|| *Comments on the 1969 Richmond 500:* View the most recent comment <#5> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Cam posted: 11.15.2009 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race for Worth Mcmillion 2. RaceFanX posted: 11.03.2010 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pete Hazelwood's only top-10 in Cup racing 3. A posted: 09.23.2019 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) One of the three best finishes for Bill Seifert 4. RaceFanX posted: 08.27.2020 - 9:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #17 David Pearson- East Tenn. Motor Co. / Torino Cobra #43 Richard Petty- East Tennessee Ford 5. RaceFanX posted: 08.27.2020 - 10:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The big news coming into this one was Richmond's spring race being doubled in length from a 250-lap race to a 500-lap one. The longer race however saw the same result as the year before with defending champion David Pearson again conquering all, the polesitting Silver Fox leading the entire second half of the race en route to winning by a full lap over his traditional rival, and temporary Ford compatriot, Richard Petty. It must have been a nice reversal for Pearson, who had finished second here to Petty the prior September. His dominance was so much the press called the extra 250 laps a "dull, unexciting affair" as the blue-and-gold #17 had the race well in hand. Pearson and Petty left Richmond tied for the points lead afterward. Pearson and Petty's teams both had a new secret weapon from Ford to help power their Torinos to a 1-2 finish, the new 429 cubic inch Boss engine. Newspapers reported this was the new engine's first competitive test in short track action and it's safe to say it was a successful one, the Blue Oval Boys' dynamic duo finished a full 16-laps ahead of everyone else including Elmo Langley's third-place #64 Ford as he recorded his best finish of the season. Having Pearson behind the wheel also certainly helped the Holman-Moody entry top the Petty Enterprises one, this was his sixth Richmond win in his last eight starts at the short track dating back to 1964 but it would also turn out to be his last on his track, he only ran here three more times over the course of his career. Bobby Isaac was a pre-race favorite as he came into this race riding a three-race winning streak in the #71 K&K Insurance Dodge Charger. Isaac put his red car on the front row in qualifying but a blown motor in the opening laps ended his bid for a fourth win in a row. Pearson was vocally disappointed at that turn of events in victory lane, he thought he had a car that could beat Isaac straight up and had been hoping to beat him in more of a direct fight. With Pearson and Petty's Fords dominating and Isaac out of the race James Hylton was largely the flag carrier for the Mopar contingent in this one. He raced Petty hard in the opening laps, pressuring the King into mistakes that saw him bounce off the wall twice, and then got up to lead a season-high 60 laps before the Fords retook control at about the one-quarter mark. Hylton's Charger was eventually sidelined with a blown engine. John Sears also led a few laps early on but his #4 Ford met the same fate. Richmond's hometown hero Sonny Hutchins qualified Junie Donlavey's famous #90 Ford right at the front of the field but a failed rear end get took him out early on. He'd get a much better result when the series returned to Richmond in the fall. This was a rough day in general for the local racers, modified ace Ray Hendrick was the other hometown entry and he too when out with mechanical failure in this war of attrition. This race was clean one, while there were several cautions the only notable wreck was Cecil Gordon and Dr. Ed Hessert's early incident in Turn 4 that put both their cars on the sidelines. Gordon's car owner Bill Seifert got the inside wall on the frontstretch later but not only kept going but still finished in the top-5. Lengthen this race would prove to be a great move down the road, NASCAR cut the Cup races that were less than 250 miles just a few years later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: