1972 Trans-American Sedan Championship Explained

The 1972 Trans-American Championship was the seventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. The first seven rounds used split classes, while the last four rounds had the Under 2500cc class only. Milt Minter brought Pontiac its first win, at Mid-Ohio. George Follmer and American Motors won the over 2.5L division, while John Morton led Datsun to the championship title of the "Two-Five Challenge".

1972 is considered to be the end of the series' "golden era". From 1973 onward, Trans Am would evolve into a lesser clone of the rival IMSA GT Championship, with similarly modified cars, but with a more conventional focus with vehicles such as the Chevrolet Beretta being used. IMSA GT's focus on exotic cars such as Ferraris and Porsches provided a more adaptable format, in comparison to Trans Am's reliance on domestic performance sedans.

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Circuit	Distance	Over 2.5 Winning Car	Under 2.5 Winning Car
				Over 2.5 Winning Driver(s)	Under 2.5 Winning Driver(s)
1	May 6	Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut	130.05miles (U2L) 200.43miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				George Follmer	Bob Sharp
2	May 29	Bryar Motorsports Park, Loudon, New Hampshire	112miles (U2L) 152miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				George Follmer	John Morton
3	June 4	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio	120miles (U2L) 180miles (O2L)	Pontiac Firebird	Datsun 510
				Milt Minter	Peter Gregg
4	June 17	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	114.818miles (U2L) 192.489miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				George Follmer	Peter Gregg
5	July 2 July 4	Donnybrooke International Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesota	150miles (U2L) 210miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Alfa Romeo GTV
				George Follmer	Horst Kwech
6	July 16	Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	108miles (U2L) 200miles (O2L)	Ford Mustang	Datsun 510
				Warren Tope	John Morton
7	July 30	Sanair Super Speedway, Saint-Pie, Quebec	104miles (U2L) 169miles (O2L)	Ford Mustang	Alfa Romeo GTA
				Warren Tope	Bert Everett
8	August 19	Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia	126miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
9	September 17	Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon	105.325miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
10	October 15	Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California	102.5miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
11	October 28	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California	127.5miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
^[1]

Championships

Drivers' championships

The points system was as follows:

Over 2.5L

Pos Driver Car LRP BRY MDO WGL DON ELK SAN Pts 1 George Follmer AMC Javelin 1 1 2 1 1 25 95 2 Milt Minter Pontiac Firebird 2 1 28 4 2 25 60 3 Warren Tope Ford Mustang 5 7 7 26 28 1 1 56 4 Warren Agor Chevrolet Camaro 2 3 3 12 6 27 6 51 5 Bill Collins AMC Javelin 7 4 29 7 3 2 45 6 Paul Nichter Chevrolet Camaro 6 4 4 20 6 3 44 7 Roy Woods AMC Javelin 4 5 3 3 11 42 8 Jerry Thompson Ford Mustang 28 2 2 41 30 9 Carl Shafer Chevrolet Camaro 11 8 7 4 17 10 Dick Brown Chevrolet Camaro 6 5 16 14 11 Gene Harrington Chevrolet Camaro 8 35 4 21 13 12 Tony DeLorenzo Pontiac Firebird 3 21 12 13 John Gimbel Ford Mustang 21 11 25 5 27 31 8 11 14 Kent Fellows Chevrolet Camaro 26 14 6 7 12 38 15 10 15= J. Marshall Robbins Ford Mustang 5 8 15= Alfred Ruys de Perez Chevrolet Camaro 17 8 29 9 26 8 14 8 15= Steve Bradley Chevrolet Camaro 5 21 8 15= Dick Hoffman Chevrolet Camaro 21 40 5 8 19= Walter Parkins Chevrolet Camaro 9 9 14 30 12 27 4 19= Bob Bienerth Chevrolet Camaro 14 13 13 18 17 7 4 21= Dan Moore Ford Mustang 8 13 3 21= Martin Shook Chevrolet Camaro 23 27 23 8 23 3 21= Jerry Petersen Chevrolet Camaro 31 10 9 30 3 24= Jean-Guy Roy Chevrolet Camaro 9 22 23 13 2 24= Warren Fairbanks Chevrolet Camaro 9 2 24= David Hoselton Ford Mustang 15 9 2 24= Steve Ross Chevrolet Camaro 20 10 12 10 2 28= Fred Kashkork Ford Mustang 10 1 28= Ed Hinchcliff Ford Mustang 11 17 10 16 19 1 28= Joe Chamberlain Chevrolet Camaro 10 33 1 28= J. A. Lagod Chevrolet Camaro 10 1 ^[2]

