1969 Motor State 500
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 24 of 54 in the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 1969 Motor State 500 program cover | |||
| Date | June 15, 1969 | ||
| Official name | Motor State 500 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.000 miles (3.219 km) | ||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 63 °F (17 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 139.254 mph (224.108 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 46,238[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Banjo Matthews | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 136 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Bud Lindemann | ||
The 1969 Motor State 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on June 15, 1969, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Highlights from this event were featured on the television show Car and Track; hosted by race commentator Bud Lindemann.
Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[3] Groundbreaking took place on September 28, 1967. Over 2.5 million cubic yards (1.9×106 m3) of dirt were moved to form the D-shaped oval. The track opened in 1968 with a total capacity of 25,000 seats. The track was originally built and owned by Lawrence H. LoPatin, a Detroit-area land developer who built the speedway at an estimated cost of $4–6 million.[4] Financing was arranged by Thomas W Itin. Its first race took place on Sunday, October 13, 1968, with the running of the USAC 250 mile Championship Car Race won by Ronnie Bucknum.