The 1969 Talladega 500 was a Grand National (now Sprint Cup) event held at Talladega Superspeedway on September 14, 1969. It was the inagural event at the track, but clouded by controversy. Most of the sport's elite drivers, including eventual season champ David Pearson, boycotted the event, claiming NASCAR was not accounting for driver safety. Richard Brickhouse won his only career race as a result, holding off a rag-tag field by seven seconds. Stats