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing

Under 2.5L

Pos Driver Car LRP BRY MDO WGL DON ELK SAN ATL POR LAG RIV Pts 1 John Morton Datsun 510 DSQ 1 16 2 12 1 1 1 1 1 135 2 Bert Everett Alfa Romeo GTA 4 4 3 5 2 15 1 11 7 3 91 3 Horst Kwech Alfa Romeo GTV 19 17 4 3 1 5 15 2 17 65 4 Mike Downs Datsun 510 2 6 2 4 2 61 5 Peter Gregg Datsun 510 1 1 11 2 55 6 Bob Sharp Datsun 510 1 2 35 7 Ken Schley Alfa Romeo GTA DSQ 6 2 4 10 28 11 32 8 Ed Wachs Alfa Romeo GTA 5 9 4 7 19 DNS 27 20 24 9 John McCollister Volkswagen Super Beetle 21 8 6 14 17 5 9 8 16 25 22 10 Harry Theodorocopulous Alfa Romeo GTV 26 16 17 6 14 13 3 9 10 28 21 11= Lothar Stahlberg Datsun 510 3 13 5 13 20 11= Richard Hull Toyota 1600 5 3 16 20 11= Walt Maas Datsun 510 3 5 14 20 11= Lee Midgley Alfa Romeo GTA Alfa Romeo GTV 4 17 12 17 4 12 20 15= John Buffum Ford Escort 15 3 21 7 16 15= Vic Provenzano Alfa Romeo GTA 4 6 19 16 17= Sam Posey Datsun 510 18 2 15 17= Hershel McGriff Datsun 510 2 15 17= Corky Bell Datsun 510 10 9 5 7 15 20= Jerry Thompson Datsun 510 3 12 20= Dave Madison Datsun 510 3 22 12 20= Bobby Allison Datsun 510 3 24 12 23 Tony Rolfe BMW 1600 8 9 12 6 11 24= Ron Shantz Datsun 510 4 10 24= Bob Stevens Datsun 510 15 4 10 26 Ole Anderson Volvo 142 6 8 9 27= Wayne Sherer Alfa Romeo GTA 5 15 20 8 27= Richard Gordon Volvo 142 5 8 27= Bob Burns Alfa Romeo GTA 5 8 30= Jim Lombard Volkswagen Super Beetle 12 10 6 16 7 30= Gary Witzenburg Datsun 510 12 7 15 8 7 32= John Diamanti Alfa Romeo GTV 6 6 32= Don Sobering Austin Cooper 6 6 32= Carl Fredricks BMW 6 6 32= Ed Long Datsun 510 9 7 6 36 Ted Straight Toyota 1600 7 10 5 37= George Alderman Datsun 510 7 18 18 15 4 37= Mickey Cohen Ford Pinto 7 4 37= Jacques Bienvenue Ford Pinto 7 4 37= Douglas Sande Datsun 510 7 4 41= Ed Rogers Alfa Romeo GTA 8 15 3 41= Bob Shafer Datsun 510 8 3 41= Tom Cronin Austin Cooper 8 11 3 41= Monique Proulx BMW 2002 8 3 41= Vic Matthews Toyota 1600 8 3 41= Dave Redding Datsun 510 8 3 47= John Meskauskas Datsun 510 9 14 14 16 2 47= Stephen Sharkey Volvo 122 9 2 47= Robert LaZebnik BMW 1600 22 11 DNS 9 2 47= George Cheyne Ford Pinto DNS 9 26 2 47= Jim Ethridge Alfa Romeo GTA 9 2 52= Paul Choiniere Austin Cooper 10 12 1 52= Art Mollin Volvo 142 13 10 19 1 52= A.L. Entwistle BMW 2002 10 1 52= Werner Gudzus BMW 10 1 52= Jim Fitzgerald Datsun 510 10 14 1 52= Tex Guthrie Lotus Cortina 10 1

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing

Manufacturers' championships

Only the highest-finishing car scored points for the manufacturer. The points system was as follows:

Over 2.5L

Best 6 results count toward the championship.

Pos	Manufacturer	LRP	BRY	MDO	WGL	DON	ELK	SAN	Pts
1	American Motors	1	1	2	1	1	3	2	48 (52)
2	Ford	5	5	7	2	2	1	1	34
3	Pontiac	3	2	1		4	2		28
4	Chevrolet	2	3	3	4	5	4	3	24 (26)

Under 2.5L

Best 9 results count towards the championship.

Pos	Manufacturer	LRP	BRY	MDO	WGL	DON	ELK	SAN	ATL	POR	LAG	RIV	Pts
1	Datsun	1	1	1	1	3	1	4	1	1	1	1	81 (88)
2	Alfa Romeo	4	4	3	3	1	4	1	4	4	2	3	40 (51)
3	Toyota					5	3						6
4	Ford		3										4
5	Volkswagen			6		6		5					4
6	Volvo									5			2
7	BMW								6			6	2
8	Austin							6					1

See also

• 1972 Can-Am season

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1972 Trans-Am Box Scores . . 29 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110719235510/http://cms.scca.com/documents/Pro%20Racing/Archives/Trans-Am/1972.pdf . 19 July 2011 . dead .
2. Web site: de Jong. Frank. 1972 Trans-Am Championship Table. Touring Car Racing History. 2 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20090502115900/http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/Pages/1972%20Transam%20Class.html. 2009-05-02. dead.