Inver House Bama 200
Talladega International Motor Speedway
Saturday, August 5, 1972
The fourth race of the 1972 season for the Grand American Challenge Series brought the cars to Talladega for the 3 rd edition of the Bama 200 on the 4 mile road course and was the 5 th points race of the year. The event was sanctioned by both NASCAR and IMSA. Four classes of IMSA cars and the Grand American cars would compete on the road course at the same time for separate purses. The Grand American cars were inspected by NASCAR and the Camel GT cars were inspected by IMSA with both groups having separate garages and pit areas. The four classes of IMSA Camel GT cars were GTO, GTU, TO and TU with engine size being the primary difference in the classes. There were 37 Camel GT cars and 15 GA cars. The events title sponsor was Inver House Distillers Limited, makers of Scottish Malt Wiskey.
Paul Tyler earned the pole position for the GA cars in a Camaro. Dr. Wilbur Pickett was the first car across the finish line in a Camel GT Corvette a little over a lap ahead of Tiny Lund who was the first GA car across the line. H.B. Bailey and Lund had battled for the GA lead early but Bailey faded and Lund went on to put a lap on the second GA car of Paul Tyler. The GA purse was a little over $15,000 and the IMSA purse was $12,000.
Grand American Results
Fin. St. Driver # Car Laps Status
1 Tiny Lund 55 ’72 Firebird 49 Running
2 1 Paul Tyler 79 ’69 Camaro 48 Running
3 Roy Stamey 25 ’69 Camaro 48 Running
4 Wayne Andrews 97 ’70 Mustang 46 Running
5 Randy Bannister 26 ’69 Camaro 44 Running
6 Ernie Shaw 17 ’70 Mustang 42 Engine
7 Rick Newsom 07 ’69 Cougar 42 Running
8 H. B. Bailey 36 ’72 Firebird 33
9 Gary Myers 41 ’70 Mustang 32 Engine
10 Billy Hagan 52 ’70 Mustang 29 Running
11 Glenn Brewer 19 ’69 Camaro 19 Engine
12 Jimmy Lee Capps 90 ‘69 Camaro 5 Engine
13 Richard Childress ’69 Camaro 4
14 Herb Kanady 23 ’69 Camaro 1
15 Joe Hollingsworth 16 ’70 Mustang 0
Tiny Lund Pontiac Firebird
When the Grand American competitors left Talladega the only thing they knew about the future of the series was that there were no more GA races on the schedule. No announcements from the governing body came out. Most all of them had plenty of races to prepare for though in the Grand National East, Late Model Sportsman, USAC, ARCA and even Winston Cup series.
Point Standings after Talladega
- Wayne Andrews 655.50
- Ernie Shaw 511.75
- H.B. Bailey 467.50
- Jimmy Capps 432.25
- Tiny Lund 408.25
- Bobby Allison 341.00
- Baxter Price 329.00
- Glenn Brewer 323.50
- Paul Tyler 322.75
- Buck Baker 285.25
- AL Straub 246.00
- Max Berrier 243.25
- Stick Elliott 238.00
- Billy Hagan 214.00
- Bob Williams 209.50
- David Boggs 208.25
- Jim Hailey 203.25
- Jeff Haar 198.25
- Herb Kanady 173.00
- James Hylton 156.25
- Pee Wee Wentz 144.75
- Jim Paschal 143.50
- Jerry Hufflin 142.00
- Rick Newsom 140.50
- Gary Myers 130.75
- Bill Chevalier 123.50
- Roy Stamey 91.25
- Richard Childress 81.00
- Bob Jusola 68.75
- Bobby Watson 68.00
- T. C. Hunt 67.75
- Pete Hamilton 66.75
- Don Miller 64.75
- T.C. Hunt 62.75
- Tommy Andrews 60.75
- Jimmy Vaughn 59.50
At the end of the season the point standings after Talladega became the final standings and Wayne Andrews was named the 1972 Grand American Champion. Wayne was the only driver to earn points in all five events and the only driver to have three top five finishes. The new point system was designed to place an emphasis on miles completed in competition and even though Wayne did not win a race he did that better than any other GA driver. Superspeedways awarded more points than short tracks and bonus points were awarded for each lap of competition with longer tracks giving more bonus points than short tracks. Bob Williams of Jackson, Miss. was named the 1972 GA Rookie of the Year and Tiny Lund was voted Most Popular GA Driver.
Ken Piper presents Wayne Andrews with Championship trophy
And now the other part of the Inver House Bama 200
Camel GT Results
Fin. St. Driver # Car Laps Group
1 Wilbur Pickett 2 Corvette 50 1. GTO
2 Tony DeLorenzo 78 Corvette 49 2. GTO
3 Dan Daughtry 94 Corvette 49 3. GTO
4 Gene Felton 95 Camaro 49 4. GTO
5 Tom Hehl 47 Camaro 48 1. TO
6 Hurley Haywood 59 Porsche 48 1. GTU
7 Michael Keyser 1 Porsche 48 2. GTU
8 John O’Steen 43 Porsche 46 3. GTU
9 Phil Currin 99 Corvette 46 5. GTO
10 Pete Harrison 0 Porsche 46 4. GTU
11 John Floyd 18 Corvette 45 6. GTO
12 Vince Gimondo 27 Camaro 45 2. TO
Bill Dingman
13 Robert Stoddard 6 Porsche 44 5. GTU
Frank Harmstad
14 John Elliot 80 Camaro 41 3. TO
15 Dennis Shaw 88 Opel 40 1. TU
Steve Coleman
16 Pat McIntyre 85 Camaro 39 4. TO
Dave Perelle
17 Bob Christiansen 72 Camaro 38 5. TO
18 Clay Young 7 Camaro 37 6. TO
19 John Diamanti 86 Alfa Romeo 37 2. TU
20 Robert Henning 21 Javelin 34 7. TO
Russ Norburn
21 Garrett Waddell 15 Corvette 33 7. GTO
22 Bert Gafford 89 Camaro 25 8. TO
23 Lynn South 34 Corvette 22 8. GTO
24 Don Duplass 84 Escort 14 3. TU
25 Ralston Long 9 Corvette 9 9. GTO
26 Richard Presnell 77 Shelby GT 1 10. GTO
Bill Shaw
27 H.W. Alexander 30 Pinto 1 4. TU
