Cover of the special "Sport of Speed" section from the 7/19/70 Tennessean
Bobby Allison poses with a promotional drawing for the race.
Notice the date is July 26. That was the scheduled date until ABC said they would televise the last half
of the race live on Wide World of Sports. Bill Donoho gladly moved the race to Saturday.
Construction is ongoing on both the grandstands and the track itself
The track under construction in June
Laying asphalt on the front straight
The track surface on July 13 - 12 days before the race
I'm thinking these photos were taken in case the track came up during the race
- the photos would show there were issues before the first car turned a lap
Yes, this photo was also taken July 13 - 12 days before the stands would be full of people
The scoreboard is being hoisted into position
Speedway co-owner Bryan Burgess pitches in to help get things completed before race time
Putting the finishing touches on the ABC broadcast booth
More prep, including setting up one of the ABC cameras
Pre-race press party with Jim McKay and Chris Economaki on the back row,
Jimmy Donoho, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Demetriss Tapp, and Bobby Goldsboro in the front
Lee Roy Yarbrough makes practice laps in his Junior Johnson Ford
Coo Coo Marlin was the only driver besides Yarbrough not to compete the night before in Maryville,
so he took advantage of the time to get in some laps on the new track
Future Hall-of-Famer Wendell Scott tries to stay cool before the start
Drivers gather for the driver's meeting - among the ones who can be seen are
Cecil Gordon, GC Spencer, Bobby Allison, Friday Hassler, Richard Petty, and Bobby Isaac
Richard Petty before the start
Richard and his 1970 teammate Pete Hamilton - Hamilton wasn't entered, but was on hand for moral support
Lee Roy Yarbrough won the pole
Drivers awaiting introductions
Lee Roy and Bobby Isaac on the front row
Lee Roy and Junior talk before the command to start engines
Richard during the prayer
Demetriss Tapp sang the National Anthem
The field is lined up and ready to go
The one-to-go signal is displayed to the field
Yarbrough, Isaac, Petty, Brooks, Hylton, Marlin, Hassler, and Bobby Allison make up the first four rows
Dick Brooks broke an axle and was out after one lap
Lee Roy led early
Yarbrough works his way through the lapped cars of Eddie Yarboro (03) and Ed Negre (8)
Yarbrough still leading
James Hylton out after only 17 laps with a broken ball joint
The aftermath of Hylton smacking the wall
Petty goes for the lead inside of Yarbrough
The pace car leads the field under the caution
The pace car dives off the track and it's back to green
Richard Petty takes a turn leading
Benny Parsons goes high to lap Eddie Yarboro (03), Henley Gray (19), and Earl Brooks (26)
Frank Warren wheels his Plymouth down the front straight
Yarbrough blew a tire and was out after only 45 laps
Benny Parsons (the car inside of Friday Hassler) has lost a right front wheel (see wheel against the outside wall)
And now we know why - the center broke right out of it
Dave Marcis (30) drives by the wheel while Raymond Williams (45) and Neil Castles (06) watch to see if it's going to come back down the banking
Still going as J.D. McDuffie looks for a way past
McDuffie goes by as the wheel and tire finally slow down
Not done yet as Johnny Halford (57) and Cecil Gordon (24) drive by
Bobby Allison in the Mario Rossi Dodge
Coo Coo Marlin (07) and Friday Hassler (39) put a lap on Big John Sears (4)
Marlin and Petty on the high banks
Coo Coo broke a sway bar and it blew the left front tire
Heading to the pits for repairs
Dick May (67) ran 139 laps before hitting the wall
Allison (22) and Hassler (39) battle
Hassler goes high around Ben Arnold (76)
Hassler and Allison continue their battle
Ed Negre
After leading 56 laps Hassler pits when the battery cable shorted out
Coo Coo Marlin pits for a new right front - Dick Bown's Plymouth sits behind him, already out of the race
Chuck Looney puts a can of Union 76 racing fuel in the Dodge of Dave Marcis
Allison, Hassler, Negre, and Isaac come off turn 4 and head down the front straight
Allison makes a pit stop on the quarter mile that was used for the pit road for the big races
Petty makes a pit stop
Bobby Allison running a lower line than earlier in the race
Bill Champion spins into the infield
Champion is out of his car and out of the race, from what appears to be more right front issues
Hassler back on track
Petty, Marlin, and Yarboro go three wide. Never could have done that on the old half-mile track
Dave Marcis slides to a stop in turn three after hitting the wall coming out of turn two
Jim McKay and Chris Economaki in the ABC Wide World of Sports booth at the top of the grandstands
ABC had a camera on a crane high over the back straight
Another view of the back straight camera
ABC brought part-time driver Dr. Don Tarr as their pit reporter
Local official and future Cup flagman Doyle Ford talking to the tower in the days before radios
The new grandstands were packed for the first race on the new high-banked five-eighths mile track
Looking across the infield towards turn four
Track publicity director Joe Carver and Doyle Ford watch the action
NASCAR chief scorer Morris Metcalfe is working the scoring trailer
A plane flew over the Fairgrounds taking a series of photographs of the action
Bobby Isaac puts another lap on Cecil Gordon, who finished 4th, 29 laps behind Isaac
Isaac on the way to his 8th win of the season and the 1970 NASCAR Grand National championship
Miss Fairgrounds Sue Cothern and Miss STP are ready to go to victory lane
Isaac takes the checkered flag
Victory lane
Joe Carver interviews Isaac while CY Hart from Wynn's looks on
Isaac complained about the track but he seems to have enjoyed victory lane
More photos while Walter Wallace (left most yellow shirt) looks on
Walter would go on to be a long-time Cup official after winning two track championships at the Fairgrounds
The headline in Sunday's Tennessean
The race even got a story in "Stock Car Racing" magazine