NASCAR’s Unique and Forgotten Racing Divisions: Grand Touring/Grand American Division

Years of Competition: 1968-1972

Notable Drivers: Tiny Lund, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Childress, Bobby Allison

Through the 75 years of NASCAR, many automotive trends have come and gone (some even return years later). In the mid-1960s, Ford unleashed a cultural phenomenon inside the American motoring world introducing the Mustang. The Ford Mustang spawned the pony car segment  as its inexpensive performance and practicality proved tempting for younger drivers. The SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) was immediately positioned to take advantage of a newly-formed rivalry formed between the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro by hosting the cars on track in the Trans-Am Series. 

Running shorter distance races to the NASCAR Grand National series, the Grand Touring Division was born in 1968 as a support event to the more prestigious tour; eventually reshaping the premier series with its talent and ideas. While the NASCAR Grand Touring served as a battleground between pony cars with the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, AMC Javelin and the before-mentioned Mercury Cougar mainstay models in the 1968 field. Smaller capacity engines of 305 cubic inches or less differentiated the competition from the Grand National cars and allowed for a more assorted variety of race machines. Other vehicles taking part in Grand Touring races included Dodge Darts, Porsche 911s and an Austin Cooper Larry Newton drove in the 1968 Darlington 250 event. A Fiat participated in the 1969 Paul Revere 250 held on the Daytona road course while a pair of Alfa Romeos was part of a possible entry list but didn’t compete.

The opening year of the NASCAR Grand Touring division featured a heavy-hitting charge from legend team owner Bud Moore. In 1967, Bud Moore Engineering had been campaigning Mercury Cougars in the SCCA Trans Am series but was had support cut off as Ford Motor Company at the end of the year fearing the team was cannibalizing the auto manufacturer’s efforts showcasing the Mustang. Moore’s race-ready Cougars quickly found a new home in the early years of the new NASCAR series.

Tiny Lund won the first Grand Touring Division title with Bud Moore’s Mercury and would settle into becoming a series superstar capturing the champion again in 1970 as well as 1971. Buck Baker, acclaimed road racer Peter Gregg, Donnie Allison and country singer Marty Robbins were notable competitors during the first season. For the 1969 season, 22-year-old Kentucky native Darrell Waltrip would make a handful of starts in Grand Touring. Though Waltrip would have limited success in the series, he would go on to become a stock car legend with three NASCAR Cup series championships. Hall of Fame car owner Richard Childress compiled some of his earliest NASCAR experience racing in the Grand Touring. Childress’ best result was a 3rd place finish in the 1970 Casey 200 at the 0.5-mile dirt track on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. 

Future NASCAR Cup Series Car Owner Richard Childress Inside Chevrolet Camaro for NASCAR Grand American Competition (ISC Archives/NASCAR) 

The Grand Touring Division would compete at the Daytona International Speedway since its inception, the series races were staged on the road course. The Paul Revere 250 took place on July 4th of 1968 with Lloyd Ruby taking the win. A second Daytona road race for the Grand Touring division would be added the following year during Speed Weeks festivities named the Citrus 250. 

In addition to featuring a handful of foreign vehicles, Grand Touring also welcomed drivers from outside of the United States. Japanese driver Seiichi Suzuki made three starts in the series at the Daytona International Speedway with a best finish of 4th place coming in 1969 in a Bud Moore prepped Mercury.

Although the Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval was off limits to the Grand Touring cars, they would be instrumental in NASCAR’s christening of the all-new 2.66-mile Alabama International Motor Speedway (known today as Talladega Superspeedway). The 151-lap NASCAR Grand Touring race called the ‘Bama 400 held on September 13th 1969 was won by Ken Rush staged one day before the planned inaugural Talladega 500 for the NASCAR Grand National series. However, prior to the running of the Talladega 500, concerns arose from drivers that the high speeds experienced by the more powerful Grand National cars would lead to tire failures and major accidents that made the race too dangerous. The Professional Drivers’ Association (effectively an attempted union by major NASCAR drivers helmed by Richard Petty who served as president) decided to withdraw from the event on the evening before race day. With 32 drivers leaving the Alabama International Motor Speedway, only a handful of Grand National entrants remained. Despite having already run a 400-mile competition on Saturday, NASCAR invited the Grand Touring division cars to participate in Sunday’s Talladega 500. With 36 cars starting the Grand National event won by Richard Brickhouse, 23 were Grand Touring machines. 

1972 Postcard for NASCAR Grand American Mainstay Tiny Lund with Pepsi-sponsored #55 Pontiac Firebird

For 1970, NASCAR changed its name from the Grand Touring to the Grand American series with focus for firmly devoted to American-produced pony cars. Although car counts remained relatively steady in NASCAR’s Grand National Division, competitors in the top tier Grand National series during the early 1970s began to diminish due to the reduction of factory financing from auto companies as well as an economic recession. In an effort to bolster the car count for select races in 1971, Grand American cars were permitted to compete alongside the heavier Grand National vehicles. Six NASCAR short track races would be run with the mixed division format with two races won by Tiny Lund driving a Chevrolet Camaro. A regular Grand National series competitor, Bobby Allison drove a Grand American Ford Mustang at the Myers Brothers 250 at Bowman Gray Stadium recognizing a potential performance advantage with the smaller, lighter vehicle. Those victories by Allison and Lund are not recognized as Grand National/Cup Series wins proving controversial among some NASCAR fans when reflecting on Bobby Allison’s career record officially standing at 84 Cup series wins.

The 1972 tour was final season for the NASCAR Grand American series with Wayne Andrews taking the championship title. 

