1963 International G.T. Championship, Daytona

1963 American Challenge Cup Qualifying Race held on Sunday February 10, 1963.


Front Page of the Local Newspaper (Click to enlarge)

  




Lead Corvettes are driven by Junior Johnson and Rex White.  Paul Goldsmith is in the Tempest.

   



   





Warm Up Lap rear view.  Olds is the pace car.

   



 

Finishing Position Car Number Driver Car

1 3 Junior Johnson 1963 Corvette Stingray

2 4 Rex White 1963 Corvette Stingray

3 50 Paul Goldsmith 1963 Tempest

4 31 Doug Hooper 1963 Corvette Stingray

5 147 Johnny Allen 1962 Corvette

6 14 Bill Krause 1963 Corvette Stingray

7 8 Dick Lang 1963 Corvette Stingray (DNF -tires)


Distance: Five Laps, 12.5 Miles
Time: Four Minutes, 39.40 Seconds
Average Speed: 161.059 MPH
Fastest Single Lap: Second, 162.220

Basic GPa provides some interesting info on the race final (held the following weekend):

From what I have been able to learn, Junior Johnson practiced the car, but didn't like the way it handled so he got out of the car and was replaced by Bill Krause. The story continues that Rex White came in during the rain soaked American Challenge Cup and declined to go further. Mickey Thompson then got in and completed a few laps before the suspension gave out, supposedly the last time he drove a car in competition. Both cars had Chevrolet's new 427 "Mystery Motors". The next day in the Continental, Krause continued behind the wheel of the #4 Corvette, but Doug Hopper substituted for White in #3. There is some debate about these cars as records indicate that Krause and Hooper also practiced in Corvettes bearing "T" designations, usually used for spare cars.

1969 Daytona

The 24 Hours of Daytona (Feb 2, 1969)

Click here to read Owens-Corning Racing's newsletter regarding the preparations for the 1969 Daytona Race.

(The following is a quote from a self-decribed "BMW fanatic working in a Porsche Pit.")

At 3:08 pm on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon the green flag dropped and 62 snarling creations of metal, plastics, rubber and other assorted components began the 24 hours of Daytona. Exactly 24 hours later, 26 cars took the checkered flag behind Chuck Parsons in the Penske Hilton Lola T70, and those 24 hours became part of history. And in the sunshine, the victorious gladiators were drinking champagne and laughing, forgetting for the moment the tension, the sadness, the tiredness and the monotony of all those hours of racing.
Weeks and months of effort and experiment were over, although sooner for some than anticipated, as "to finish" became the name of the game. For a Maserati Berlinetta, the finish was before the start, as he pitted on the pace lap, and retired. On the 23rd lap, an Owens Corning Fiberglass Corvette driven by Tony De Lorenzo (co-driver-Dick Lang, Xenia, Ohio) had a flat tire, and while in the pits, the fuel pump ignited, burning the rear of the car seriously enough to become the first running retirement of the race.

66 Tony DeLorenzo / USA Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Owens Corning Fiberglass DNF-Fire GT+5.0 Dick Lang / USA - DND

*Dick Lang didn't get to drive because the fire occured before he got a chance.


[The tall guy at the top left of the photo of the car after the fire is Dick Lang --looking glum]

Click here to view model car from midlantic models based on that corvette.

An Owens-Corning Newsletter describes the events in detail. Click here to view the complete page.

According to the newsletter, DeLorenzo and Lang moved over to the team's other corvette (#67) and took over. Lang moved the car up to 11th place and then DeLorenzo took over for Lang and moved it up to 10th before he wrecked it into the wall after a blown tire caused him to lose control.  (The flat was caused by crash debris on the track)



 

 

The end of the day:


Oh, here's a picture of actor James Garner at Daytona.

Nice story in Corvette Magazine on the success of Thompson and DeLorenzo with the Owens-Corning team:   Corvette Magazine Story

1970 Daytona

January 31, 1970
At the Daytona International Raceway, the Daytona 24 Hours race results:
• 3rd in GT +2000 class: Tony DeLorenzo and Dick Lang in the #6 Corvette.

The 1970 program cover (click on picture for larger view):

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):