1-14-66 – Penske’s 1st Team Race Car Rolls Off Assembly Line
Corvette Timeline Tales: Roger Penske launches his team owner career with a 1966 427 Corvette with a pre-production L88, and wins!
For 1966, the new L72 “big-block” was offered as it was designed to be, a 427 cubic-inch beast. Duntov’s next step was to provide an all-out racing version of the 427 L88, with aluminum heads. This would become Zora’s greatest “Racer Kit” option, the legendary L88.
Roger Penske has a stellar career as a race car driver. Penske started as a hill climb racer in Vineland, New Jersey, competing in the SCCA’s Philadelphia region, driving a Porsche. Roger was a natural and soon launched his professional racing career at Marlboro Motor Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. In 1970, a total of 975 out of 17,316 new Corvettes were ordered painted “Marlboro Maroon” in commemoration of the famous race track. By 1961, SCCA named Roger Penske Driver of the Year, and he was driving Formula 1 and NASCAR race cars.
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This put Roger in good standing with Zora Arkus-Duntov as one of his go-to drivers for Corvette. Auto racing was moving away from its reputation as a blood sport by the early 1960s, and Penske smartly hung up his helmet by 1965 to pursue his business career. This new phase included a Chevrolet Dealership, a racing team owner, and his Penske Truck Leasing businesses.
Roger Penske launches his career as a race car team owner
Penske’s first entry as a team owner happened in late 1965 and early 1966. Using his Duntov connection, Penske was able to acquire a 1966 L72 427/425 Corvette Coupe. However, there was a secret plan that was in the works. First, the car was race-prepared at Penske’s shop in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Later, a preproduction 427 L88 was installed into the 1966 Coupe and entered in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona.
Penske hired the late Dick Guldstrand to prepare the car for Daytona, but first Guldie had to pick up the car at the St. Louis Corvette assembly plant. When the line workers rolled the car off the assembly line, the experimental engine wouldn’t start! Frustrated, the workers pushed the car off to the side and told Guldstrand, “Here, kid, this is all yours!”
Dick Guldstrand brings home Penske’s first team owner win
Dick “Mr. Corvette” Guldstrand got the monster Vette started, but his next problem was with the car’s heater, or lack thereof! This was a pre-production L88 “package” (minus the L88) that was designed for racing, so there was no heater. Guldstrand arrived from warm, sunny California, wearing tennis shoes, and had to drive the car back to the Philadelphia area in the middle of a very cold winter.
But the line workers helped Dick out. They wrapped him up in moving blankets and sent him on his way! The late Gib Hufstader, Zora’s right-hand man and field engineer, made sure that Penske’s new Corvette had all the parts that would be included in the eventual RPO L88 package, plus the optional 36-gallon fuel tank.
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Years later, Guldstrand loved telling the story of how on one visit to a gas station for fill up with high-test gas, the gas station attendant, not knowing that Guldstrand’s stock-looking red Sting Ray had an oversized fuel tank, thought there was something wrong with his pump. The gas jockey thought that perhaps the Corvette had a fuel tank leak when the pump ran up, 20, 25, 30 gallons of gasoline, and began looking under the car for leaking gasoline!
Racing is High-Drama Battle on Wheels
Guldstrand took delivery of the Corvette on January 14, 1966. Just three weeks later, the Corvette was fully race-prepared for battle and on the Daytona track. Penske’s racing battle began even before the race started. Tech officials did not like some of the modifications the Penske Team made to the Corvette. They didn’t notice that the 427 engine wasn’t the stock L72 427 and the hood was not the stock big-block hood, but instead focused on the Corvette’s modified wheel flares. After adjustments were made, the Penske Corvette was in the race.
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Hot rod builder and C1, C2, and C4 Corvette expert, George Haddad, owner of Fabulous Restorations, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, along with help from retired Corvette engineers, Gib Hufstader, built a re-creation of the 1966 Penske Daytona Corvette. Check out the story.
During the middle of the night, Guldstrand t-boned a smaller, slower car, blowing most of the front clip and headlights off the Corvette. The rules required that all cars had to have forward-facing “lights”. Crewmember and Sunoco chemical engineer, Bill Preston jumper into action. Preston duct-taped two heavy-duty aircraft flashlights to the tops of the front fenders. Penske yelled at Guldstrand to get out there and follow the fastest car, which happened to be a Ferrari. “Mr. Corvette” paced the Ferrari for the rest of the race, and the Penske team took their first major win.
Roger Penske begins his 26-year sponsor relationship with Sunoco
Sunoco was so happy with Penske’s effort that they extended their sponsorship for the 12 Hours of Sebring the following month. Penske entered his Daytona class-winning 1966 427 Corvette and one of the two Chevrolet-built 1963 Grand Sport Corvette Roadsters. Sunoco’s only had one request: that the Rally Red Corvette and the Grand Sport Corvette be painted Sunoco Blue.
Seven weeks later, the Penske Team had two bad-ass Corvettes on the grid. Dick Guldstrand and Dr. Dick Thompson drove the Grand Sport, but did not finish as a result of suspension damage when the Grand Sport clipped a slower car. George Wintersteen and Bud Moore took 1st place in the GT+5000 Class. What started as Penske’s two-race Sunoco sponsorship in 1966 lasted until 1982.
Team Penske, the Winningest Team in Sports?
Team Penske went on to score over 560 race wins, 48 championships that included 20 Indy 500 wins. Depending on the criteria, Team Penske is considered by many to be “the most successful sports team ever. So, let the record show that Roger Penske’s spectacular career as a race car team owner started with an off-the-assembly-line big-block 427 Corvette. – Scott
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