1970 National 500
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 44 of 48 in the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | October 11, 1970 | ||
| Official name | National 500 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 123.246 miles per hour (198.345 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 50,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nichels Engineering | ||
| Time | 34.335 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 112 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 12 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers |
Jim McKay Chris Economaki | ||
The 1970 National 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series stock car race that was held on October 11, 1970, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
Summary
Out of the 44 drivers attempting to qualify for this race, only 40 of them qualified for the starting grid.[2] Drivers that did not qualify were Buck Baker, George Eaton, Raymond Williams and Dick Polling.[2] Cale Yarborough was credited with the last-place finish on lap 10 due to a crash with the wall.[2] Fifty thousand racing fans would see 23 different lead changes and eight cautions for a period of 63 laps.[2] An unusually lengthy race for the early 1970s, the 1970 National 500 lasted a grueling four hours and three minutes.[2]
LeeRoy Yarbrough would defeat Bobby Allison under the yellow flag.[2] This would become Yarbrough's final win in the NASCAR Cup Series.[3] Charlie Glotzbach would qualify for the pole position in this race by driving speeds up to 157.273 miles per hour (253.106 km/h) during the solo sessions.[2] Other notable drivers at this race were David Pearson, Coo Coo Marlin, Frank Warren, Richard Petty and J.D. McDuffie.[2]
A lot of the drivers did not finish the race because of crashes on the track.[2] Eleven notable crew chiefs participated in the race; including Herb Nab, Junie Donlavey, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver and Banjo Matthews.[4]
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
From 1949 to 1972, Richard and Lee Petty were the most dominant drivers on any circuit in NASCAR. David Pearson was easily the third most dominant NASCAR driver. Buck Baker and Rex White were considered to be the middle-of-the road competitors in NASCAR from 1949 to 1972. Fonty and Tim Flock along with Herb Thomas, Joe Weatherly, Ned Jarrett and Bobby Isaac were considered to be below-average performers during the early years of NASCAR.
Qualifying
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Speed[5] | Qualifying time[5] | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99 | Charlie Glotzbach | '69 Dodge | 157.273 | 34.335 | Ray Nichels |
| 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | '70 Plymouth | 156.521 | 34.500 | Petty Enterprises |
| 3 | 6 | Buddy Baker | '69 Dodge | 156.499 | 34.505 | Cotton Owens |
| 4 | 3 | Fred Lorenzen | '69 Dodge | 154.883 | 34.865 | Ray Fox |
| 5 | 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | '69 Mercury | 154.789 | 34.886 | Junior Johnson |
| 6 | 40 | Pete Hamilton | '70 Plymouth | 154.714 | 34.903 | Petty Enterprises |
| 7 | 17 | David Pearson | '69 Ford | 154.523 | 34.944 | Holman-Moody |
| 8 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | '69 Mercury | 153.876 | 35.093 | Wood Brothers |
| 9 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '69 Dodge | 152.797 | 35.341 | Nord Krauskopf |
| 10 | 22 | Bobby Allison | '69 Dodge | 152.771 | 35.347 | Mario Rossi |
Top ten finishers
| Pos[2] | Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Winnings | Laps led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Mercury | 334 | $23,700 | 112 |
| 2 | 10 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Dodge | 334 | $10,950 | 22 |
| 3 | 4 | 3 | Fred Lorenzen | Dodge | 333 | $6,400 | 3 |
| 4 | 15 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Ford | 329 | $3,955 | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | Dodge | 323 | $3,330 | 2 |
| 6 | 18 | 64 | Elmo Langley | Mercury | 321 | $2,265 | 0 |
| 7 | 19 | 10 | Bill Champion | Ford | 320 | $2,065 | 0 |
| 8 | 20 | 5 | Buddy Arrington | Dodge | 319 | $1,965 | 0 |
| 9 | 36 | 46 | Roy Mayne | Chevrolet | 317 | $1,955 | 0 |
| 10 | 22 | 39 | Friday Hassler | Chevrolet | 315 | $1,765 | 0 |
References
- ^ Weather information for the 1970 National 500 at The Old Farmer's Almanac
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 1970 National 500 racing information at Racing-Reference
- ^ 1970 National 500 racing information at Race-Database
- ^ Crew chief information for the 1970 National 500 at Racing Reference
- ^ a b Qualifying information for the 1970 National 500 at Racing Reference