1972 Trans-American Sedan Championship
The 1972 Trans-American Championship was the seventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. The first seven rounds used split classes, while the last four rounds had the Under 2500cc class only. Milt Minter brought Pontiac its first win, at Mid-Ohio. George Follmer and American Motors won the over 2.5L division, while John Morton led Datsun to the championship title of the "Two-Five Challenge".
1972 is considered to be the end of the series' "golden era". From 1973 onward, Trans Am would evolve into a lesser clone of the rival IMSA GT Championship, with similarly modified cars, but with a more conventional focus with vehicles such as the Chevrolet Beretta being used. IMSA GT's focus on exotic cars such as Ferraris and Porsches provided a more adaptable format, in comparison to Trans Am's reliance on domestic performance sedans.
Schedule
Rnd | Date | Circuit | Distance | Over 2.5 Winning Car | Under 2.5 Winning Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Over 2.5 Winning Driver(s) | Under 2.5 Winning Driver(s) | ||||
1 | May 6 | Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut | 130.05 mi (209.30 km) (U2L) 200.43 mi (322.56 km) (O2L) | AMC Javelin | Datsun 510 |
George Follmer | Bob Sharp | ||||
2 | May 29 | Bryar Motorsports Park, Loudon, New Hampshire | 112 mi (180 km) (U2L) 152 mi (245 km) (O2L) | AMC Javelin | Datsun 510 |
George Follmer | John Morton | ||||
3 | June 4 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio | 120 mi (190 km) (U2L) 180 mi (290 km) (O2L) | Pontiac Firebird | Datsun 510 |
Milt Minter | Peter Gregg | ||||
4 | June 17 | Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York | 114.818 mi (184.782 km) (U2L) 192.489 mi (309.781 km) (O2L) | AMC Javelin | Datsun 510 |
George Follmer | Peter Gregg | ||||
5 | July 2 July 4 | Donnybrooke International Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesota | 150 mi (240 km) (U2L) 210 mi (340 km) (O2L) | AMC Javelin | Alfa Romeo GTV |
George Follmer | Horst Kwech | ||||
6 | July 16 | Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | 108 mi (174 km) (U2L) 200 mi (320 km) (O2L) | Ford Mustang | Datsun 510 |
Warren Tope | John Morton | ||||
7 | July 30 | Sanair Super Speedway, Saint-Pie, Quebec | 104 mi (167 km) (U2L) 169 mi (272 km) (O2L) | Ford Mustang | Alfa Romeo GTA |
Warren Tope | Bert Everett | ||||
8 | August 19 | Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia | 126 mi (203 km) | not contested | Datsun 510 |
John Morton | |||||
9 | September 17 | Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon | 105.325 mi (169.504 km) | not contested | Datsun 510 |
John Morton | |||||
10 | October 15 | Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California | 102.5 mi (165.0 km) | not contested | Datsun 510 |
John Morton | |||||
11 | October 28 | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California | 127.5 mi (205.2 km) | not contested | Datsun 510 |
John Morton | |||||
[1] |
Championships
Drivers' championships
The points system was as follows:
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Over 2.5L
|
|
Under 2.5L
|
|
Manufacturers' championships
Only the highest-finishing car scored points for the manufacturer. The points system was as follows:
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Over 2.5L
Best 6 results count toward the championship.
Pos | Manufacturer | LRP | BRY | MDO | WGL | DON | ELK | SAN | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | American Motors | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 48 (52) |
2 | Ford | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 34 |
3 | Pontiac | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 28 | ||
4 | Chevrolet | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 24 (26) |
[1][2] |
Under 2.5L
Best 9 results count towards the championship.
Pos | Manufacturer | LRP | BRY | MDO | WGL | DON | ELK | SAN | ATL | POR | LAG | RIV | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Datsun | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 81 (88) |
2 | Alfa Romeo | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 40 (51) |
3 | Toyota | 5 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||
4 | Ford | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||
5 | Volkswagen | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
6 | Volvo | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||
7 | BMW | 6 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||
8 | Austin | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||
[1][2] |
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "1972 Trans-Am Box Scores" (PDF). Sports Car Club of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- ^ a b c d de Jong, Frank. "1972 Trans-Am Championship Table". Touring Car Racing History. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2011.