1970 Trans-Am Championship

[Steve Holmes]

Round seven of the championship was held at Elkhart Lake, and would best be remembered as the event in which the popular Jerry Titus lost his life when the steering failed on his Firebird, and he careened into a bridge abutment in Saturday practice. It would take 17 days before he succumbed to his injuries.

Jones was on pole, with his team-mate alongside, but it was Donohue who won the race, thanks to a clever plan by Roger Penske to bring his driver in early, fill the car with fuel, and send him back out where he’d he able to run fast laps all afternoon in clear traffic. Trans-Am cars had to make at least one pitstop for fuel to make race distance, and most started the race on full tanks, then stopped later in the race to make the finish. Penske reversed the cycle, and Donohue won American Motors its second Trans-Am race.

Follmer made it as far as turn one when Leslie went spearing through the middle of the two Mustangs, and all three left the track. Jones and Leslie recovered, but the Camaro driver was black-flagged for his efforts. Savage finished second, just under 1 minute behind, while Posey notched up a good result in the Challenger for third.

On to Canada and Mt. Tremblant, and Bud Moore had entered three cars, with A.J Foyt fronting up to support Jones and Follmer. However, he didn’t even get to start, as Jones wrecked his car in practice. Hall had decided to step out of the second Chaparral Camaro and plugged Vic Elford into the drivers seat instead. Jones was on pole, with Donohue’s Javelin next, while Follmer and Leslie shared row two.

Penske again brought Donohue in early for fuel, and again the red, white, blue Sunoco Javelin reached the finish first, with Follmer and Jones trailing well behind.

Watkins Glen was the location for Round 9, and Jones and Donohue again shared the front row, with Elford and Posey next. Jones led Donohue for the first 30 laps, until the heavens opened, and suddenly Elford began moving his way to the front from fifth where he’d been for much of the race. He eventually pushed through to lead, and drew out a comfortable margin, until eventually the rain stopped, and the track began to dry. Then Donohue, now lying second, began closing the gap, but ran out of time, and finished just under 10 seconds behind the Camaro driver, while Follmer placed third.

With two rounds left, Ford had all but wrapped up the championship (there was no driver championship until 1971). But with teams looking towards the 1971 season, efforts were made to make a good impression with a view to negotiating contracts. At Kent, Dan Gurney stepped back into the second AAR Cuda which had been laying dormant, while Ray Caldwell had a second Challenger constructed for Ronnie Bucknum to drive. Terry Godsall, who’d hired John Cordts to take over the Titus Firebied, entered a second car for David Hobbs.

Parnelli Jones and his Bud Moore Mustang had been the class act throughout 1970, and he underlined this by taking pole position at Kent, then jumped into the teams spare car, went out, and nailed the second fastest time, just to twist the knife a little more. Donohue was next, from the returning Gurney, and Follmer.

At the drop of the green, Jones soared away from the field at the rolling start, led every lap, and finished just under 20 seconds ahead of Donohue after 200 miles. Posey notched up another good result in third. Ford had sealed the 1970 Trans-Am championship.