1970 – Isaac Outlasts Nashville 420

 

Nashville 420 winner Bobby Isaac gets a peck on the cheek from Union 76 trophy girl Ann Romeo (left) and Miss Nashville Speedways’ Sue Cothern. - Robert Johnson Photo

Nashville, Tenn. (July 25, 1970) – Bobby Isaac of Catawba, N.C., drove his 1969 Dodge to victory Saturday in the national televised Nashville 420 grand national stock car race with an average speed of 87.830 miles per hour to take over the season’s point lead.

Isaac, who turns 36-years-old next Saturday, survived a race that saw a starting field of 36 cars reduced down to nine at the finish because of extreme heat and a rough track that knocked many cars out with blown tires.

Bobby Allison of Hueytown, Ala., finished second, also in a ’69 Dodge, two laps behind Isaac, who took over the NASCAR Grand National points lead from James Hylton of Inman, S.C.

Hylton, running an independent Ford, completed 17 laps of the 250-mile race when a ball joint in his front end broke and he hit the wall. He would be credited with 28th place.

“I would have rather won the half-mile here last year,” said Isaac. “This 5/8-mile track is banked so much and is so darn fast, a driver could drive his car to death.”

“There was a tire problem because there wasn’t enough time to make tests, but I thought the tires held up pretty well considering the circumstances,” Isaac added.

Isaac, who collected $3,310 for his eight victory of the season, and his 29th of his NASCAR career, won the race in two hours, 59 minutes and 47 seconds.

LeeRoy Yarbrough of Columbia, S.C., and Richard Petty of Randleman, S.C., were co-favorites at the start of the race. Yarbrough, who qualified at 116.618 miles per hour to grab the pole position, jumped into the early lead.

Petty overtook LeeRoy after 17 laps, and both of them held wide margins over the rest of the field until misfortune hit both of them. LeeRoy completed 45 laps when his right front tire blew and he hit the northeast wall, putting him out of action.

Petty lasted through 154 circuits, when the same thing happened to him and he bent the front end of his 1970 Plymouth so badly he could not continue.

The lead changed hands six times. Yarbrough led from lap 1 to lap 16, Petty lap 17 to lap 150, Friday Hassler though lap 164, Isaac 165 to 207, Hassler again through 209 when he was sidelined with a broken battery cable. From there, Isaac led the rest of the way.


Results –


1. Bobby Isaac
2. Bobby Allison
3. Neil Castles
4. Cecil Gordon
5. J.D. McDuffie
6. Coo Coo Marlin
7. Ben Arnold
8. Jabe Thomas
9. Eddie Yarboro
10.Dave Marcis
11.Frank Warren
12.John Kenney
13.Bill Champion
14.Friday Hassler
15.Bill Shirey
16.Richard Petty
17.Ed Negre
18.Dick May
19.Johnny Halford
20.Raymond Williams
21.Dick Bown
22.Benny Parsons
23.LeeRoy Yarbrough
24.Henley Grey
25.Charlie Roberts
26.Earl Brooks
27.John Sears
28.James Hylton
29.Wendell Scott
30.Ron Keselowski
31.Lee Gordon
32.Buddy Arrington
33.Bill Dennis
34.Elmo Langley
35.Dick Brooks
36.G.C. Spencer