The 1969 American 500 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Grand National Series race that took place on October 26, 1969 at Rockingham

Rockingham, North Carolina

Rockingham is a city in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States named after the Marquis of Rockingham. The population was 9,672 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Richmond County...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

's North Carolina Motor Speedway.

Summary

Temperatures for this race would reach a high of 73.4 °F (23 °C) while winds would reach the maximum speed of 1.9 miles per hour (3.1 km/h). It took four hours and twenty-eight minutes to resolve 492 laps with LeeRoy Yarbrough

LeeRoy Yarbrough

Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...

 emerging over David Pearson by 1½ laps. The other drivers in the top ten were: Buddy Baker

Buddy Baker

Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...

, Dave Marcis

Dave Marcis

Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...

, John Sears

John Sears (NASCAR)

John Sears was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver from Ellerbe, North Carolina, USA. He was nicknamed Big....

, Dick Brooks

Dick Brooks

Richard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500...

, Hoss Ellington

Hoss Ellington

Hoss Ellington is a retired NASCAR driver and team owner. He made 31 starts as a driver between 1968 and 1970 in the Grand National ., finishing in the top 10 four times, all in 1969. He later became a successful team owner, with five wins, four of them by Donnie Allison and the other one by David...

, Ed Negre

Ed Negre

Ed Negre is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979....

, Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott

Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...

, and Neil Castles

Neil Castles

Neil "Soapy" Castles is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver that participate from 1957 to 1976.-History:...

. Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 66 laps. More than 33,000 people would attend this live racing event. Charlie Glotzbach

Charlie Glotzbach

Charles "Charlie: Glotzbach is a former ARCA and was a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Charlie holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He was also known as "The Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie"....

 would qualify for the pole position

Pole position

The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...

 with a speed of 136.972 miles per hour (220.4 km/h) while the average race speed was 111.938 miles per hour (180.1 km/h).

John Kennedy would receive the last-place finish due to a one-car crash on lap 17. This would be the 51st race out of the 54 officially sanctioned race in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series in addition to being the first race done with the present-day configuration for North Carolina Motor Speedway. Lennie Pond

Lennie Pond

Lennie Pond is a former NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier....

would make his NASCAR debut here.