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NASCAR History: Dodge adds up 160 wins 165 poles and two titles in 50 years

3 January 2001

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.-- On May 30, 1950 the green flag fell on the first NASCAR race that included a Dodge in the field. The place was Canfield Motor Speedway, Canfield, Ohio, and the driver was Carl Wilkerson, who finished 25th that day out of 29 qualifiers.

It wasn't until 1953 that Dodge had a strong presence in NASCAR racing -- when Dodge saw a wholesale defection of drivers from the Plymouth ranks, thanks to the introduction of the all-new "Red Ram" Hemi* engine. The new Dodge engine displaced just over 241 cubic inches and featured an over square 3.44-inch bore and 3.25-inch stroke. The cast-iron cylinder heads featured hemispherical combustion chambers and were fitted with proportioned valves.

The Dodge chassis that season was the two-door Coronet hard top. The redesigned 1953 Coronet line weighed in just short of 3,500 pounds stretched over a 114-inch wheelbase. The chassis combined with the power of the new Hemi engine made Dodge a formidable opponent.

Lee Petty proved just how good the Dodge combination was in the very first race of the 1953 season, run at the Palm Beach Speedway in Palm Beach, Florida. Petty qualified his Dodge seventh in the field and by lap 49 of the 200-lap event, Petty found himself out in front. That is where he remained for the rest of the race. When all was said and done, Petty had Dodge's first ever Grand National stock car victory.

Petty went on to win at Richmond, Martinsville (Dodge swept the Martinsville races that season as Jim Paschal drove his Dodge to victory there), Shreveport and Spartanburg that year. By the end of the 1953 season, Petty's five wins and 25 top-five finishes earned him more than $18,000 and second place in the points chase, while Herb Thomas won the championship in a Hudson.

Dodge scored a total of two wins over the next two seasons, but for 1956, things changed. That year, Dodge visited victory lane 11 times -- Buck Baker earned the season championship with five wins, Lee Petty and Speedy Thompson won twice, Royce Haggerty and Jack Smith won once. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the high mark of the decade for Dodge drivers in the 1950s.

A New Engine Drives New Success

Things were quiet for Dodge in the early 1960s with only one win in the first three years of the decade. Realizing they needed to work harder to find victory lane, Chrysler engineers started building a big block engine during the winters of 1962 and 1963 in hopes of having it up and running for the 1964 Daytona 500. With most of the characteristics of the current engine kept in place, the engineering team set out to design an all-new induction system.

The first 426 race Hemi assembly took place near the end of November 1963. That was followed by dyno testing in December that produced staggering results -- horsepower figures exceeded the 400 maximum that were readable on the dynamometer.

"The introduction of the 426 Hemi engine to NASCAR was much bigger than we realized at that time." said John Wehrly, Dodge NASCAR Craftsman Truck Engine Program Manager, who joined the Dodge effort in 1962 as an engineer to help with the creation of the Hemi engine. "We had a short amount of time from 1963 to 1964 to get the engine ready. We had our problems and broke some engines, but the end product spoke for itself on the track. It was probably a greater effort to get the Hemi up and running back then than what it would take today."

Qualifying for the 1964 Daytona 500 was the first opportunity for the 426 Hemi race engine to show its strength and that is exactly what it did. Paul Goldsmith, driving a Plymouth Belvedere, was one of the first drivers to qualify with a Hemi. He was clocked at just over 174 miles per hour, shattering the old qualifying record by more than 14 miles per hour. Richard Petty, also powered by a Hemi, qualified second for the Great American Race. When the checkered flag fell, Petty had lapped the entire field. Four of the top five finishers that day were Dodge and Plymouth drivers powered by the 426 Hemi.

Thanks to the horsepower of the Hemi engine, Dodge won 14 races that season and Plymouth added another 12 for a total of 26 wins in the 62 races run that year. Richard Petty made eight trips to victory lane and turned in a total of 37 top-five finishes to win his first Grand National championship. David Pearson, who had eight wins and 29 top fives in a Cotton Owens Dodge, gave him a third place finish in the points race.

In 1965, NASCAR officials silenced the roar of the Hemi engine due to rule changes: the main rule change stating that a NASCAR team could not run an engine that was not offered to the public. Due to the changes, a majority of the Dodge and Plymouth teams sat out the season until the rules were modified mid-season. David Pearson won three races late that season, but that would be it for the year.

