The 1969 Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on April 20 attracted 13,000 fans for a fast and competitive 400-lap Grand National race on the famous .625-mile paved oval. A 30-car field came to the line with Bobby Isaac taking the pole position at 106.731 mph, signaling the quick pace expected for the afternoon. With the sport’s top stars present and championship points already important early in the season, North Wilkesboro again served as one of NASCAR’s key spring battlegrounds.
When the race settled in, Bobby Allison and the No. 22 Mario Rossi Dodge team found the winning combination through both speed and preparation. A strong chassis setup gave Allison a consistently fast car over the long run, while quick pit stops during the race’s four caution periods totaling 30 laps kept him in contention and helped him gradually pull away from the field in the closing stages. At the finish, he crossed the line eight seconds ahead of LeeRoy Yarbrough, who drove the No. 98 Junior Johnson Mercury to second place. The average speed for the event was a strong 95.268 mph, reflecting the increasingly rapid pace of late-1960s short-track racing. The victory was Allison’s 14th career Grand National win and his second triumph of the 1969 season.
Yarbrough finished second, followed by David Pearson in third, Buddy Baker in fourth, and James Hylton in fifth. Though Allison celebrated in Victory Lane, Pearson also had reason to be satisfied, leaving North Wilkesboro with an eight-point lead in the standings over Richard Petty as the 1969 title fight continued to tighten.
