The 1970 American 500 was a 500-mile 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 November 15, 1970 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway in 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...

, USA

United States

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

.

Summary

Twenty thousand people attended the race which lasted for 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 24 seconds. The average speed was 117.811 mi/h while the pole speed was 136.496 mi/h. There were seven cautions that lasted for forty-six laps and the margin of victory was four seconds. The top ten finishers of the race were 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...

 (winner), David Pearson, 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....

, 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...

, Buddy Baker

Buddy Baker

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

, 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...

 (racing for Petty Enterprises

Petty Enterprises

Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from...

), 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...

, 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...

, Friday Hassler

Friday Hassler

Raymond "Friday" Hassler was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver.-Summary:He made his debut in 1960 but only drove a handful of races per year until 1967 when he drove 21 of the 49 races for Red Sharp and finished 32nd in points. He improved to 27th for Sharp the next year and...

, and 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...

. As the second to final race in NASCAR's Grand National era, this race was crucial for people wanting to win the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Championship

1970 in NASCAR

The 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season began on Sunday January 18 and ended on Sunday November 22. Bobby Isaac was the champions of the series as NASCAR transitioned itself from the Grand National era to the Winston Cup era...

. Major sponsors for the drivers included 7-Up, Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

, and 60 Minute Cleaners.

492 laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.017 miles (1.6 km). The winner's purse was considered to be $20,445 ($ in today's money) while last place (40th) paid $540 ($ in today's money). Drivers who were eliminated from the race had to deal with engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

 problems in addition to crashes, transmission

Transmission (mechanics)

A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...

 problems, and problems with their fan pulley (in addition to their rear end). Pete Hamilton would do his final race for Petty Enterprises

Petty Enterprises

Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from...

 here while Cale Yarborough would do his final race for the Wood Brothers at the same location. Coincidentally, Hoss Ellington would retire from NASCAR after this race.

Finishing order

1. Cale Yarborough (would eventually transfer himself to the USAC Indy Car
   American Championship Car Racing
   Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis...
   
    Series in 1971)
2. David Pearson
3. Bobby Allison
4. Donnie Allison
5. Buddy Baker
6. Richard Petty
7. Bobby Isaac
8. James Hylton
9. Friday Hassler
10. Buddy Young
11. Joe Frasson
    Joe Frasson
    Joseph "Joe" Frasson is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver with four finishes in the top five and nineteen finishes in the top ten under his belt. He has experienced 20284 laps of racing and an overall career windfall of $148,930...
    
    
12. 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:...
    
    
13. 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:...
    
    
14. 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...
    
    
15. Pete Hamilton
    Pete Hamilton
    Pete Hamilton is a retired American NASCAR racer. He won four times in his career , three times driving for Petty Enterprises. His father was a Ph.D. from Harvard University....
    
    *
16. Jim Vandiver
    Jim Vandiver
    Jim Vandiver is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup driver that raced from 1968 to 1983.-Summary:...
    
    
17. Ben Arnold
18. 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...
    
    
19. Raymond Williams
20. 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...
    
    *
21. 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....
    
    
22. Johnny Halford
    Johnny Halford
    Johnny Halford is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1969 to 1978.-Summary:He would earn one top ten finish in the 1972 Firecracker 400 while leading 16 laps out of 6924 - the equivalent of . Halford's average starting position would be 24th while he would finish 21st on...
    
    
23. Roy Mayne
24. Larry Baumel
    Larry Baumel
    Larry Baumel is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1969 to 1971.-Summary:...
    
    
25. 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:...
    
    *
26. Frank Warren
    Frank Warren (NASCAR driver)
    Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...
    
    
27. 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...
    
    *
28. Henley Gray
    Henley Gray
    Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...
    
    
29. 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...
    
    *
30. John Sears*
31. 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"....
    
    *
32. 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...
    
    *
33. Benny Parsons
    Benny Parsons
    Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...
    
    *
34. 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...
    
    *
35. Tiny Lund
    Tiny Lund
    DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...
    
    *
36. Bill Shirey
    Bill Shirey
    Bill Shirey is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who accomplished three finishes in the "top ten" and has driven for 9588 laps - the equivalent of . He started 24th on average and also finished an average of 24th place...
    
    *
37. Bill Dennis
    Bill Dennis
    Bill Dennis is a former NASCAR driver and rookie of the year in the Grand National Series .-Racing career:...
    
    *
38. Roy Tyner
    Roy Tyner
    William Leroy "Roy" Tyner was a retired Native American NASCAR Grand National driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, USA.-Driver:...
    
    *
39. 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...
    
    *
40. Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race