Dick Lang Racing History: 1971 Daytona

5/4/06

1971 Daytona

January 30, 1971
At the Daytona International Speedway, the Daytona 24 Hours race results:
3rd in GT +2500 class: John Greenwood, Allan Barker, and Dick Lang in the #50 Corvette.
Chevrolet Corvette – Chevrolet 427 V8 6997cc N/A GT+2.5; Front-engined
Colors: white/dark blue/red Tyres: Goodyear
Sponsors: CIBIÉ/CHAMPION
Result: 10th (3rd in GT class).

Not a bad finish considering they had to put a transmission in the car during the race. Lang noticed the transmission was bad as soon as he started driving (the 3rd shift). They replaced the transmission after Lang's shift. Lang reports the car did fine except when hung up in traffic. Barker blamed Lang, but Chevy officials reported that the transmission was taken "right out of the crate" without checking the transmission for filings, etc. A shame.

A picture of this very cool car can be viewed here.

Greenwood was famous for his red, white and blue race cars.

Click HERE to view the Daytona program cover.

Truescale Minatures makes an excellent 1/43 scale model of this car which can be purchased on ebay or from diecast dealers. More about the 1/43 version: http://www.tsm-models.com/tsm/store/product/33

Here is the same car on the Cover of Corvette News (7/31):

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Racing With My Father-in-Law

By Jack Kitchen.

Racing with my Father In-Law:

A few years ago (2003) Dick’s son (Todd) and I coerced him into three days of motor sports in the desert. Todd and I have heard the stories of Dick’s days behind the wheel of corvettes hundred maybe thousands of times. I don’t care how many times I’ve heard them, I always ask to hear them again. The stories of running door-to-door with Yenko, Donahue, and Parnelli Jones were magical to me. Dick had unknowingly passed the dream of becoming a racecar driver onto Todd and I. I ended up volunteering for NASCAR teams in North Carolina and working at a dealership in a parts department for a year just to get closer to that dream. I built road-racing cars on a shoestring budget and was taking driving lessons when I could afford them. Todd has since put a racecar together and is seeing the dream of trading paint come true. [ed. Note: Low, low budget dirt track racing]

Todd and I wanted more than anything to spend a day on the track with Dick. Hesitantly he agreed to go to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. It must have been odd for Dick to go to a class that he could have easily taught. He never let on that he had raced Bob Bondurant long before the school was ever started.

We strapped in the cars for three days of instruction. I must have been smiling every second. I mowed over cones while learning trail braking and heal & toe shifting. Dick was given the name “Turbo” after schooling the youngsters on the skid pad. The Grand Finale of the school was a race. The students tested their new skills against each other. Todd dominated the first part of the race and made passes where I would never have attempted. Todd showed a couple of our classmates how to avoid crashing by driving through the desert. Dick steadily moved through the pack. I brought up the rear with a perma-grin! When the yellow flag was thrown, Todd made a devastating rookie mistake by passing the pace car. Victory slipped away from Todd and “Turbo” took the checkered flag and won once again that afternoon.

Dick claims that he is truly retired from racing and he would rather go hiking than race cars again. I got the chance to race with a true racing legend and it was an experience that I’ll never forget. Having a racing story to share with Dick is a priceless gift that I will be able to keep with me forever.

Todd Comments:

I agree completely with Jack. That racing school was the most fun I've probably ever had. Dad was a great sport to go along with it. He didn't enjoy it at all until he won that final race. Then he finally relaxed and smiled. Also, to be fair, I did blow it by passing the pace car, and I was gaining on dad with a few laps to go. But once he got through slower traffic he left me in the dust. I started pushing too hard to catch him and fell further back. Yet another lesson from Dad.

Langs Chevrolet History

Lang's Chevrolet was in business from 1926 until it was sold in 2016. Dick Lang began working for his father, Fred W. Lang, in the 1950s. Dick began running the business in the 1960s.

Here are some old pictures of the business.

Xenia 1926 Grand Opening of the Dealership

Fred Lang delivering a new car to a customer.

Used Car Lot in the 1940s(?)

"New" Fairborn Dealership circa 1953.

"Modern" Service and Parts Department in the 50s.

Dick Lang "promoting" the business at a young age.