Tag Archives: Holman Moody

’69 NASCAR Triple Crown – Ford Torino

In January 1969 Ford’s Atlanta Assembly plant in Georgia built a run of 500 special fast back Torino’s, featuring a slightly more aerodynamic nose said to have been developed by Holman Moody, known as the Torino Talladega named in honour of a new super speedway circuit that was to open located just down the road in Alabama.

The reason for building these cars all of which were thought to have lost Ford money in the show room was so that Ford would have a more competitive package for the 1969 NASCAR Grand National Season.

Junior Johnson ran a Ford Torino sponsored by Jim Robbins known as the Jim Robbins Special for LeeRoy Yarbrough who also drove for Robbins open wheel USAC team at Indy.

Ford Torino, Sonoma Historics

LeeRoy started the 1969 Daytona 500 from 19th place in his earlier Torino Cobra model but came through to beat Charlie Glotzbach driving a Dodge to win the richest race of the year and the US$38,950 prize money that went with it.

Mid season Junior Johnson’s cars were badged as Mercury Cyclone’s for six races and during that spell LeeRoy won The Rebel 400 at Darlington, and the longest race of the year The World 600 at Charlotte.

For the 1969 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 at Daytona LeeRoy’s car was back to being badged a Ford Torino but with the more aerodynamic Talladega nose, starting ninth and leading 96 laps including the all important last one, LeeRoy won another US$22,175.

Ford Torino, Sonoma Historics

Starting the Dixie 500 at Atlanta from the outside of the front row LeeRoy led 142 laps to beat David Pearson Holman Moody Ford for his fifth victory of the season.

LeeRoy made it a clean sweep at Darlington by winning the oldest race of the circuit the Southern 500 and became the first driver to win NASCAR’s triple crown of the season’s richest, longest and oldest races on the schedule in a single season.

As at Atlanta and Darlington LeeRoy beat David Pearson again to win The American 500 at Rockingham and to claim his seventh win of the season which saw him finish only 16th in the end of season point’s standings thanks to only starting 30 of the scheduled 54 races, David Pearson won the 1969 Grand National Championship with 11 race victories.

Ford Torino, Sonoma Historics

Ironically the 44th race of the season saw Richard Petty lead fellow members of the Professional Drivers Association including LeeRoy to boycott the inaugural Talladega 500 due to a lack of grip on the steeply banked circuit.

The Talladega 500 went ahead without many of NASCAR’s star drivers and was won by Richard Brickhouse driving the debuting Dodge Charger Daytona model, Charger Daytona’s finished the race in the top four spots.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s of the #98 Ford Torino Talladega, taken at Sonoma Historics last year, which I believe was driven by Ron Myska.

Thanks for joining me on this “’69 NASCAR Triple Crown” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for the last Ferrari Friday for the next couple of months. Don’t forget to come back now !

14 from 103 – Ford Galaxie 500

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On the 28th March 1964 reigning International Motor Contest Association champion Dick Hutcherson got his NASCAR career underway by winning pole position in his Ford for his debut NASCAR start at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

Ford Galaxie 500, Sonoma Historics

Dick finished his first NASCAR race in the pits with broken lugs nuts but finished 2nd in his next NASCAR race at Hillsboro, started from pole and retired with wheel bearing failure at Spartanburg and finished 5th at Columbia in his final NASCAR start of the season in which he retained his International Motor Contest Association championship.

Ford Galaxie 500, Sonoma Historics

Holman Moody signed Dick up for 1965 to drive the #29 Ford Galaxie, like the one seen in these photographs, alongside Fred Lorenzen in the #28. After starting from pole 10 times, winning 9 races, finishing in the top 5 on 23 further occasions Dick finished second to Richard Petty on what should have been his rookie season, except NASCAR deemed Dick’s two consecutive IMCA championships and 81 IMCA wins, of sufficient stature to eliminate him from the Rookie Of The Year Award.

Ford Galaxie 500, Sonoma Historics

Thanks to Ford’s broken 1966 season Dick only made 14 starts in 1966 2 from pole and with 3 wins. In 1967 Dick continued driving the #29 Ford which was now entered mostly by Bondy Long and finished 3rd in the championship with two wins from 33 starts, he was easily averaging better points per race than eventual 1967 Champion Richard Petty, but the King who had a 10 race unbroken run of wins made 15 more starts than Dick.

Ford Galaxie 500, Sonoma Historics

After winning 14 races from just 103 starts Dick swapped the driving seat for the Crew Chiefs box in 1968 and guided his friend David “The Siver Fox” Pearson to two consecutive championships in ’68 and ’69.

Dick became general manager at Holman Moody but left in 1971 to set up the successful Hutcherson-Pagan Enterprises race car building and parts business with Eddie Pagan.

In 1976 Dick made a one off appearance at Le Mans where he drove a Ford Torino with Richard Brooks and Marcel Mignot until it retired with gearbox failure after 11 hours.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs of the 1965 #29 Ford Galaxie taken at last years Sonoma Historic’s meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “14 for 103” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Sherman’s M12 – McLaren M12 #60-14

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Following the success of his ’67 and ’68 Can Am unlimited sports car programmes, which would net championship success from 1967 to 1971, Bruce McLaren turned his attention to building a GT Coupé version of his Can Am winning Chevrolet powered M6 roadster.