1969 Motor State 500

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 (1.9×10^⁶ 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.

A grand total of 38 American-born drivers competed in this 250-lap racing event.[2] Wayne Gillette ended up becoming the last-place finisher due to troubles with the rear end of the vehicle only after completing a single lap.[2] While LeeRoy Yarbrough would lead the most laps, Cale Yarborough would defeat David Pearson by a distance of five car lengths after more than three and a half hours of racing.[2] Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough got together during the final lap and LeeRoy tried to limp back to the finish line but came up just short.[2]

A faulty vehicular oil line managed to take Buddy Young out of the race on lap 62.[2] Bobby Wawak fell out with engine failure on lap 74 while Bobby Allison did the same thing on lap 78.[2] Dick Johnson noticed that his vehicle's clutch was having problems; forcing him to leave the race on lap 80.[2] Between lap 94 and lap 150, five of the competing drivers would notice that their engines stopped working.[2] Some faulty lug bolts would relegate Ben Arnold to the sidelines on lap 155.[2] Bill Seifert, Paul Deal Holt, Dave Marcis and Henley Gray would end up blowing their engines between lap 183 and lap 191.[2] Yarbrough's day would end when his car suddenly crashed on lap 249; but not without picking up a respectable fourth-place finish in the process.[2]

Donnie Allison would become known as the fastest driver in qualifying; he earned his pole position after driving speeds up to 160.135 miles per hour (257.712 km/h) by himself on the track.[2] Earl Brooks would become known for being the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event; he was 85 laps behind the lead lap drivers.[2] The vehicles in this event ranged from 1967 to 1969; most of the vehicles raced here were Fords and Dodges; all built nearby in the assembly plants of Dearborn, Flint and Detroit. The racing grid was forced to slow down a total of seven times for a duration of 35 laps; more than 46,000 people would purchase tickets for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race set in the "Irish Hills" of Michigan.[2] LeeRoy Yarbrough and David Pearson both lead a respectable number of green flags and were tough opponents to deal with while under pressure. With the first-place position being exchanged a whopping 35 times throughout the event, it felt more like an Academy Award-winning movie than an actual NASCAR event.[2]

Individual race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $17,625 ($122,879 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $622 ($4,337 when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR officials were authorized to hand out a grand total of $73,548 in post-race winnings to all the drivers who managed to qualify for this event ($512,767 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

At least ten notable crew chiefs were recorded as attending this race; including Cotton Owens, Dick Hutcherson, Glen Wood, Banjo Matthews and Dale Inman.[6]