The 1969 Volunteer 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 (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on July 20, 1969 at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol

Bristol, Tennessee

Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundaries of both cities run parallel to each other along State...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Summary

It took three hours, eight minutes, and seven seconds for the event to reach its conclusion. David Pearson defeated Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...

 by more than three laps in front of a live audience of thirty-two thousand people. However, Pearson used the help of rival and fellow Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 driver Richard Petty. Notable speeds were: 79.737 mi/h as the average speed and 103.424 mi/h as the pole position speed. Eight cautions were waved for 56 laps in this race that spanned a grand total of 266.5 miles (428.9 km). This race would bring Cecil Gordon

Cecil Gordon

Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....

's first finish in the top five. Total winnings for this race were $27,685 ($ in today's money).

This race's importance in the history book would be that the famous Apollo 11 moon landing

Apollo 11

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

 would take place on the same day as this race. According to urban legend, Henley Gray deliberately quit the race so he could get home in time to watch the moon landing on television. As a result, he only won $550 ($ in today's money) in prize money and finished only 206 out of the 500 laps of the race.

Finishing order

1. David Pearson
2. Bobby Isaac
3. Donnie Allison
   Donnie Allison
   Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
   
   
4. James Hylton
   James Hylton
   James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
   
   
5. Cecil Gordon
6. Ben Arnold
7. Bill Seifert
   Bill Seifert
   Bill Seifert is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.-Summary:Seifert raced 41,875 laps for . His grand total for race winnings is $147,831 USD . Seifert's average career start is 21st and his average career finish is 19th...
   
   
8. Bill Champion
   Bill Champion
   Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...
   
   
9. J.D. McDuffie
   J.D. McDuffie
   John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...
   
   
10. Roy Tyner
    Roy Tyner
    William Leroy "Roy" Tyner was a retired Native American NASCAR Grand National driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, USA.-Driver:...
    
    
11. 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...
    
    *
12. Walson Gardener
    Walson Gardener
    Walson Gardener is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver and a competitor at the 1968 Fireball 300. Gardener has had two finishes in the top-ten, 4953 laps of racing experience - the equivalent of , a total career earnings of $6740, an average start of 25th, an average finish of 20th, and four...
    
    *
13. Ed Hessert*
14. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    *
15. Henley Gray
    Henley Gray
    Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...
    
    *
16. John Sears*
17. 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:...
    
    *
18. G.C. Spencer
    G.C. Spencer
    G. C. Spencer July 9, 1925 in Owensboro, Kentucky – September 20, 2007 in Johnson City, Tennessee was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1977...
    
    *
19. 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...
    
    *
20. 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...
    
    *
21. E.J. Trivette
    E.J. Trivette
    E.J. Trivette is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver.-Career summary:...
    
    *
22. Buddy Young
    Buddy Young
    Claude "Buddy" Young was an American football player. A native of Chicago, the 5'4" Claude "Buddy" Young, also known as the "Bronze Bullet," had exceptional quickness and acceleration. He is one of the shortest men ever to play NFL football...
    
    *
23. Richard Petty
    Richard Petty
    Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
    
    *
24. Cale Yarborough
    Cale Yarborough
    William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
    
    *
25. 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...
    
    *
26. Bobby Allison
    Bobby Allison
    Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
    
    *
27. Buddy Baker
    Buddy Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
    
    *
28. Jabe Thomas
    Jabe Thomas
    Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid 1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989.-Career:Thomas drove 75243 laps of racing and earned $295,497 in total...
    
    *
29. Wayne Gillette*
30. Coo Coo Marlin
    Coo Coo Marlin
    Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...
    
    *
31. Earl Brooks*
32. Bobby Mausgrover*

* Driver failed to finish race