Originally Posted by
bobzdar
The '77/'78 trans am was the exact same body as the '70 that did race in trans am (both 2nd generation). The only difference is the nose cone and rear bumper. The body is also identical (with exception of the front and rear fascia) to the '70 camaro. There were 2 '70 trans ams that raced in trans am (is that redundant?), one the blue car posted earlier and the other a white trans am raced by Jerry Titus before he was killed in it during testing a riverside I think it was - he and the car were very quick but when he died, Pontiac's program in trans am died with him. They ran 303ci destroked short deck versions of the Pontiac 400 with ram air IV heads. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to allow it in VTA as the 2nd gen trans am and camaro did run in TA in 1970, where the other cars posted never did.
Jerry Titus was killed at Road America in Wisconsin. Actually he was in a coma at the hospital for a few days then died. In fact the pit lane/infield access bridge he hit (and was subsequently named for him) was just torn out in the last couple years...I can't get used to not seeing it on the climb up from Canada Corner.
Ken Miles was the big name who was killed testing at Riverside in the Ford "J" car in late '66.
Pontiacs continued to be run after his death...pretty much EVERYBODY'S TA program "died" after 1970. The only real "factory" team in '71 was Penske's Javelins. Ford, Chevrolet, BOTH Mopar branches all were run by privateers from '71 on.
I'm pretty sure the Firebirds ran SBC engines. In fact (I'll think of his name as soon as I hit "submit"...Terry Goodson, Goodall...I should just break down and grab the book off my shelf) '69 Firebird was a re-capped Penske '68 Camaro.