In addition to providing a springboard for Hall of Fame drivers and owners, the Grand Touring/Grand American series would serve as a division where the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro would find NASCAR success decades before the vehicles’ adoption in the modern Cup series.

References:

NASCAR

Legends of stock car racing by John Albert Craft

NASCAR The Complete History (2003 Edition) by Greg Fielden

Ultimateracinghistory.com

2011 Indy 500 to be Paced by Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible

Photo Credit: General Motors

As the Indianapolis 500 celebrates a centennial year milestone, the history of the famed 2.5-mile Brickyard is realized a little more than usual. Of the 95 races run on the track since 1911, one symbol for every 500-mile race was the honour of one American automobile to led the racers to the green flag. Started when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's founder Carl G. Fisher chose to feature a Stoddard-Dayton (a car chosen since Fisher was a dealer of soon-to-be flattered automaker) to pace the first Indianapolis 500. Since then, the Indy 500 pace car duties have become merged with that moment of anticipation before every open wheel race set to run at the Brickyard.  

For the third-straight year, the Chevrolet Camaro SS has been selected as the pace setting vehicle during the Indy 500. However, as a change from the previous 2 years, a newly-released convertible version of the Camaro will lead the 33-field of open wheel IZOD INDYCAR drivers to green. The first time since 1969 that a Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible has been chosen for pace car duties, a strong sense of that past is conveyed in the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible. Replicating the image of the Indy 500 pace car (a Chevrolet Camaro considered to be one of the most iconic vehicles of which participated in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's pace car program), the 2011 Camaro SS convertible wears identical Summit White accented by orange double-stripping. The colour scheme layers the Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible's interior with the orange being dominant over leather seating.

Photo Credit: General Motors

Earning the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible some special notoriety this upcoming May, the retro-themed look is joined by modern amenities. StabiliTrak electronic stability control, HID headlights and four-wheel Brembo-supported disc brakes are advancements over the late 1960s pace setter. Also, 20-inch polished aluminum wheels glimmer as the Camaro sails around the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Running gear for the 96th Indianapolis 500 pace car is also based on 21st century technology but embodies the soul of the muscle car era. The Camaro SS model's 6.2 liter V-8 powerplant mated with a 6-speed automatic transmission for the actual pace car. Unmodified from the production convertible, engine performance for the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible pace car is rated at 400 horsepower.

Popularized at the Indy 500, the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible enduring fame is created to just under 3,700 dealer-sold replicas. Though there is no announcement of pace car replicas of the 2011 Camaro SS convertible being produced on that scale, at least 1 vehicle of the 50 Festival committee vehicles will be made available to the public. Benefiting of the David Foster Foundation, a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible will be sold at the Barrett-Jackson Auction January 22nd.

Countdown to Indy (#18): 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car

Photo Credit: General Motors

Thanks to an agreement between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and General Motors, the Chevrolet division receives Indy 500 pace car honours for the 9th straight event. The 2010 race is also the 2nd year in a row that a Camaro will lead the 33-car field of open wheel competitors. The Chevrolet Camaro has a long prior history of pacing one of America's oldest running auto races. Receiving the honour for the first time on the 1967 introduction of the Chevrolet Camaro, GM's pony car has led the Indy 500 four other years prior to 2010 in 1969, 1982, 1993 and last year in 2009.

Rolling on 20 inch aluminum wheels, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car As opposed to the primarily silver car of 2009 with red striping, this year's Camaro SS edition employs a sizzling Inferno Orange exterior topped with RS package diamond white striping. A GM Accessory-derived front grille insert, flamboyant Indianapolis 500 logos on the cabin doors and badges on the front quarter panels are the only real giveaways that this car is the pace sitter for the memorial day weekend's most lively celebration.

As with the outside, the interior has been largely preserved to the stock Camaro counterpart. Minor stylistic touches include custom floor mats and embroidered Indy 500 logos on the head supports. The safety strobe lighting needed for officiating the Indy 500 is placed behind the rear window differing from the light bar used in the 2009 pace car model. The cabin space will house the most honoured driver for the weekend who is entrusted to lead over 17,000 horsepower around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ABC Good Day America's personality Robin Roberts will be this person for the 2010 edition taking the IZOD IndyCar field around for pivotal warm-up laps.


Photo Credit: General Motors

Robert's will find more than enough power under the hood of this year's Chevrolet Camaro SS. Revving a 6.2 liter V-8 powerplant, 400 horsepower will be routed through the 6-speed automatic gearbox. The pace car version of the Camaro SS is a pure stock powertrain. In previous Indy 500 events, particularly through the 1970s and 1980s, it was necessary to use performance enhancements to make a vehicle pace car worthy. The most extreme example of engine enhancements occurred for a Cadillac Eldorado convertible that paced the 1973 Indy 500. Choked by primitive emission and smog control systems, engine power from the luxury car's V-8 engine was limited to only paltry 235 horsepower. The considerable size and weight (just under 5,000 pounds) required more powerful engine output. In creating the 1973 Cadillac Eldorado pace car, the engine compartment was stripped of emission controls and even the air conditioning units. Further engine performance parts allowed the Cadillac V-8 to produce 500 horsepower.



Photo Credit: General Motors

When the 2010 Indianapolis 500 has been run, apart from what is guaranteed to be an ecstatic race winner, there will be another elite company. 200 Camaro buyers who will have a chance to purchase a limited run of replica versions of the pace car at 187 dealerships. These cars will carry a suggested retail price of $41,950 less freight, taxes and licensing costs.