Grand American

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For sports car racing association formed in 1999, see
Grand American Road Racing Association
.

Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1972. The series was called "Grand Touring" from 1968 to 1969.

History

The series formed in 1968 under the name "Grand Touring" as a competitor to

Stock Car Division and SCCA's Trans-Am Series.[1] It held 19 events in 1968 and 35 events in 1969. It was renamed Grand American for the 1970 season, hosting 27 events. By the 1971 season, NASCAR saw a decline in sponsorship, fan attendance and participation by teams, with Grand American hosting only seven events and NASCAR occasionally inviting Grand American cars to Grand National events that were short on entries (after the embarrassment of only 14 cars entering Grand National's 1971 Space City 300).[1]

In 1972, the structure of NASCAR was completely changed.

Grand National East Division. Grand American and retired (as old as 1969) Grand National/Winston Cup cars were allowed to race in the new division.[1] That series lasted from 1972 until 1973.[1]
The Grand American series held four events in 1972, its final season.

Cars

The series featured

Pontiac Trans Ams.[1] Several Grand American cars were former SCCA Trans-Am cars, extensively modified to meet the NASCAR safety rules and weight limits. Some drivers also used foreign cars such as Porsche 911
in the series' early years.

The motors were initially restricted to a 305 cubic inch (5.0 liter) engine displacement.[2] The 305 cubic inch limit eventually was increased to 366 cubic inch to help with performance and reliability of the Grand American cars.[2]

Win controversies

In 1971, the money invested in NASCAR teams by American auto makers began to lessen as marketing and perceived consumer demand caused funds to shift away from NASCAR.

Wilkes 400) and Bobby Allison (driving a Mustang in the Myers Brothers 250) used pony cars at flat tracks that favored the smaller cars.[1][3] These victories have not been added to either driver's NASCAR Grand National total wins and there is a debate whether or not they should be added.[1] NASCAR
had dictated that if a Grand American car won it would not be credited with the victory; first place points would not be awarded. Despite this, the wins were counted in the constructor's standings and as a start for Lund.

Drivers

The series was dominated by Tiny Lund.[1] Lund won 41 races in the 109 races in the series' history.[1] Lund won three of the four full-season championships, with the other one won by Ken Rush of High Point, N.C. Pete Hamilton won 12 of 26 events in 1969.[4]

List of champions

Other notable drivers who were regular competitors in the Grand American Series include: Jim Paschal, Buck Baker and Richard Childress. Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Mark Donohue and Jim Hall are sometimes credited as "NASCAR Grand American" drivers. The reality is that these road race stars competed in the SCCA Trans-Am series, which had at least one annual event co-sanctioned with NASCAR, the Florida Citrus 250 at Daytona. [1]

1968 championship results:[5]

  1. Tiny Lund: 1,947 points - 9 wins (Mercury Cougar)
  2. Buck Baker: 1,017 points - 3 wins (Chevrolet Camaro)
  3. Jack Ryan: 1,012 points - 0 wins (Porsche 911)[5]
  4. Jim Vandiver: 938 points - 0 wins
  5. Roy Tyner: 881 points - 0 wins
  6. Al Straub: 875 points - 0 wins
  7. Billy Yuma: 710 points - 0 wins
  8. Ernie Shaw: 682 points - 0 wins
  9. Donnie Allison: 664 points - 5 wins
  10. Little Bud Moore: 653 points - 0 wins

Later

The Grand American name was brought back in 1978 when the NASCAR Grand American Stock Car division was defined, as the successor to the series which was previously called

Chevrolet SS with Camaro ZL1 1LE, followed by Ford switching from Ford Fusion
to the Mustang GT the following year.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "The Grand National East Division". Grandnationaleast.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Tom, David. "The Glory Days". Firebirdgallery.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
  3. ^ "1971 Buddy Shuman 276". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  4. ^ "Pete Hamilton". Newenglandantiqueracers.org. New England Antique Racers. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Kahn, Bernard (February 23, 1969). "Race driver killed; Lee Roy wins 300". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal.
  6. ^ "NASCAR reactivates GA name". The Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina. January 18, 1978. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_American&oldid=1029722686"