At the beginning of 1966, Dodge responded to NASCAR's rule change by offering the Hemi engine as a regular production option, therefore, allowing the Hemi back on NASCAR tracks. The Dodge and Hemi combination won 17 races that season with David Pearson in the No. 6 Cotton Owens Dodge winning 15 races and his first Grand National championship.

Over the next two years, Dodge added 10 wins to its NASCAR total. However, the Hemi engine powered Richard Petty to an amazing 27 wins in 1967 to go along with 11 top-five finishes.

"Dodge played a huge role in my racing career and that is why Petty Enterprises is going back," said Richard Petty. "Three of my seven championships were won in a Dodge. The last two were with the Dodge Charger, the car I probably enjoyed racing the most in my career."

Dodge Wins Aero War on a Wing

In 1969, attention turned from engines to the aero war that was beginning to heat up. That season, rival Ford introduced the sleek new Fairlane and Mercury Montego models. In response, Dodge executives gave the green light on the creation of the Charger 500.

This new sleek vehicle was somewhat successful early in the 1969 season, but mainly on the short tracks.

Dodge executives needed something else for the super speedways so they changed the Charger body to have a pointy beak at the front and the now famous radical rear wing that soared several feet above the rear deck lid. These additions were to help with the airflow in race conditions. Along with the changes to the chassis, the name of the car was also changed to the Dodge Daytona.

The Dodge Daytona debuted at the brand-new Talladega Superspeedway on Pole Day. Bobby Isaac, running in the No. 71 K&K Dodge Daytona, scored the pole. But the fastest qualifier turned out to be Charlie Glotzbach with a new NASCAR record speed of 199.386 mph. Richard Brickhouse, also driving a Dodge Daytona, won the race that weekend, his only NASCAR victory. At the end of the first full season of the factory backed aero wars, Dodge drivers turned in 22 wins.

In 1970, more of the winged cars ran on the NASCAR tracks. Dodge won 17 races that season while the Plymouth Superbird won 21. Bobby Isaac came out on top in the season points chase with 11 wins and 32 top five finishes in his Dodge Daytona. It was an incredible year for the winged cars, but it was the last. At the end of 1970, NASCAR President Bill France announced that the wings would have to go.

The Charger Returns to Victory Lane

With the winged chassis now a thing of the past, Dodge drivers once again looked to the Charger chassis. Over the next two years they visited victory lane 12 times while Richard Petty dominated in a Plymouth and won the 1971 and 1972 NASCAR titles.

In 1973, Richard Petty turned to Dodge full time and to no one's surprise, the combination turned out to be a successful one. Over the next five seasons, Petty raced his Dodge Charger to 37 wins and two more NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. Also during that five-year span, three other drivers found victory lane in a Dodge -- Buddy Baker, Dave Marcis, and the late Neil Bonnett, who claimed the final Dodge victory in NASCAR history at Ontario Motor Speedway in the last race of the 1977 season.

"I started driving for Ray Fox at Charlotte two years before and I recall leading a lot of laps the first time out", said Buddy Baker. "I came back in 1967 with a Dodge (Charger) fast back and won my first race. That is where the fairy tale got started for me. Looking back at my career, a pretty good amount of my wins came in a Dodge."

In the 27 years that Dodge ran in Winston Cup, their drivers and their successes have been impressive: 160 wins, 165 poles, two NASCAR manufacturers' titles, and five drivers who drove a Dodge during their championship season (Lee Petty, Buck Baker, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, and Richard Petty).

It has been just over 15 years since Phil Good drove the last Dodge in a Nascar race (June 9, 1985 at Pocono where he finished 30th); now Dodge engines will roar once again.

"Our legacy in racing is an important part of the Dodge brand, from powerful engines to innovative car design to some of the best drivers in the sport," said Lou Patane, Vice President of Motorsports Operations and Mopar Performance Parts. "We are resuming that legacy with a new powerful Winston Cup engine, the sleek design of the Dodge Intrepid R/T and a great roster of teams and drivers. I grew up watching Lee Petty dominate the sport in a Dodge and I look forward to seeing Dodge dominate again."

Dodge will make its debut in NASCAR Winston Cup racing at the 2001 Daytona 500 with five teams and 10 race cars. The teams include Evernham Motorsports, with Bill Elliott and Casey Atwood; Bill Davis Racing with Ward Burton and Dave Blaney; Petty Enterprises with Kyle Petty and John Andretti; Melling Racing with Stacy Compton; and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates with driver Sterling Marlin and a second driver yet to be announced.

Text Provided By Molly N. Morter

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.