HISTORY

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (October 4, 2004) -- "The Dodge Charger returns to Dodge showrooms and NASCAR race tracks around the country in 2005. Stay tuned..."

Dodge Charger Historical Facts

Dodge Charger in NASCAR: 1966-1977

Total Dodge Charger Wins: 124 (six earned in winged Charger Daytonas)

Most Charger Wins by a Driver:

Richard Petty – 37

Bobby Isaac – 36

David Pearson – 17

First Dodge Charger NASCAR Win: Earl Balmer, Feb. 25, 1966, Daytona Int’l Speedway, (40 laps/100 miles/2.5-mile track) – Balmer led one lap en route to winning the 100-mile qualifying race in a No. 3 Dodge Charger owned by Ray Fox.

Last Dodge Charger NASCAR Win: Neil Bonnett, Nov. 20, 1977, Ontario Motor Speedway (200 laps/500 miles/2.5-mile track) – Bonnett drove a No. 5 Dodge bought by Jim Stacy from Nord Krauskopf of K&K Insurance to victory in the season-ending Los Angeles Times 500, leading eight times for 96 laps in his first superspeedway win. Bonnett passed Richard Petty with five laps to go and blocked his last-lap maneuver to win by two car lengths.

Drivers Who Won in a Dodge Charger:

Earl Balmer – (1966)

Charlie Glotzbach – (1968, 1970)

David Pearson – (1966-67)

Richard Brickhouse – (1969)

Sam McQuagg – (1966)

Ray Elder – (1971-72)

LeeRoy Yarbrough – (1966-67)

Richard Petty – (1973-77)

Bobby Allison – (1967, 1969-71)

Dave Marcis – (1975-76)

Buddy Baker – (1967-68, 1970-73)

Neil Bonnett – (1977)

Bobby Isaac – (1968-1972)

NASCAR Drivers Who Drove a Charger During a Championship Season:
David Pearson (1966)
Bobby Isaac (1970)
Richard Petty (1972, 1974, 1975)

WINGED WARS: Sept. 14, 1969 – Richard Brickhouse’s No. 99 Nichels Engineering Dodge Charger Daytona (originally to be driven by Charlie Glotzbach) is the first “winged” stock car to win a NASCAR race. Brickhouse earns his first and only career victory amid a Professional Drivers Association boycotted Talladega 500 – the inaugural race at Alabama Int’l Motor Speedway.

200.447 MPH: March 24, 1970 – Buddy Baker becomes auto racing’s first driver officially timed completing a closed-course lap at more than 200 miles per hour. Baker piloted his Cotton Owens owned No. 88 Dodge Charger Daytona to a top lap speed of 200.447 mph at Talladega Superspeedway.

Dodge Charger Drivers on the Racecar

Buddy Baker
“It’d be hard for race fans today to understand just how well the Charger stuck to the ground with that big wing on it. Even without the wing, the old Dodge with the Hemi ran well over 200 mph at Daytona and Talladega. It was a time in the sport when you looked at the car and knew you wanted one of ‘em. They were fast. When it cranked up everybody looked. We had great teams back then, too. The car had a certain mystique about it that people still remember. When you say Charger, you think racing. Names stick out for certain manufacturers, and I think it would be hard to improve on Charger for Dodge. What else is there to say? Charge!”

Richard Petty
"The 1974 Dodge Charger was probably the best overall car we ever had. Sure, we had it about five or six years and had a lot of time to work on it. Back then we didn't have specialty cars. The car was just good on everything. It didn't matter if it was a short track, superspeedway or road course. It was just a good overall car. This was a real universal car."

HISTORY

History