Several post race interviews (many from NASCAR and Goodyear folks) blame it on set up and air pressure. As for the malfunctioning lights, who knows. Just another thing to throw in the mix. Good race overall but I really hated seeing those Toy-yokers getting a win. Ah, but that is just me apparently.
One of the first statements catching my attention for today's History Minute was the fact that the Bristol International Speedway had a seat capacity of only 28,000 people in 1969. Compared to today's capacity, that is incredulous, but in 1969 all 28,000 seats were occupied as the "Southeastern 500" was contested.
Bobby Isaac qualified the K&K Insurance Dodge on the pole with a speed of 88.669 mph. David Pearson, in a Holman-Moody Ford would start second, Cale Yarborough in the Wood Brothers Mercury third, Bobby Allison in Mario Rossi's Dodge fourth and Buddy Baker in the Ray Fox Dodge fifth.
The green flag waved and Bobby Isaac rocketed away from the field to lead the first 142 laps before yielding to Bobby Allison on a pit stop. Allison led until lap 148 when he hit the pits for service. David Pearson took over at that time but on lap 173 the red Dodge of Isaac went by Pearson in a blur and started moving away. Isaac made a scheduled pit stop of lap 272 and Pearson got another lap out front before Isaac was back to the point but for only one lap. David slipped by and had the Ford out front until lap 421 of the 500 scheduled distance.
It was Isaac again on lap 422 and was pulling away, obviously headed for Victory Lane when, on lap 448, the radiator hose came off causing the engine to blow. As the number 71 was pushed to the garage, the dejected Isaac jumped the guard rail and was last seen heading into the parking lot outside the track.
With Isaac's departure, the door was opened for Pearson to win as he had the second most stout car in the field as he was leading second place Bobby Allison by two laps with 52 laps to run. With 15 laps remaining, smoke began to trail the Ford of Pearson and he headed to the pits. Dick Hutcherson, crew chief for Pearson, raised the hood and immediately closed it and motioned David back onto the track. Although significantly slower, Pearson was able to hold the lead as Allison was hustling the Mario Rossi Dodge around Bristol in a valiant attempt to catch him. Allison caught Pearson and passed him for the lead with 7 laps to go. With 5 to go, the Holman-Moody Ford simply quit. It was over for Pearson.
Bobby Allison averaged 81.455 mph with the win, although slowed by caution for 32 laps as the yellow waved 4 times. It was Allison's second win in the 9 races in the 1969 season and it was the first win from car owner, Mario Rossi, in the Grand National series.
In a post race interview, Allison said, referencing the troubles of Isaac and Pearson, "it happens all the time. I figure I've lost more than I've won this way".
Finishing order:
1. Bobby Allison, Mario Rossi Dodge, $5,025.00
2. LeeRoy Yarborough, Junior Johnson Ford, $3,000.00 (4 laps down)
3. David Pearson, Holman-Moody Ford, $2,400.00 (5 laps down behind the wall)
4. Cale Yarborough, Wood Brothers Mercury, $1.,275.00 (6 laps down)
5. Donnie Allison, Banjo Matthews Ford, $800.00 (9 laps down)
6. Dave Marcis
7. Richard Petty
8. Elmo Langley
9. Friday Hassler
10. Neil Castles
11.Bobby Johns
12.Jabe Thomas
13. James Hylton
14. Bobby Isaac
15. E. J. Trivette
16. Henley Gray
17. Wendell Scott
18. Dick Johnson
19.Charlie Glotzbach
20.Bill Champion
21. Earl Brooks
22. Bill Seifert
23. John Sears
24. Frank Warren
25. Cecil Gordon
26. Buddy Arrington
27. Wayne Smith
28. G. C. Spencer
29.Buddy Baker
30.J. D. McDuffie
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
It was an extraordinary race for sure. One of the most competitive I've seen in a long time. Wonder what the Cup cars will do today?
Oh, and I hear that after the Victory Lane ceremonies were over, Pemberton gave Larson a bucket, a mop and some Spic and Span and told him to clean those tire marks off the checkered pattern of Victory Lane.
That is an additional bonus feature for us. Thanks, Dave.
I will ask Jeff NOT to go through Fort Mill. Thanks for the heads up.
Dave, that is an interesting bit of information by source did not disclose. Thanks for adding that excitement to the post.
Over the past year, as we have done these History Minutes, other than the month of September devoted to Darlington and the month of February devoted to Daytona, I don't think we've done two Minutes at the same track back-to-back. However, today, we are returning to the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia, where, in yesterday's Minute, we covered a three way fight for the win. What attracted me to return to Lakewood today is the winner of the race.
On February 22, 1959, Johnny Beauchamp and Lee Petty were involved in a photo finish to conclude the first Daytona 500. There was a race in Hillsboro, NC on March 1st and another in Concord, NC on March 8th, neither of which included Beauchamp in the field. Beauchamp did, however, enter the Lakewood event with advance publicity hyping the fact that he and Lee Petty would once again do battle on the track and the inference by the press was that there was a feud between the two because of Daytona and that "anything could happen". A crowd of 15,000 showed up to see how intense the feud would get.
Buck Baker would win the pole at a speed of 77.888 mph on the one mile dirt track. Buck was driving his own Chevrolet. Johnny Beauchamp qualified second in the Roy Burdick T-Bird. Jack Smith qualified the Bud Moore Chevrolet third, and Fireball Roberts in the Jim Stephens Chevrolet was fourth. Fifth place starter was Bob Welborn in his own Chevrolet. Lee Petty would start 7th in a 1957 Oldsmobile so with 21 cars on the track, fans were anticipating Petty catching Beauchamp early getting the fight underway.
