Corvette’s Finest Hour: The 1971 24 Hours of Daytona

Corvettes finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at the 1971 24 Hours of Daytona

The running of the 1971 24 Hours of Daytona stands as one of the most important and high-profile road-racing victories in Corvette history. By that point, the Owens-Corning Fiberglas L88 Corvettes raced by Jerry Thompson and Tony DeLorenzo were already legendary. They weren’t just competitive — they were dominant. The not-so-funny joke around the pits then was, “Who’s going to win 2nd place?”

Racing in two different series, Thompson and DeLorenzo put together an astonishing 22 consecutive victories, with car #12 alone winning 11 races between 1969 and 1971. No other L88 Corvette program before or since has matched that level of sustained success.

But the 1971 Daytona victory was about far more than a win streak.

It marked the end of an era — the last race where Thompson and DeLorenzo benefited from Chevrolet’s quiet, behind-the-scenes support. While it was no secret that the team received factory engineering assistance, DeLorenzo later explained that the help never involved cash. There were no envelopes passed under tables — only parts exchanges and technical guidance. That was it.

After Daytona, even that limited support disappeared. Just as significantly, Owens-Corning Fiberglas ended its sponsorship, closing the chapter on one of the most successful private Corvette racing programs ever assembled. Given the fact that everyone in the car world knew that Corvettes were fiberglass-bodied cars, it’s surprising that Owens-Corning Fiberglas didn’t stay with their sponsorship for Corvette racers. It could have lasted decades.

The overall winner of the 1971 Daytona 24 was the Porsche 917K driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen, with the Corvette #11’s GT victory coming against fierce prototype competition.”

Chevrolet Changes Course

By 1970, American road racing was changing rapidly. Trans-Am racing was red-hot, and fans couldn’t get enough of all-out battles between racing versions of America’s most popular muscle cars — Camaros, Mustangs, Firebirds, Plymouth AAR ’Cudas, Dodge Challenger T/As, and AMC Javelins.

While these cars technically began life on assembly lines, their Trans-Am racing counterparts were a long way from stock. That didn’t matter to fans. The racing was fast, loud, aggressive, and brand loyalty ran deep. The same phenomenon was playing out in NHRA drag racing, where Pro Stock and Super Stock competition filled grandstands across the country.

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From Chevrolet’s point of view, the math was impossible to ignore.

A 1970 LT-1 Corvette, powered by the same basic small-block architecture as the Z-28 Camaro, typically sold for $5,200 to $6,400 when comparably equipped. A 1970 Z-28 Camaro, meanwhile, sold for $3,400 to $4,500.

Production numbers told the real story. Chevrolet built just 1,287 LT-1 Corvettes in 1970 — compared to 8,733 Z-28 Camaros. That’s 678% more Z-28 Camaros than LT-1 Corvettes. Chevrolet bean counters and marketing people loved that. A few years later, John Greenwood got the same deal when Chevrolet wanted him to race Chevy Monzas in the IMSA series. Greenwood said, “No thanks.”

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From a bottom-line perspective, it made perfect sense for Chevrolet to focus its promotional and racing dollars on the Camaro. The old saying still applied: “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” And far more buyers could afford a Z-28 than an LT-1 Corvette.

A Raw Deal for Corvette Racing

GM stylist and National Corvette Museum Hall of Famer, Randy Wittine designed the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corvette’s distinctive livery.

Despite years of success campaigning Corvettes, Thompson and DeLorenzo found themselves on the outside looking in. Because of his long-standing relationship with Chevrolet R&D chief Frank Winchell, Jim Hall and his Chaparral team secured factory backing. Thompson and DeLorenzo, meanwhile, entered the Trans-Am Series in late 1970 without any Chevrolet engineering assistance.

Apparently, winning races for Corvette no longer counted for much.

By any measure, it was a raw deal, and Thompson and DeLorenzo knew it.

Daytona Redemption

Despite the shifting corporate priorities, the 1971 24 Hours of Daytona turned into a massive success for Corvette. Unlike eight years earlier — when Zora Arkus-Duntov’s 1963 Z06 Corvette made its racing debut at the 1962 L.A. Times Grand Prix — the mighty 427 L88 Corvettes dominated the GT+2500 class. The GT+2500 class refers to Grand Touring cars with engines over 2.5 liters — a category that pitted the L88 Corvettes directly against high-powered production and modified sports cars.

At the finish, Corvettes claimed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in class, a stunning display of durability and speed in one of the most punishing endurance races in the world.

 

 

Here’s how the Corvette field finished:

• 1st in GT+2500 class, 4th overall
  Owens-Corning Fiberglas #11 Corvette, driven by Tony DeLorenzo and Don Yenko — the best overall finish for Corvette at Daytona to that point.

• 2nd in GT+2500 class, 6th overall
  Dave Heinz Racing #57 1969 Corvette L88, driven by Orr Costanzo and Dave Heinz.

• 3rd in GT+2500 class, 10th overall
  John Greenwood’s #50 Corvette, driven by John Greenwood, Allan Barker, and Dick Lang.

• 4th in GT+2500 class, 18th overall
  Robert Luebbe’s #64 Corvette, driven by Robert Luebbe, Bob Baechle, and John Orr.

Note: Jerry Thompson and John Mahler drove the Owens-Corning Fiberglas #12 Corvette, but failed to finish due to a timing chain failure.

Auction Expectations were high

In 2008, the 1962 Grady Davis Gulf One Corvette sold at auction for $1,485,000, and the 1963 Z06 Gulf One Corvette brought $1,050,000. With credentials like Daytona wins and an unmatched race record, many expected #12 to reach similar territory.

Bidding surged quickly to $730,000, stalled, and ended in a NO SALE when the reserve was not met. In that moment, it was clear that the seller and the market had different opinions about the car’s value. Five months later, in January 2013, Rick Hendrick purchased the Owens-Corning Fiberglas L88 Corvette at Barrett-Jackson for approximately $1.1 million.

Once a Racer, Always a Racer

As a final footnote to this remarkable story, both Jerry Thompson and Tony DeLorenzo participated in a panel discussion at the “Zora As We Knew Him” event in Daytona Beach in 2023.

George Haddad, owner of Fabulous Restorations in Fort Lauderdale, built a meticulous recreation of the Owens-Corning Fiberglas 1969 L88 Corvette with help from Thompson, DeLorenzo, and Corvette engineer Gib Hufstader. Haddad later shared a moment from 2016 that perfectly captured what racing meant to Thompson.

“Jerry got into the driver’s seat, and I was in the passenger seat. Jerry fired up the L88, and I saw a distinctive change in his appearance. I’d been working with Jerry for years, so I knew him as a man in his mid-70s. But when the L88 came to life, Jerry grabbed the steering wheel with both hands until his knuckles went white. His expression changed completely — he was in racing mode again. He was 30 years old and ready to take on the competition. It was amazing.”

Once a racer, always a racer. – Scott