1970 Grand National Series

1970 Grand National Series
Bobby Isaac, with his red #71, won the 1970 Grand National championship.
Season statistics
No. of races	48
First race	1970 Motor Trend 500
Last race	1970 Tidewater 300
Drivers' champion	Bobby Isaac
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Bill Dennis
Most popular driver	Richard Petty
Previous	1969
Next	1971

The 1970 Grand National Series was the 22nd season of the NASCAR Grand National Series. The season began with the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 18 and ended with the Tidewater 300 at Langley Field Speedway on November 22.

Bobby Isaac won his first Grand National championship in his third full time season, with 11 wins in 1970. He defeated Bobby Allison by 51 points to earn the title.

1970 was notable for the introduction of the winged Plymouth Superbird, which attracted Richard Petty back from Ford. Petty went on to win the Daytona 500 and his teammate Pete Hamilton won both events at Talladega in the season with the winged cars. As the winged cars were topping 200 mph at superspeedways, NASCAR introduced restrictor plates for the first time at the Talladega 500 in August, in an effort to keep the speeds under control.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 18, 1970	Motor Trend 500	Riverside International Raceway
2	February 19, 1970	Daytona 500 Qualifier #1	Daytona International Speedway
3	February 19, 1970	Daytona 500 Qualifier #2	Daytona International Speedway
4	February 22, 1970	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
5	March 1, 1970	Richmond 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
6	March 8, 1970	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
7	March 15, 1970	Savannah 200	Savannah Speedway
8	March 29, 1970	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
9	April 5, 1970	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
10	April 12, 1970	Alabama 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	April 18, 1970	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
12	April 30, 1970	Columbia 200	Columbia Speedway
13	May 9, 1970	Rebel 400	Darlington Raceway
14	May 15, 1970	Beltsville 300	Beltsville Speedway
15	May 18, 1970	Tidewater 300	Langley Field Speedway
16	May 24, 1970	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
17	May 28, 1970	Maryville 200	Smoky Mountain Raceway
18	May 31, 1970	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
19	June 7, 1970	Motor State 400	Michigan International Speedway
20	June 14, 1970	Falstaff 400	Riverside International Raceway
21	June 20, 1970	Hickory 276	Hickory Speedway
22	June 26, 1970	Kingsport 100	Kingsport Speedway
23	June 27, 1970	Greenville 200	Greenville-Pickens Speedway
24	July 4, 1970	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
25	July 7, 1970	Albany-Saratoga 250	Albany-Saratoga Speedway
26	July 9, 1970	Thompson 200	Thompson Speedway
27	July 12, 1970	Schaefer 300	Trenton Speedway
28	July 19, 1970	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway
29	July 24, 1970	East Tennessee 200	Smoky Mountain Raceway
30	July 25, 1970	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
31	August 2, 1970	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
32	August 6, 1970	Sandlapper 200	Columbia Speedway
33	August 11, 1970	West Virginia 300	International Raceway Park
34	August 16, 1970	Yankee 400	Michigan International Speedway
35	August 23, 1970	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
36	August 28, 1970	Myers Brothers 250	Bowman Gray Stadium
37	August 29, 1970	Halifax County 100	South Boston Speedway
38	September 7, 1970	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
39	September 11, 1970	Buddy Shuman Memorial 276	Hickory Speedway
40	September 13, 1970	Capital City 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
41	September 20, 1970	Mason-Dixon 300	Dover Downs International Speedway
42	September 30, 1970	Home State 200	North Carolina State Fairgrounds
43	October 4, 1970	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
44	October 11, 1970	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
45	October 18, 1970	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
46	November 8, 1970	Georgia 500	Middle Georgia Raceway
47	November 15, 1970	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
48	November 22, 1970	Tidewater 300	Langley Field Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1970 Motor Trend 500	Dan Gurney	A.J. Foyt		6	31	97.450	20
2	1970 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		0	0	183.295	4
3	1970 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2	Buddy Baker	Charlie Glotzbach		1	13	147.734	4
4	1970 Daytona 500	Cale Yarborough	Pete Hamilton		6	45	149.601	24
5	1970 Richmond 500	Richard Petty	James Hylton		1	7	82.044	2
6	1970 Carolina 500	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		9	67	116.117	24
7	1970 Savannah 200	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		1	4	82.418	2
8	1970 Atlanta 500	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison		4	24	139.554	20
9	1970 Southeastern 500	David Pearson	Donnie Allison		6	58	87.543	10
10	1970 Alabama 500	Bobby Isaac	Pete Hamilton		6	42	152.321	32
11	1970 Gwyn Staley 400	Bobby Isaac	Richard Petty		3	21	94.246	1
12	1970 Columbia 200	Larry Baumel	Richard Petty		6	30	62.685	5
13	1970 Rebel 400	Charlie Glotzbach	David Pearson		4	37	129.688	20
14	1970 Beltsville 300	James Hylton	Bobby Isaac		1	10	76.370	5
15	1970 Tidewater 300	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		2	11	73.245	3
16	1970 World 600	Bobby Isaac	Donnie Allison		10	66	129.680	28
17	1970 Maryville 200	Bobby Allison	Bobby Isaac		2	15	82.558	1
18	1970 Virginia 500	Donnie Allison	Bobby Isaac		7	46	68.584	4
19	1970 Motor State 400	Pete Hamilton	Cale Yarborough		3	28	138.302	15
20	1970 Falstaff 400	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		3	13	101.120	3
21	1970 Hickory 276	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		2	14	68.011	0
22	1970 Kingsport 100	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		2	14	68.583	2
23	1970 Greenville 200	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		2	10	75.345	3
24	1970 Firecracker 400	Cale Yarborough	Donnie Allison		4	19	162.235	32
25	1970 Albany-Saratoga 250	Bobby Isaac	Richard Petty		1	4	68.589	3
26	1970 Thompson 200	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		1	7	80.296	3
27	1970 Schaefer 300	Bobby Isaac	Richard Petty		3	13	120.724	12
28	1970 Volunteer 500	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison		8	54	84.880	9
29	1970 East Tennessee 200	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		2	7	84.956	3
30	1970 Nashville 420	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Bobby Isaac		4	39	87.943	5
31	1970 Dixie 500	Fred Lorenzen	Richard Petty		1	10	142.712	10
32	1970 Sandlapper 200	Richard Petty	Bobby Isaac		3	22	67.101	1
33	1970 West Virginia 300	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		1	2	78.358	4
34	1970 Yankee 400	Charlie Glotzbach	Charlie Glotzbach		1	9	147.571	18
35	1970 Talladega 500	Bobby Isaac	Pete Hamilton		4	30	158.517	23
36	1970 Myers Brothers 250	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		0	0	51.527	2
37	1970 Halifax County 100	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		1	10	73.060	2
38	1970 Southern 500	David Pearson	Buddy Baker		9	50	128.817	19
39	1970 Buddy Shuman Memorial 276	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		1	5	73.365	4
40	1970 Capital City 500	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		2	9	81.476	2
41	1970 Mason-Dixon 300	Bobby Isaac	Richard Petty		4	27	112.103	10
42	1970 Home State 200	John Sears	Richard Petty		1	4	68.376	2
43	1970 Wilkes 400	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Isaac		4	32	90.162	12
44	1970 National 500	Charlie Glotzbach	LeeRoy Yarbrough		8	63	123.246	23
45	1970 Old Dominion 500	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		5	32	72.235	5
46	1970 Georgia 500	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		5	35	83.284	12
47	1970 American 500	Charlie Glotzbach	Cale Yarborough		7	46	117.811	13
48	1970 Tidewater 300	Benny Parsons	Bobby Allison		2	10	69.584	3