The green flag dropped and Beauchamp immediately stormed into the lead he would hold, and lengthen throughout the race. No one could run with Beauchamp on this day. The race was his from the beginning as he led every lap and would finish more than a lap ahead of second place. His nemesis, Lee Petty, broke an axle on lap 39 and was out of the race to the disappointment of not only Lee but also many of the fans in attendance. This win was the third consecutive win for the T-Bird.
Finishing order:
1. Johnny Beauchamp, Roy Burdick T-Bird, $800.00
2.Buck Baker, Baker Chevrolet, $525.00 (1 lap down)
3. Tiger Tom Pistone, Rupert Safety Belt T-Bird, $350.00 (3 laps down)
4. Speedy Thompson, Steve Pierce Chevrolet, $250.00 (4 laps down)
5. Joe Eubanks, Don Every Ford, $225.00 (5 laps down)
6. Shorty Rollins
7. Billy Carden
8. Fireball Roberts
9. Tiny Lund
10. Bob Welborn
11.Jim McQuirk
12. Sam Massey
13. Roscoe Thompson
14. Cotton Owens
15. J. C. Hendrix
16. Charles Barron
17. Lee Petty
18. Johnny Allen
19. Pete Kelly
20. Charlie Griffin
21.Jack Smith
Average Speed for the race was 75.172 mph.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
David, that is a wonderful addition to this post! Thank you for taking time to add your comment.
Lakewood Speedway. Ever heard of it? It was a one mile dirt track that is a huge part of Georgia Racing History. On this date 60 years ago, the track lived up to its billing as a super competitive track as three cars completed a 100 mile race virtually "under a blanket" as they say. A crowd of 20,000 were on their feet cheering their favorite on but when the flag fell there was a stunned silence as most had no idea which of the three crossed the line first. To further complicate the matter, NASCAR was handing out penalty after penalty to the top finishers.
The only qualifying information available in my source (Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing") is the pole winner who was Herb Thomas in the FABULOUS Hudson Hornet. Herb qualified at a speed of 75.514 mph.
As for racing action during the event, we do know that Richard Garlington flipped the Oldsmobile he was driving four times and left the track in an ambulance heading to Crawford-Long Hospital unconscious. We also know that Stan Kross and Bill Harrison were involved in a horrendous crash half way through the race, but both were unhurt.
On the last lap, it was a three way battle between Herb Thomas in a Hudson, Buck Baker in an Oldsmobile and Dick Rathmann in another Hudson. As the three raced under the flag in a cloud of dust, it appeared Thomas had the win by less than a hood length over Baker, with Rathmann literally inches behind Baker. Great and exciting finish to a 100 mile race, right? Not so fast.
Enter NASCAR official Johnny Bruner. Johnny determined that Thomas had NOT fallen in at the rear of the pack after a yellow flag pit stop. Thus Thomas was penalized a lap and that gave the win to Buck Baker. But hold on!!! We're not done yet. A couple hours after the first ruling, it was determined that Buck had also failed to fall in at the end of the pack after a caution flag pit stop. Both drivers were "docked" a lap. This should give the win to Rathmann, right? Wrong again! Bruner ruled that Rathmann had gotten refueled with his car partially on the track during a caution and therefore he, too, was penalized a lap. Gober Sosebee, who initially had finished fourth, was now in the winning position. But wait!!! The screaming and hollering, ranting and raving was ferocious and it was surely leading to a brawl the likes of which Atlanta hadn't seen since General Sherman marched his way through there on the way to a beach vacation in Savannah.
Over in a secluded corner of the track, NASCAR officials came together for a discussion, one not recorded by a secretary's notes. The official version is that "the only decision reasonable men could make would be to cancel all penalities". That is what they did so the finish went back to the way the cars actually came under the flag.
Lee Petty came into this race leading the points but his sixth place finish behind second place Buck Baker, put Baker out front by 7 points.
Finishing order:
1. Herb Thomas, FABULOUS Hudson Hornet, $1,000.00
2. Buck Baker, Griffin Motors Oldsmobile, $650.00 (less than a hoodlengthback)
3. Dick Rathmann, Pure Hudson, $450.00 (less than half a car length back)
4. Gober Sosebee, Cherokee Garage Oldsmobile, $350.00 (1 lap down)
5. Fonty Flock, Hudson Hornet, $300.00 (1 lap down)
6. Lee Petty
7. Curtis Turner
8. Joe Eubanks
9. C. H. Dingler
10. Bill Blair
11. Jimmie Lewallen
12. Laird Bruner
13.Ralph Liguori
14. Jerry Wimbish
15. Floyd Curtis
16.Jim Clarke
17. Dave Terrell
18.Don Oldenburg
19. Jim Paschal
20. Otis Martin
21. Bill Irvin
22. Fireball Roberts
23. Joe H. Martin
24. Jack Smith
25. Al Keller
26. Stan Cross
27. Bill Harrelson
28. Harold Nash
29. Eddie Skinner
30. Elton Hildreth
31. Bob Flock
32. Ted Rambo
33. Emory Lewis
34. Dick Garlington
Average speed for the race was 60.494 mph
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
Those are some great memories. I'm sure I've stopped at the one in Charlotte many years ago. Time was that if a place had anything that associated it with racing, I was stopping in. Nice memories of a bygone era.
