Sunday 22nd February 1970

Pete Hamilton driving a Plymouth Superbird won the 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series Daytona 500 in front of 103,800 spectators at the Daytona International Speedway. Hamilton passed David Pearson with nine laps to go and won by three car lengths. A grand total of 24 lead changes were made with an average green flag run of 22 laps. Exactly 23% of the race was held under a caution flag; blown engines were the primary culprit behind the yellow flags. The race car drivers had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend’s race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until 1975.