Just seven years into a proven and successful racing career, a young Roger Penske decided to pull into the pits for the final time and focus his attention on a new auto dealership he'd acquired.
But his time away from racing was short-lived. In 1965 — the same year he started the dealership — he founded Penske Racing. More than 50 years later, Penske Racing is a worldwide conglomerate, and the Penske name is legendary.
One of Penske's first acquisitions under the Penske Racing banner was a 1966 Corvette coupe. It had been the development vehicle for the game-changing L88 engine that debuted a year later with the '67 Corvette. Only 20 of those were produced that year; they're worth millions now.
Racing under the Sunoco brand and colors, the '66 Penske L88 Development vehicle was the only mid-year Corvette to post GT class wins at consecutive Daytona and Sebring tracks. (Photo: David W. Stanley)
Penske's earlier success at racing (he was named Sports Illustrated SCCA Driver of the Year) led to a guardian angel in the form of Corvette's godfather, Zora Arkus-Duntov.
Arkus-Duntov had somewhat surreptitiously been working behind the scenes, outside the in-place ban on racing from GM. He wanted to see Corvette become a powerhouse on the track, and he facilitated the delivery of the '66 development car to Penske.
Penske formed a racing team and sent the late Dick Guldstrand to pick the car up in Detroit. As Guldstrand told the story years later, he almost froze during the 800-mile drive in January back to Penske's Pennsylvania shop in the radio-heater delete '66 coupe.
At the recent 2016 Corvettes at Carlisle, the legendary 1966 developmental L88 coupe, which raced under the Penske Racing banner, was displayed in the annual "Chip's Choice" collection of historically-significant Corvettes. The fully-restored vehicle is owned by Kevin Mackay. (Photo: Michael Brown)
After being prepped for racing, the Corvette — with heavy duty brakes and suspension, an M-22 "rock crusher" transmission and 36-gallon fuel tank — bowed into racing at the 24 hour Daytona event. The Corvette had entered a rarefied atmosphere with one of the fastest qualifying times ever at Daytona.
At one point in the race with driver George Wintersteen behind the wheel, the L88 collided with a competitor in the race, and the front end was heavily damaged. The headlights were destroyed.
While engineers scratched their heads about what to do to save the effort on the track, someone cut through all the complications and taped flashlights on the damaged front end. They did little good, but kept the car legal and in the race during Guldstrand's turn at the wheel. With a top speed of 168 mph at one point in the race, the team eventually took first place in the GT class and posted an 11th place overall finish.
That success led Sunoco's sponsorship to green light the car for the 12 Hours at Sebring. The car posted a similar and impressive GT win and a 9th place overall finish.
Roger Penske was off and running as a team owner, and the rest is a chapter in Corvette racing history. Though Penske sold the car after the Sebring event, and it changed hands numerous times during its racing history, the '66 L88 remains the only mid-year Corvette to garner first in class in consecutive Daytona and Sebring races. Its success was the cornerstone of the Penske juggernaut in racing and related businesses worldwide.
And in a real sense, it all started with a some flashlights duct-taped to a damaged Corvette racer half a century ago.
Just weeks ago, Corvette restorer and historian Kevin Mackay (left) presented Roger Penske with a full album of historical and current photos of the 1966 Developmental L88 Corvette that helped launch the worldwide Penske conglomerate. It was the first time the two had met. (Photo: Courtesy Kevin Mackay)
