1970 Georgia 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 46 of 48 in the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date November 8, 1970; 53 years ago (1970-11-08)
Official name Georgia 250
Location Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.548 mi (0.882 km)
Distance 500 laps, 227 mi (441 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching of 73.9 °F (23.3 °C); wind speeds of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed 83.284 miles per hour (134.033 km/h)
Attendance 6,500[3]
Pole position
Driver
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Isaac K&K Insurance Racing
Laps 226
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1970 Georgia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on November 8, 1970, at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia.

NASCAR officials would record four engine-related incidents, one major fire, two issues related to the vehicle's suspension and an oil leak.[3]

Race report

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.

Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning .548 miles (0.882 km) for a grand total of 274.0 miles (441.0 km).[2][3] The race took three hours, thirteen minutes, and thirty-three seconds to reach its conclusion; Richard Petty (racing for Petty Enterprises) defeated Bobby Isaac in fourteen seconds.[2][3] The pole position speed was 94.064 miles per hour (151.381 km/h); accomplished by Richard Petty.[2][3] Total winnings for this race were $20,000 ($150,711 when considering inflation) with the winner receiving most of $3,275 ($24,679 when considering inflation). This event would be the first of two career starts for Jimmy Watson.[2][3] Notable crew chiefs for this race included Harry Hyde, Dale Inman and Lee Gordon.[4]

Petty's wins in 1970 came at 18 different tracks. He didn't have any sweeps.[5]

This would be the final career start for Lee Roy Carrigg; whose NASCAR Winston Cup Series race spanned nine races and 1002 laps of racing action.[6]

Earlier that year, the second annual Atlanta International Pop Festival was held in the same venue as this racing event. Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers Band performed in front of 300,000 concertgoers; the town had a population of about 2,000.[7]

In comparison to this summer musical festival that took place from July 3–5, this autumn racing event only attracted 6500 people in order to see stock car vehicles travel at speeds averaging 83.284 miles per hour or 134.033 kilometres per hour throughout the entire event.[2][3]

Qualifying

Grid[3] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 43 Richard Petty '70 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
2 22 Bobby Allison '69 Dodge Bobby Allison
3 72 Benny Parsons '69 Ford L.G. DeWitt
4 32 Dick Brooks '69 Plymouth Dick Brooks
5 71 Bobby Isaac '70 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
6 06 Neil Castles '69 Dodge Neil Castles
7 4 John Sears '69 Dodge John Sears
8 48 James Hylton '70 Ford James Hylton
9 64 Elmo Langley '69 Ford Elmo Langley
10 26 Dave Marcis '69 Ford Earl Brooks
11 25 Jabe Thomas '69 Plymouth Don Robertson
12 79 Frank Warren '69 Plymouth Frank Warren
13 10 Bill Champion '69 Ford Bill Champion
14 8 Joe Frasson '69 Ford Ed Negre
15 67 Dick May '69 Ford Ron Ronacher
16 24 Cecil Gordon '68 Ford Cecil Gordon
17 54 Bill Dennis '69 Chevrolet Bill Dennis
18 68 Larry Baumel '69 Ford Allan Schulauer
19 93 Morgan Shepherd '69 Chevrolet Bill Flowers
20 02 E.J. Trivette '69 Chevrolet Crawford Brothers
21 76 Ben Arnold '69 Ford Ben Arnold
22 34 Wendell Scott '69 Ford Wendell Scott
23 77 Roy Mayne '69 Ford Bob Freeman
24 19 Henley Gray '69 Ford Henley Gray
25 58 Jim Vandiver '70 Chevrolet Bub Strickler
26 89 Rod Eulenfield '69 Ford Morris Davis
27 16 Jimmy Watson '70 Chevrolet Ken Spires
28 74 Bill Shirey '69 Plymouth Bill Shirey
29 39 Friday Hassler '69 Chevrolet James Hanley
30 87 Lee Roy Carrigg '68 Ford John Pemberton

Finishing order

Section reference: [3]

  1. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  2. Bobby Isaac† (No. 71)
  3. Dick Brooks† (No. 32)
  4. Bobby Allison (No. 22)
  5. John Sears† (No. 4)
  6. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  7. Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
  8. Elmo Langley† (No. 64)
  9. Jabe Thomas (No. 25)
  10. Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
  11. Neil Castles (No. 06)
  12. Ben Arnold (No. 76)
  13. Bill Champion† (No. 10)
  14. Jimmy Watson (No. 16)
  15. Friday Hassler† (No. 39)
  16. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  17. Bill Shirey (No. 74)
  18. Roy Mayne*† (No. 77)
  19. Jim Vandiver* (No. 58)
  20. Morgan Shepherd* (No. 93)
  21. Wendell Scott*† (No. 34)
  22. Joe Frasson*† (No. 8)
  23. Lee Roy Carrigg* (No. 87)
  24. Dave Marcis* (No. 26)
  25. Bill Dennis* (No. 54)
  26. Rod Eulenfield* (No. 89)
  27. Frank Warren* (No. 79)
  28. E.J. Trivette* (No. 02)
  29. Dick May*† (No. 67)
  30. Larry Baumel* (No. 68)

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

References

  1. ^ "1970 Georgia 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "1970 Georgia 500 information (third reference)". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1970 Georgia 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  4. ^ "1970 Georgia 500 crew chief information". Racing Reference. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  5. ^ [https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/pettyri01/1970/W Richard Petty 1970 NASCAR Grand National Results] at Racing Reference
  6. ^ "Lee Roy Carrigg career information". Racing Reference. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  7. ^ Morris, Linda S. (16 July 2011). "Byron raceway roars back to life in car ads". Macon.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
Preceded by1970 Old Dominion 500 NASCAR Grand National Races 1970 Succeeded by1970 American 500
Preceded by1970 Old Dominion 500 Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984 Succeeded by1971 Daytona 500
Preceded byNovember 1969 Georgia 500 races 1970 Succeeded by1971
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