know who owned the 147 that Stick Elliot was driving ?

No Johnny I don't now who owned the #147 Stick Elliot drove in this race. I wondered if it might have been a Toy Bolton car but that is only speculation on my part.

Maybe so , Toy had some cars that Stick and Lefty Bolton drove with # 47 . I use to go to his shop often but never saw a picture of a 147

From 2000 Daily Press article

http://articles.dailypress.com/2000-10-15/sports/0010150042_1_camaros-100-mile-race-race-at-daytona-beach

Grand Touring Event In 1969 Featured Upset

October 15, 2000 By AL PEARCE Daily Press

HAMPTON NASCAR's "sporty car'' Grand Touring series was two years old when it made the first of its two appearances at what was then known as Langley Field Speedway, The date was Sunday afternoon, Nov. 16, 1969.

The new division was founded in 1968 to appeal to younger fans, primarily those in the market for their first new car. Someone at NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., noticed that millions of smaller and more nimble "pony cars'' were showing up in showrooms and driveways and school campuses.

In the series' 1968 debut, the most popular cars were Cougars, Camaros and Mustangs, with an occasional Javelin, Porsche and Dart showing well. Tiny Lund won the 1968 championship ahead of Buck Baker, Jack Ryan, Jim Vandiver and Roy Tyner.

Newport News native Randy Hutchison (Warwick High School, Class of '66) drove a family-owned 1968 Camaro in seven of that season's 19 races. His highlight was finishing fourth behind Donnie Allison, Vandiver and Al Straub in the dirt at Richmond's old Fairgrounds Raceway.

In 1969, Langley promoter Henry Klich brought the series in for a late-season race. By then, Hutchison and crew chief Hank Richardson were rising stars. They had finished fifth in the July night road race at Daytona Beach, third at South Boston in August, had won the August race at Holland, N.Y., and run fifth later that month at Stafford, Conn.

Langley was the 34th stop on the 35-race schedule, and Ken Rush and Frank Sessoms were in a pitched battle for the championship. Pete Hamilton stole their thunder by winning 400-lap, 100-mile race (one of 12 that year) over Hutchison, T.C. Hunt, rookie Wayne Andrews and Sessoms.

Speaking of stealing...

To this day, Hutchison thinks he won the race. "We qualified on the pole (17.98 seconds, 80.088 mph) and led the most laps,'' he said. "But the scorers got messed up during pit stops and gave it to Pete. It took 'em forever to review the scorecards, but I still don't think they got it right.''

Contact Al Pearce at 247-4641 or by e-mail at apearce@dailypress.com if you have a special Langley memory or story for this weekly 50th anniversary series.