MODEL CITY 500 1969

The Grand Touring Racing History Minute is being posted today as I will not be able to do it on Sunday which is the anniversary date.

MODEL CITY 500

Kingsport, Tn. April 13, 1969

The 3 ^rd  Grand Touring race of 1969 was held at Kingsport Speedway and was a grueling 500 laps on the 4 tenths mile paved oval. Tiny Lund started on the pole and led the first 84 laps. Charlie Blanton then took over the lead thru lap 126. T.C. Hunt led laps 127 thru 135 then Blanton went back out front thru lap 202. On lap 175 Hunt became sick and pitted to hand the car over to crew member Russell Nelson. By lap 203 Nelson had taken the lead and held it thru lap 253. Blanton was back in the lead on lap 254 and stayed up front to lap 347. Nelson recaptured the lead on lap 348 and held it the rest of the way to give Hunt his first series victory. The first three races of 1969 had three different winners. There were 12 cautions for 73 laps and only nine cars were running at the finish.

Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out

1 7 88 T.C. Hunt 68 Camaro 500 Running

2 5 08 Billy Yuma68 Camaro 491 Running

3 1 16 Tiny Lund68 Cougar 486 Running

4 17 0 Martin Sharpe 68 Camaro 484 Running

5 11 36 Bill Hemby 68 Camaro 465 Running

6 10 21 Frank Sessoms 68 Camaro 455 Running

7 18 97 Mike Adams 67 Mustang 437 Running

8 24 41 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 429 Wrecked

9 20 44 Ken Rush 68 Camaro 397 Bln Eng

10 23 54 Bobby Flemming 68 Camaro 393 Running

11 2 10 Charlie Blanton 68 Camaro 384 Wrecked

12 15 87 Buck Baker 68 Camaro 383 Running

13 13 9 Stan Starr, Jr. 68 Camaro 381 Rear End

14 21 3 Jim Vandiver 68 Camaro 347 Rear End

15 3 22 Larry Wallace 68 Camaro 337 Wrecked

16 14 74 Al Straub 69 Mustang 272 Bln Eng

17 26 4 Joe Childress 68 Camaro 250 Oil Press

18 12 25 Pete Hamilton 68 Camaro 234 Steering

19 16 01 Tommy Andrews 68 Mustang 219 Wrecked

20 22 2 Randy Hutchison 68 Camaro 192 Steering

21 19 17 Ernie Shaw 68 Mustang 163 Brakes

22 6 27 Jim Paschal 69 Javelin 95 Oil Press

23 9 04 C. B. Gwyn 68 Cougar 82 Wrecked

24 8 94 Bud Moore 69 Javelin 49 Wrecked

25 8 19 Al Lemmons 67 Chevy II 47 Handling

26 4 67 Joie Chitwood, Jr. 68 Camaro 46 Wrecked

T.C. Hunt in his #88 Camaro earlier in '69 on the grid at Daytona

From  Kingsport Post

Race preview from Kingsport Post

Thanks Chase, I'm thankful that you and Dave Fulton are helping record the history of this series. Keep up the good work.

Several stories I've seen show Russell Nelson finishing 2nd to Jim Paschal later in 1969 at Oxford Plains, Maine.

Russell Nelson in 1973 at Georgia's Dixie Speedway - Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame

Yes Dave, That was the Northern Tour that comes later in the year. He drove a different car in those races. Thanks for the input.

Man, that '40' font looks familiar...

And a related question...why are there so few Barracudas in these races? The Dodge Dart had a strong presence in the 1966 and 1967 Trans-Am races but I can understand why they wouldn't fit in here. But I expected Chrysler to have some presence in the series. No Firebirds either. I thought Buck Baker drove one. It's easy to see why Chevy didn't need to be in Grand National when there were so many Camaros.

I also notice that you refer to this as Grand Touring. I thought it was Grand American

Andy,

As we go thru the '68 season we may see a Barracuda driven by a Racers Reunion member but you are right, very few were run in GT. The series was named Grand Touring in '68 and '69. It was changed to Grand American for the '70 season and remained that until the end in '72.

Bump