Question #4:
What brand of car did Cale Yarborough drive in the 1969 NASCAR season?
Answer # 4:
Cale Yarborough is remember by many for his conquests driving the Wood Brothers Racing #21 Mercury Cyclone. In 1968 it was the Cyclone in his famous red and white paint scheme. However, in 1969 although he was scheduled to continue with Mercury and drive the new Spoiler II on the super speedways there was a problem. The street version of the Spoiler II was not put into production in time to get the Spoiler II homologated for the beginning of the 1969 NASCAR season. When the 69 Daytona 500 rolled around all the big name Mercury drivers were in Ford Talladegas. So, in 1969 Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough drove both Fords and Mercurys. Later, many of the Ford drivers may have wished they had the Spoiler II version. The front end of the Mercury was more aerodynamic than the Ford. This was reportedly good for up to 8 MPH at the super speedways! Ford Corporate was reported to have limited the number of Spoiler II cars available to their factory drivers because they wanted to keep the manufacture’s championship with the Ford brand. The Mercs might have won even more races that year but because they were not eligible for a full season and Ford won the 500 the decision was made.
This is a photo of LeeRoy’s Talladega.
The SIIs were better but not eight miles per hour better. More like one to two miles per hour better. But that’s a lot at super speedway velocities. JAC