The 1969 Motor Trend 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on February 1, 1969, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.
The Permatex 200 for sportsman cars was run as a companion event. The winner after a 10 year break from motorsports was Hershel McGriff, 2nd was Ron Grable, followed by Clem Proctor, J.R. Skinner and Vic Irvan, Ron Hornaday Sr. was 6th.
One hundred and eighty-six laps were done on a paved road course spanning 2.7miles. Although A. J. Foyt won the pole position with a qualifying speed of 110.323mi/h, Richard Petty would win the race, beating Foyt by 25 seconds driving a 1969 Ford Torino. This was the first time Petty won a race in any car other than a Plymouth and the first time he ran a Cup race in any car but a Plymouth since he switched to the Mopar brand from Oldsmobile near the end of 1959.
More than forty-six thousand fans would watch 44 vehicles start and only 13 finish the race. Most of the DNFs were caused by engine issues. Ford vehicles and Chevrolet vehicles made up most of the starting grid. Other notable drivers included: LeeRoy Yarbrough, Ray Elder, Neil Castles, Mario Andretti (his final start), and Elmo Langley. Al Unser would get his last top-five finish at this event, he wouldn't make another NASCAR Grand National Series start until 1986. Engine reliability was awful during this race, approximately 25% of the racing grid was afflicted with engine failures and mechanical issues.
Notable crew chiefs at the race were Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Glen Wood, and Jake Elder.[1]
West Coast racer Marty Kinerk made his top NASCAR Series debut at this event.
The entire race was completed under the green flag without any laps being taken for either yellow or red flags; with the final race to go the entire distance without a caution was the 2002 EA Sports 500.[2] Average speeds for the entire race approached 105.498mi/h and the duration of the race was four hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty-seven seconds. The race's top prize would be $19,650 in American dollars ($ when adjusted for inflation). The overall winnings of this race would be $79,660 in American dollars ($ when adjusted for inflation).
While individual owners would make up the majority of the NASCAR teams during this era, multi-car teams like Holman Moody, Wood Brothers Racing, and K&K Insurance Racing began to emerge during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[3]
| Grid | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | '69 Ford | Jack Bowsher | ||
| 2 | 98 | '69 Mercury | Junior Johnson | ||
| 3 | 121 | '69 Mercury | Wood Brothers | ||
| 4 | 43 | '69 Ford | Petty Enterprises | ||
| 5 | 17 | '69 Ford | Holman-Moody | ||
| 6 | 41 | '69 Dodge | Rudy Hoerr | ||
| 7 | 97 | '69 Ford | Holman-Moody | ||
| 8 | 71 | '69 Dodge | Nord Krauskopf | ||
| 9 | 12 | '69 Plymouth | Norm Nelson | ||
| 10 | 11 | '69 Ford | Holman-Moody |
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