Original T/A racing photographs, late 60's & early 70's

[oldtransamdriver]

The red #92 camaro being dirt-tracked is Rusty Jowett.  He was a leading independant driver in 68 and 69 with 13 top ten finishes including some top fives. He also had a 2nd and 3rd in 2 Nascar baby grand races.  He wrecked his 67 camaro at the 68 Watkins Glen T/A race - I was following him when suddenly he went off track and rolled the car a few times.  A 68 car was then built from a Penske body-in-white with much help from Donohue. Rusty was very fast but did not race in 70 and only once in 71 - often wonder what happened to such a promising racing career.  Paul Nichter from Buffalo was the next owner and racer of that 68 car. "Nick" used to tell me just to "drive the wheels off that camaro" I was racing.

Robert Barg

[Jon Mello]

Mark Donohue's Camaro and Steve Brownstein's Mustang at the '67 Lime Rock Trans-Am (from the Bryar Trans-Am program)

[Jon Mello]

Roger West in the Joie Chitwood Camaro at the '67 Lime Rock Trans-Am (photo from the Bryar Trans-Am program)

[Jon Mello]

Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones at the start of the '69 Bryar Trans-Am.

Bill Lange Collection photo

[Jon Mello]

Mark Donohue in the #15 car at the '68 Sebring Trans-Am.

[Jon Mello]

June 1967 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am. George Follmer, standing in the driving suit with Firestone across
the back, is substituting for Mark Donohue who is driving at LeMans for the Ford team. Roger Penske
is crouched on the other side (red shirt) discussing the rear brakes with a crew member.


Jon Mello Collection

[Jon Mello]

Another shot of George Follmer and the Penske Camaro at the June '67 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am.


Jon Mello Collection

[Bruce302]

That is a very neat shot Jon, it looks quite sparsely populated, is this during practice ?

Bruce.

[Jon Mello]

Bruce, I do believe that was taken during an earlier practice session because during the actual race the flexible
air duct was mounted up high on the roof drip rail and in the photo just above, the duct is seen just below the
rear quarter window.

Here is a photo of Donohue's first '67 Camaro taken at the Marlboro Trans-Am in August '67. As probably
mentioned earlier, this was the first win for Camaro in the Trans-Am series.


Photo by Michael Booth

[Jon Mello]

Craig Fisher seated in the first '68 Penske Camaro with Roger Penske talking to him and possibly crew member Tom Greatorex on the
passenger side. I'm not sure of the crew member at the back and neither is Craig when I asked him. It's possible it is a Goodyear tire guy.
This was taken at the February '68 Daytona 24-hour race. This must have been during a pre-race practice session due to the relaxed
demeanor of the people on the pit wall and also there's no garage door handle on the hood, which was there during the race.


Jon Mello Collection

[oldtransamdriver]

Bruce, I remember that races at Mid-Ohio were usually well attended.  The track has several small "knolls" that spectators usually congregated at. That was either a practise day or just not a good viewing area.

Mid-Ohio was a favoutite track of mine to go racing at.

When are you going to bring that car over and do some of the tracks that we raced at?  I will make sure to attend!

Robert Barg

[Jon Mello]

1968-era photo showing the dash of Penske's Daytona 24hr Camaro, as seen above.


Petersen Publishing photo

[Bruce302]

Bruce, I remember that races at Mid-Ohio were usually well attended.  The track has several small "knolls" that spectators usually congregated at. That was either a practise day or just not a good viewing area.

Mid-Ohio was a favoutite track of mine to go racing at.

When are you going to bring that car over and do some of the tracks that we raced at?  I will make sure to attend!

Robert Barg

Damn straight you'll attend Robert, I'll need you in the pits. But a few fiscal matters need attending to. oh and I hope my car is eligible.

Bruce.

[Jon Mello]

Bob West's Camaro gets sideways in turn 11 at the 1969 Sears Point Trans-Am between the Camaros of Hugh Harn
and Gerry Gregory. Bob had sponsorship from Nor-Cal Auto in Burlingame, Calif for this race.

[Jon Mello]

Not a Trans-Am car but instead a Nascar GT machine, which I believe was built by Smokey Yunick.
Pete Hamilton was a very good Nascar driver pretty new on the scene at that time and Lloyd Ruby
was an outstanding driver who could race in any type of car and was always a threat to win.