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Bobby Isaac	47	11	32	38	13	3911
2	Bobby Allison	46	3	30	35	5	3860	-51
3	James Hylton	47	1	22	39	1	3788	-123
4	Richard Petty	40	18	27	31	9	3447	-464
5	Neil Castles	47	0	12	24	0	3158	-753
6	Elmo Langley	47	0	1	19	0	3154	-757
7	Jabe Thomas	46	0	0	23	0	3120	-791
8	Benny Parsons	45	0	12	23	1	2993	-918
9	Dave Marcis	47	0	7	15	0	2820	-1,091
10	Frank Warren	46	0	0	2	0	2697	-1,214
11	Cecil Gordon	44	0	2	11	0	2514	-1,397
12	John Sears	40	0	4	7	1	2465	-1,446
13	Dick Brooks	34	0	15	18	0	2460	-1,451
14	Wendell Scott	41	0	0	9	0	2425	-1,486
15	Bill Champion	38	0	0	6	0	2350	-1,561
16	J.D. McDuffie	36	0	1	10	0	2079	-1,832
17	Ben Arnold	29	0	0	3	0	1997	-1,914
18	Bill Seifert	39	0	1	4	0	1962	-1,949
19	Henley Gray	34	0	0	2	0	1871	-2,040
20	Friday Hassler	26	0	1	6	0	1831	-2,080
21	Pete Hamilton	16	3	10	12	1	1819	-2,092
22	Joe Frasson	21	0	0	2	0	1723	-2,188
23	David Pearson	19	1	9	11	2	1716	-2,195
24	Buddy Baker	18	1	6	8	0	1555	-2,356
25	Bill Dennis	25	0	0	5	0	1432	-2,479
26	Ed Negre	31	0	0	1	0	1413	-2,498
27	G.C. Spencer	20	0	3	9	0	1410	-2,501
28	Charlie Glotzbach	19	2	7	8	4	1358	-2,553
29	Roy Mayne	16	0	0	3	0	1333	-2,578
30	Bill Shirey	29	0	0	1	0	1244	-2,667
31	Raymond Williams	21	0	0	0	0	1204	-2,707
32	Larry Baumel	23	0	0	1	1	1138	-2,773
33	Buddy Arrington	19	0	0	2	0	1087	-2,824
34	Cale Yarborough	19	3	11	13	4	1016	-2,895
35	Don Tarr	17	0	0	5	0	995	-2,916
36	Johnny Halford	25	0	0	0	0	975	-2,936
37	Earl Brooks	21	0	0	1	0	884	-3,027
38	Coo Coo Marlin	13	0	0	4	0	876	-3,035
39	Ron Keselowski	17	0	0	1	0	855	-3,056
40	Donnie Allison	19	3	10	12	0	841	-3,070

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year

With 5 Top 10s in 25 starts, Bill Dennis won the 1970 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Bill Dennis	0
2	Joe Frasson	0
3	Jim Vandiver	0

Manufacturer's Championship

Despite only winning 17 races to Plymouth’s 21, Dodge won the 1970 Manufacturer’s Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		17
2		21
3		6
4		4
5		0
6		0
7		0
8		0