1970 Daytona 500

The 1970 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series race held on February 22, 1970, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

First Daytona 500 starts for Joe Frasson, Dick Trickle, Tommy Gale, Ron Keselowski, and Jim Vandiver. Only Daytona 500 start for Butch Hirst, Paul Feldner, Ron Grana, and Leonard Blanchard. Last Daytona 500 starts for Richard Brickhouse, Roy Mayne, and Dr. Don Tarr.

Summary
NASCAR's modern era would commence with this race. Winged, aerodynamic cars built specifically for high-speed superspeedway racing such as the Plymouth Superbird and Ford Torino Talladega made their debut. Pete Hamilton, hired by Petty Enterprises shortly before the season, won the race in the #40 Plymouth Superbird just three car lengths over David Pearson, after passing him with nine laps to go. It was the first win for the new Plymouth Superbird.

This race would last 200 minutes, with an audience of 103,800 people watching. A grand total of 24 lead changes were made with an average green flag run of 22 laps. 23% of the race was held under a yellow flag; blown engines were the primary culprit behind the caution periods.

On lap 7, Cecil Gordon and Richard Petty blew their engines. Jim Vandiver blew his engine on lap 15 while Cale Yarborough would do the same thing on lap 32. A.J. Foyt would also blow his engine on lap 58 while Buddy Arrington wrecked his vehicle on lap 77 by crashing it into a wall. The final caution the race came when Dick Brooks blew his engine on lap 181.

David Pearson tried to slingshot Pete Hamilton in the last turn, but got very loose and finished second.