1968 Trans-Am season review

[Jon Mello]

The Camaro was dominant in '68 and smoked everybody on the way to the Trans-Am championship but Motorcade
magazine gave the award of "Outstanding Performance in the Trans-Am Series" to Javelin. The Javelin team had an
outstanding year for never having been in racing before. They exceeded all expectations and threw a real scare into
Ford for the right to the runner-up 2nd place slot. However, the award should have gone to Penske, Donohue and
Camaro. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

National Speed Sport News showing Mark Donohue capturing the Martini & Rossi "Driver of the Year" award. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

Competition Press & Autoweek shows Mark winning another award for his 1968 racing accomplishments. (Jon Mello Collection)





Sedan regulations for 1969 got some tweaking...

[Jon Mello]

A couple of items from the December 14, 1968 issue of Competition Press & Autoweek. Dick Lang won the A-Sedan National Championship
for himself and Camaro at the Riverside ARRC event beating out John Martin in one of the factory-prepared Javelins. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

End of the season report as found in Competition Press & Autoweek. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

I just added the 1968 Kent 300 Trans-Am program, entry form, entry lists, pit assignments, etc... in reply #155 in this thread.
All of it comes from the collection of Frank Dihartce. Thanks for sharing it with us, Frank!

[SMKZ28]

I just added the 1968 Kent 300 Trans-Am program, entry form, entry lists, pit assignments, etc... in reply #155 in this thread.
All of it comes from the collection of Frank Dihartce. Thanks for sharing it with us, Frank!

Thanks Frank and Jon.  Great stuff.  I love all the cool ads, both regioinal and national!  I especially like the '69 Camaro ad on page 3 where it says "leader of the pack."

[group/7]

Question, In Some Information I've Come Across For The Riverside race, Jerry grant Is Shown As Practicing Only, In The # 18 Camaro, The Only Photo I've Come Across, Said To Be Grant's, Shows A Blue or Green (Hard To Tell, I Think The Photo Has faded) Car With White Stripes From the Rear, With The Hood Up In the garage. I've Seen A Entry List, With Grants Name, Entered In A camaro. But The # 18 Is Crossed Out And Changed To # 11. Can't Post Here, But Does Anyone Have Any Other Photos, Or More Info ?

Thanks Mike...group/7 in canada

[Jon Mello]

Mike, I assume that it was the Alan Green sponsored Camaro. Skip Scott was the primary driver of the car in '68 but Jerry Grant was sometimes brought in by Alan Green as a "hired gun". The Alan Green Camaro was painted dark green late in the '67 racing season and was still green in 1968.


Jon Mello Collection

[SMKZ28]

I just found two cool color photos that I have never seen before.  One shows the red 1967 Camaro of Joie Chitwood and the other shows the yellow 1968 Mustang of Sam Posey.  Both were taken during the 1968 Daytona 24 hour event.  Click on the following links to Flickr to see them:

1) https://www.flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/20112565435/in/album-72157604389838783/

2) https://www.flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/19491574753/in/album-72157604389838783/

[69Z28-RS]

The texts each indicated that the cars finished 8th in the TransAm race...    One finished 21st and the other 24th overall...   There must have been a typo there somewhere..

[Jon Mello]

There must have been a typo there somewhere..

Roger that!

[SMKZ28]

I know this isn't a Trans Am race but I thought I would include it here since Jon included the event here in this review of the 1968 season.  Here is a cool shot of the #08 1967 Camaro of Billy Yuma during the 1968 Paul Revere 250 NASCAR Grand Touring event held after midnight at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida on July 4, 1968.  I found the picture at Getty Images and the metadata states, "Billy Yuma of Melbourne, FL, pits his 1967 Camaro during the Paul Revere 250 NASCAR Grand Touring race at Daytona International Speedway on his way to a 13th place finish. Yuma, whose real name was William Gulley, ran all types of racecars including Modifieds, Supermodifieds and Sprint Cars during his career. Many were painted orange and Yuma nicknamed them “Orange Crate” like this Camaro. His own nickname of Yuma was given him after TV western character Johnny Yuma “The Rebel.”

See a larger version here: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/july-4-1968-billy-yuma-of-melbourne-fl-pits-his-1967-camaro-news-photo/150003583

[SMKZ28]

I also found a few pictures of the Smokey Yunick 1968 Camaro driven by Bobby Unser at the Paul Revere 250 NASCAR Grand Touring event held at Daytona on July 4, 1968.  The car only completed one lap due to an electrical fire in the engine compartment.  I found these pictures at Getty Images.  Click on the following links to see larger versions:

1) http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indy-500-winner-and-sometimes-stock-car-driver-bobby-unser-news-photo/78306525
2) http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bobby-unser-poses-with-smokey-yunickős-chevrolet-camaro-news-photo/106763144

[BULLITT65]

Good pics. perhaps the accolades were thrown towards AMC to keep the fire burning, and knowing more manufactures and more cars in the series would only help to raise the bar of success, and awareness surrounding the new class.

Perhaps Marketing 101?