To win at NASCAR against stiff competition from Ford in the late 1960s, Dodge had to think outside the box. The Hemi was a great engine, but they needed more than brute power to beat the aerodynamically superior Ford Talladegas. So instead of increasing horsepower, they cut the aerodynamic drag produced by the cars, which would result in less horsepower required to push the car through the air at a given speed. Lower drag combined with their established powerful Hemi would logically result in a faster race car. And that is how the 1969 Charger Daytona was conceived and produced. Designed to cut through the air as efficiently as possible, the car looked like a rocket ship blasting down the race track straights; and it worked, the Daytona was the first car to average 200 mph in a closed loop track, driven by Stock Car champion Buddy Baker.
This Daytona was raced by the K&K Insurance team in NASCAR and carried Bobby Issac all the way to the 1970 Championship. After winning in NASCAR, the car was slightly modified and raced at the Bonneville Salt Flats, where it broke 28 records in the land speed trials there. The car then went back to NASCAR, and was later donated to a Museum, and eventually Tim Wellborn took advantage of the opportunity to purchase it for the museum based on its great history and since it was the car that inspired him to begin a love affair with Mopars.
FACTS:
• K&K Insurance was started in 1952 to establish a benevolent fund for injured race car drivers
• Piloted by Bobby Issac, the K&K Daytona won 1970 NASCAR championship, ending Ford’s two year reign
• K&K Crew Chief Harry Hyde is the inspiration for the Harry Hogge character in Days of Thunder
• Hyde would never let a factory Dodge Daytona park next to his Daytona race car
• Hyde donated this car to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 1976 as non-running roller
• In 1995 Tim Wellborn works with Bob Lutz of Chrysler to assemble their first Hemi since 1971, a 528 c.i. crate motor
• Noted Chrysler restorer Roger Gibson incorporates many original components into the 528 short block to complete the car
• In 1999, Harry Hyde’s son, Henry Lee helps Tim dial in the suspension using his father’s original set up notes
• 2015 the K&K Insurance Daytona returns to the Wellborn Musclecar Museum, unveiled during the 45th Aerowarriors Reunion
• Well documented and one of a kind
6 июл 2015
