NASCAR Daytona GCS 2016 Race 1/26
Daytona Beach, Florida, was one of the great speed centers for over a century in the world long before the Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, runners from all over the world would come hard packed sands of Daytona Beach to see how fast their machinery could go NASCAR is, however, why Daytona looms so large today in the car culture as a junior drivers Johnson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Jeff Gordon and, of course, Dale Earnhardt earned their status as all-time greats along the 2 5 miles from Daytona tri-oval nt But they do alone, they drove large too large separate machines machines, not the car virtually identical clones that make up tomorrow the field for the race on Sunday 51st Daytona 500 Here Sá back ten largest stock cars ever have cast their shadow on the stepped pad.
January 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird 1970.
Chrysler glorious wings competitive cars ran for about a season and a half in NASCAR But their radical appearance, instant success on track, and the sheer audacity produced an indelible and lasting image.
Dodge and Plymouth problems faced during the NASCAR season in 1969 was that the body of their current production cars were stubbornly opposed aerodynamics They all racks before dulled and some had deep tunneling rear windows that broke the air as he tumbled to the fact roof, aerodynamically speaking, the worst of all Mopar cars built at the time was the Dodge Charger - the car whose sales would be very most likely benefit from some NASCAR success.
Dodge has first tried to clean the charger creating the 500-There was a subtly smoothed version of the same car, but with a flat nose and a rear window moved flush with the roof line, but the charger 500 a half-step forward and not particularly So halfway successfully to 69, Dodge took the charger 500, added a long nose sharklike and planted a 23 in the wing on its tail -High the result Daytona was the charger, a car cuts through the air with astonishing ease and remained stable even at 200 mph in fact, during testing at Talladega March 24, 1970, Buddy Baker became the first driver to turn a turn to over 200 mph in the 426 Hemi power No. 88 Daytona.
Daytona Charger won his first race, the first Talladega 500 in 1969 and was the main tower to Bobby Isaac during his successful run for the 1970 Championship Building on this success, in 1970, Chrysler has applied Daytona formula to Plymouth Road Runner to create the 1970 Superbird Superbird And won his first race too - the 1970 Daytona 500 with Pete Hamilton lead No. 40 Petty Enterprises car.
But as thrilling as the Daytona Charger and Superbird were on the race track, they were just stains on graphics sales - few special people Homologation wanted to live with every day so NASCAR effectively outlawed the wings request for enter the 1971 season by limiting their engine sizes and increased certification requirements so that no manufacturer would never be so bold again.
February 1969 Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II.
When Richard Petty looked that Plymouth's longtime benefactor offered as a racing feed for 1969, then turned to the long nose Ford Torino Talladega, King Richard OPTS put blue paint and number 43 on a Ford for 'year.
NASCAR race at Talladega for the first time in 1969, Ford has realized aerodynamics would be more important than ever, they stretched the nose of the Torino Fastback, planted a hunting gate in it, and installed flat rear bumper under the grid they called, appropriately, Talladega And to keep the mercury in the game they applied the same treatment to create Cyclone fastback Cyclone Spoiler II.
While the slippery pair were built in tiny numbers to homologate the race, they all had the 428 Cobra Jet engine - a Ford engine never wanted to race instead, Ford builds a limited number Boss 429 Mustangs homologate this port engine open competition for NASCAR Go figure.
With a clever tire strategy, the great LeeRoy Yarbrough won the 1969 Daytona 500 in Torino Talladega prepared by Junior Johnson David Pearson as to make it 11 wins and the championship of the 1969 season driving Holman-Moody Talladegas Richard Petty won yet 10 races and finished second Fords in the championship.
SPOILER Talladegas Torino and Cyclone IIs are the cars that made the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird necessary.
If ever there was a shaped car to go fast, it was Ford Thunderbird 1987 From the point of his smooth spout lid slightly raised chest, 87 T-Bird was formed as a perfect shot - three ball quarters and a wing B-1B more than two decades later quarter, T-Bird Bill Elliott is still the fastest car ever Daytona NASCAR stock turn, and the fastest ever lap a track.
Bill Elliott and his Ford family sponsored Coors have already been established as one of the great superteams 80s when the birds showed 87 during the 1985 season, driving slightly less aerodynamic 83 86 Thunderbird, Elliott has won an incredible 11 races and won a bonus million for winning three of four Daytona 500, Winston 500, 600 and 500 of the world South races.
87 The Thunderbird is a refinement of the 83 design and clearly modeled with low drag and stability at high speed in mind Elliott took pole position for the 87 Daytona 500 at an incredible rate 210,364 mph and won race, averaging a record 176,263 mph price - both records still stand today Then, as he qualified for the Winston 500 at Talladega, Elliott has exceeded even his performance in qualifying Daytona 212 with the 809 mph restrictor plate race after the accident Bobby Allison this year, this record is unlikely to ever be broken.
Ford s 83-86 Thunderbird presented a special challenge for NASCAR, it was much more aerodynamic than any General Motors car steady qualifying race course, NASCAR allowed Chevrolet campaign nose lift Monte Carlo SS beginning with the 1983 season, but this car's formal roof line cut-off meant that the air knocked off before he can be paid on the trunk lid and produce the supporting force stabilization If the Monte Carlo was going to be really competitive with the T -Bird, he would need a new tail.
