1970 Alabama 500

Network: ABC

Date and time: April 12, 1970, 4:00 PM

Format: Live

Length: 1 hour 43 minutes (scheduled for 1 and a half hours)

The 1970 Alabama 500 was the first NASCAR race to be televised live in some way, not counting the 1960 Twin 100. Only the last half of the race was shown live, joined in progress at 4:00 PM. Keith Jackson used model cars to recap the race up to that point.

The coverage was riddled with issues. The start of the race was delayed 38 minutes by rain, not starting until around 2:23 PM. Thus the race went over it's alloted timeslot (1 and a half hours), signing off at 5:43 PM instead of the planned 5:30 PM, and they had to leave as soon as the checkered flag dropped. The coverage was also criticized for focusing mainly on close-up shots of the cars, and not displaying the speed.

The end of the race was very controversial. Due to a scoring error, once Pete Hamilton took the lead at lap 171, ABC thought at first that Buddy Baker was leading, before they found out shortly afterwards that it was Hamilton. After Buddy Baker's engine blew and he spun out, they then thought that Bobby Isaac was leading, when he was actually at the tail end of the lead lap and Hamilton was in front. But then, with around 8 laps to go, the commentators recieved confirmation from NASCAR scoring that it was indeed Pete Hamilton leading.

With 4 laps to go, they recieved another update from NASCAR scoring that the leader was in debate, and they were studying the tape, so they didn't know if Isaac or Hamilton was leading. When Hamilton was given the checkered flag and Isaac was given the white flag, ABC stated that Hamilton must have been the winner, but due to the time constraints left without showing who went to victory lane.

Personnel:

Announcers: Bill Flemming, Keith Jackson

Pit reporter: Bob Montgomery