Titus's four wins secured another manufacturer's title over the Cougars (who also won four times), but it was Mark Donohue's three wins in the Z/28 that should have had his competitors concerned. But not even Donohue could have imagined what was in store for him during 1968.
1968A full 36 years later, the Penske team's '68 Trans Am season is still one of the greatest feats in motorsports history. Donohue's brilliant driving and the near-perfect Penske Camaros won 10 of the 13 races-including eight in a row. Neither Bud Moore's nor Shelby's Mustangs (Mercury had dropped out) stood a chance against the Penske onslaught. In fact, the racing wasn't all that fascinating to watch, as Donohue would rip to the front and remain unchallenged.
But this sort of overwhelming performance led to other manufacturers' determination that Chevrolet should not be allowed to dominate the series.
1969Going into 1969 there was little reason to think that Mark Donohue's #6 Sunoco Blue Camaro would be anything but dominant. Ford's answer to the Z/28 was the new '69 Boss 302, and Ford financed two teams for 1969-Carroll Shelby's with drivers Peter Revson and Horst Kwech, and the other Bud Moore's with pilots Parnelli Jones and George Follmer. AMC campaigned the Javelin for a second year with team owner Ronnie Kaplan and had virtually no success. Jerry Titus was tapped by Pontiac to campaign the new Firebird Trans Am in the series, but that effort would produce little beyond frustration.
It was the war between Ford and Chevy that made the '69 Trans Am year legendary. Parnelli Jones' Bud Moore-prepared Mustang was fast and stout-the Boss 302 engine thrived at high speeds. Jones won the rounds at Michigan and Donnybrooke, and took three Seconds while teammate #16 George Follmer won at Bridgehampton. Add in consistent finishes by the Shelby team and the Mustangs stayed close to the Camaros in the manufacturers' championship, even though they only won half as many races.
Mark Donohue "only" won six times in 1969-a disappointment only in comparison to his 1968 season. Penske however wasn't a "factory" team, despite its professionalism. For instance Donohue's engines suffered repeated rod breakage early in the season after Chevy had recommended omitting shot-peening them. Only when engine-builder Traco began to ignore the factory's advice did the reliability return. Beyond Donohue's six wins, Penske driver Ronnie Bucknum would win two more.
Roger Penske played some aggressive mind games with the competition. His Camaros wore vinyl roofs at some events to, supposedly, hide the acid-dipped waviness of their roof sheetmetal, and used a fuel tank that soared above the pit to put gravity to work fueling the Sunoco cars.
1970With limited support from Chevrolet, Roger Penske and Mark Donohue dominated Trans Am for two years. Imagine how well they'd do with the full support of American Motors and $2 million of AMC money. While the Penske/Donohue move was big news for 1970, it was hardly the only news.
Just about everyone went Trans Am racing in 1970. Though Ford slashed its racing budget by 75 percent, there was still enough for Bud Moore to build new Boss 302s for Parnelli Jones and George Follmer (Carroll Shelby stayed home). Jerry Titus was back with all-new Firebirds, and the all-new Camaro would now be campaigned by Chaparral's legendary Jim Hall. Chrysler Corporation also dove into the fray with a Dodge Challenger T/A for driver/owner Sam Posey and Plymouth AAR 'Cudas for Dan Gurney and Swede Savage.
The Chaparral Chevy and both Mopar efforts were fruitless and the Firebirds still couldn't compete. Pontiac's competitive disappointment was tragically compounded when Jerry Titus died in a wreck at Road Atlanta.
Roger Penske and Bud Moore still dominated Trans Am during 1970 with all but two races going to one or the other.