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Jacksonville, Florida's Lee Roy Yarbrough sat on the pole for the race in his 1970 Ford Torino owned by
the legendary Junior Johnson. Unfortunately, Yarbrough blew a tire and
subsequently
crashed on lap 45, relegating the driver to a 23rd place finish.
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 Bobby
Isaac (pictured at right in Victory Lane) captured his first and
only win at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The Catawba,
North Carolina driver would go on to win the 1970 NASCAR Grand
National title.
The race was broadcast live by ABC on The
Wide World of Sports
and was hosted by Jim McKay and Chris Economaki.
This race marked the debut of the 5/8 mile -
35 degree banking configuration. Only 9
cars out of the 36 starters finished the race, representing a
meager 25%.
The Grand National series had raced the night before at Maryville TN in
a 200 lap event captured by Richard Petty.
Lee Roy Yarbrough blew a tire and crashed into the
retaining wall on the 45th lap of the race. This would be the
last pole captured by Yarbrough in his 198 career starts.
Tire problems sidelined several drivers as they tried to cope
with the 35 degree bank of the track. James Hylton came
into the race with the Grand National points lead but a crash on
lap 17 caused him to fall to second behind Isaac.
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