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There is nothing better than the historic Trans-Am race series. Sure, now we have extremely high-performance Grand Am and GT cars to watch on curvy road courses, but nothing can beat watching a brutish classic muscle car take on the same courses that their more agile counterparts race professionally today.
Sam Posey and his ’70 Trans Am Challenger competing at Laguna Seca in 1970 Images: Historic Trans-Am Series: Drivers
Not only are the cars that race in the historic Trans-Am Series amazing and fun to watch, they also bring with them a lot of history, like the ‘70 Trans Am Challenger once raced by Sam Posey. Take a look at this iconic Challenger stretching its legs on the track once again at the 2008 Monterey Historics race in the YouTube video above.
Posey started his race career early on in life, moving into the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans-Am Series in 1968 behind the wheel of the Sunoco Camaro for the Penske race team at age 24.
In 1969, Posey drove a factory Ford Mustang to his first win at the Lime Rock Trans-Am race. It wasn’t until 1970, though that he broke into racing Mopars in the Trans-Am Series.
For 1970, the year known as the greatest season of professional road racing in history by many racing historians, Posey was set up with his famous 1970 #77 Trans Am Challenger under Ray Caldwell’s Autodynamics team. That year, Classic Wax sponsored the car.
With a chassis built by fellow racer Dan Gurney’s AAR shop, the car was built by Ray Caldwell’s Autodynamics, the famous Formula Vee builder out of Marblehead, Massachusetts. It was powered by a 303cui V8, a destroked 340cui engine required in the Trans Am series, that was capable of producing an impressive 460hp. At 3,200 pounds, the Challenger was a beast on the track.
In the Trans-Am Series, many teams “acid dipped” their cars, reducing the amount of metal on the vehicles for weight reduction. Although this was not a legal practice, the Challenger saw its own acid bath in 1970 and almost got away with it until the team offered John Taminus, the Chief Technical Inspector a beer. After the Challenger passed the rigorous inspection at Laguna Seca, Taminus was leaning on it relaxing with his beer when he dented the acid-compromised roof with his elbow.
Still being raced, the ’70 Challenger formerly driven by Sam Posey looks the same today as it did 40 years ago
This of course didn’t go over well and the team was told they could not race until the roof was replaced. Lesson learned, the Autodynamics team got permission from Dodge within an hour to torch the roof off a Challenger that was sitting in a near-by dealership’s showroom so that they would still be able to compete.
Although Ray Caldwell’s Autodynamics team was a last-minute entry in the 1970 Trans-Am Series, the Challenger led Posey to three third-place finishes.
These podium placements led to the car finishing fourth in points that year, beating out Chevrolet, Pontiac and Plymouth.
Unfortunately in 1971, all American manufacturers pulled out of Trans-Am racing, ending the Challenger’s initial career. But thanks to the historic Trans-Am Series, the car lives on.
Now owned by Ken Epsman, the Challenger competes in historic Trans-Am style races like the one in the video above, chasing down Fords, Chevrolets, Pontiacs, AMCs and Plymouths just like the old days. At the 2008 Monterey Historics held August 16th, 2008, Epsman fought to the end for the win with the Challenger, placing first in front of Jamey Mazzotta in a ‘70 Ford Boss 302 and Tomy Drissi in a ‘67 Camaro. Check out some amazing in-car footage of the 2008 race inside Sam Posey’s Challenger in the video above.