This tail came in the form of Monte Carlo SS Aerodeck essentially nothing more than a Monte Carlo SS 1986 with a large piece of glass slope nailed to the trunk, he finally provided stablility aerodynamics and Ford driver put it to better use was Dale Earnhardt.
Earnhardt, Richard Childress-prepared, sponsored Wrangler, yellow and blue # 3 Aerodeck was the car to beat going into 1986 Daytona 500 It didn t take the post, but he won the Busch Clash All-Star race and one of two in his Monte Carlo qualifying it 125 mile races seemed to drive around the track with impunity But the bug bit Earnhardt Daytona this year when he ran out of fuel while leading with three laps to go.
But 1986 was also a great year for Earnhardt as he won five times, finished in the top five 23 times and won his second Winston Cup in 1987, he pushed the Aerodeck to 11 victories and his third as and when it showed for 1988 season, the Monte Carlo Aerodeck finally wore the color it was supposed to wear black.
If for no other reason, the Monte Carlo SS Aerodeck is ideal for the car in which Dale Earnhardt solidified his legend.
Photo by Bob Peterson Time Life Pictures Getty Images.
Say the word Hemi today and everyone knows you're talking about V8 signature Chrysler But the name would have no resonance - no life nor legend - if not for what Richard Petty did with the old 426 Hemi in 1966 and 1967 NASCAR Grand national season.
The legend began with the Daytona 1966 500 when Petty proved that the overwhelming power of the power plant Hemi was enough for him to overcome the problems of persistent tires and win the race of his second, he won seven times this season to take the third in the race throughout the season.
Petty didn t win the Daytona 500 1967 Mario Andretti did, but he was not there does many other things, he lost During a season of 49 grueling race, Petty would begin 48 races and win a superb 27 of them and on top of that, he finished in the top ten a jaw-dropping 40 times it was the performance throughout the most dominant season in the history of NASCAR and one of the great achievements of the history of motorsport.
Petty and his 1966 and 1967 NASCAR Viewpoints fact impossible to ignore.
In 1955, NASCAR stock cars were still virtually indistinguishable from real stocks vehicle production course, there was a rudimentary safety equipment on board and race numbers on the doors, but the race cars themselves license plates often had yet and real headlights and against other real cars production, first Chrysler 300 was completely dominant.
Not supported by Chrysler, founder Mercury Outboard Carl Kiekhaefer fielded a fleet of 300s Chrysler white during the Grand National NASCAR season 1955 and their success began with the fourth race of the season 39 laps of the beach path and road in Daytona Beach Tim Flock won this race for Kiekhaefer and would win the championship of the season, taking 18 of the 38 races in which he participated.
Impeccably prepared, beautiful to look at, and brilliantly led, Kiekhaefer Chryslers to set the standard for professionalism in NASCAR They were cars that first showed the great stock-car league could be.
In the early days of NASCAR there was no such thing as a good star, at least there wasn t until the fabulous Hudson Hornet showed.
Marshall Teague was something a barnstormer run his fabulous Hudson Hornet AAA, independent wildcat, and NASCAR racing With its low chassis, the relatively light weight and excellent handling, the Hudson could exceed the limits of its original, flathead six engine and win races and in 1951 Teague proved he could easily winning the race 39 laps on the sand combination of route and road in Daytona Beach.
But Teague had not been the kind of guy to chase championships or listen patiently NASCAR Bill France Sr. So, in the middle of the 1951 season, Herb Thomas goes to a Hudson Hornet - also called the Fabulous Hudson Hornet --and went on to win seven times and take the title in the NASCAR grand National season.
After Tim Flock won the title in 1952 but not in another Hudson Fabulous Then Herb Thomas came back to win the title again in 1953 and won 12 races in 1954, but lost the championship to Lee Petty.
In 1955, the Hudson Hornet was seriously exceeded But the fabulous Hudson Hornet was the first brand name in racing stock car.
Richard Petty may have earned its legendary blue Plymouths driving in the 60s, but the car, he drove the longest competition was actually the 1971-1974 Dodge Charger From 1972 and running through the race in 1977, blue and red STP s Petty charger was an indelible part of NASCAR Not only did he take two of his seven Daytona 500 victories in 1973 and 1974 in the third generation charger, but also second to David Pearson to race in 1976 after a last lap accident had them both turn based tri-oval.
If that was not enough, Petty also took three of his seven Winston Cup championships driving the loader - 1972, 1974 and 1975.
The charger has become so important to Petty NASCAR took the unprecedented step of extending the eligibility of the car a year throughout the racing season 1977 in order not to lose its biggest star fan, after all, wanted to see anything in Petty car except a Chrysler product.
But ultimately, the clock failed even to this charger Petty made a valiant effort to make the Dodge Magnum competitive 1978 but this cumbersome beast was desperate Amidst the racing season 1978 Petty drove GM products and continue to so do until his retirement in 1992.
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