"Awesome's" Best 1976 Rookie Finish Was NOT in an Elliott Car
Stock Car Racing History
Mercury with a Mystery
Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines
March, 2012 - Matthew Litwin - Photography Courtesy of Craig Conley
For vintage race cars, history is everything, as chronicles of a particular machine's exploits largely establish its present-day significance. Yet assembling a concise history of a former race car's on-track career from start to finish can be challenging, and more than a few remain at least partially shrouded in mystique, such as this month's feature: a 1971 Mercury Cyclone that was campaigned on the NASCAR circuit by independent driver Bill Champion.
Champion, a resident of Norfolk, Virginia, began his 18-year career in NASCAR's top series in 1951. Although he raced other cars occasionally through '68, Champion's primary on-track weaponry came from the Ford Motor Company. His traditional car number was 10, and the color scheme was typically red over white, which persisted until his retirement from driving in 1976, having notched 289 career Cup Series starts.
This Mercury joined the Champion stable late in the 1971 season to complement his race-hardened Ford. It was equipped with a Tunnelport 427-cu.in. engine and a Toploader four-speed transmission. Champion's only stint in its seat that year came at the season's 42nd race, held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After starting scratch in the 42-car field, Champion managed to bring his new steed home to a respectable 16th place finish.
By the time the 31-race 1972 season commenced, many Ford teams had discovered that the Cyclone body was more stable than the Torino, but due to funding, Champion saved his Mercury for the superspeedways--tracks one mile in length or longer--while his Ford battled it out on the short tracks. Of the 29 events he entered, the Mercury was raced in just seven. His best start in the car, 15th, and best finish, 10th, both occurred during the Motor State 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
The following year, NASCAR had a 28-race schedule, 26 of which Champion entered; he relied heavily on the Mercury with 17 starts, including eight in a row. Strangely enough, although the Cyclone was his superspeedway car, its best finish of 1973 came at a road course: an 11th at California's Riverside International Raceway during the Tuborg 400.
Unlike other semi-retired race chassis of the era that were subjected to the rigors of short-track life, at the season's conclusion, Champion didn't sell the Mercury--he simply parked it in favor of a newer Ford chassis, slowly transitioning to the role of car owner. His nephew, Ricky Rudd, made his first four NASCAR starts in Uncle Bill's car in 1975. Likewise, the 1988 NASCAR champion, Bill Elliott, made four of his first eight starts in 1976 in Champion's Ford.
Meanwhile the Cyclone slid into obscurity, eventually passing through the hands of Ted Thomas, Kim Haynes, and finally Bill Bradford. Then, in 2005, California's Craig Conley was informed of its existence in a barn in Denver, North Carolina, thanks to his friend Bill Rhine.
"The car was amazingly intact. One could see the old paint through a thin layer of primer, so it wasn't hard to figure out whose car it had been. It even had a Tunnelport 427 under the hood. We negotiated a price and were prepared to subject it to a full and relatively easy restoration," recalled Craig.
"And then we found the Holman Moody tag in the car, complete with a serial number: HM-89-068GN. It decodes as built in 1968 and updated in '69. Various other parts have the same stamping, so we could tell that the chassis was never taken apart, just updated with new skin. Bill bought it as a used chassis with '71 skin on it from Holman Moody when they felt it was obsolete. We contacted Lee Holman--John's son--in an attempt to trace the serial number, but he claimed that the file had been lost; he also quickly offered to buy the car. At this point, we knew we had something special on our hands, but we went ahead and had it restored to Bill's 1971 livery.
"It's interesting that the Mercury is a survivor from the era, and that it was owned and driven by Bill Champion (Editor's note: Bill passed away on May 20, 1991--his best points effort was seventh in 1971), but what's even more compelling is the unknown history from 1968 through late '71.
"There's no telling if it was a Torino or a Cyclone, or how many drivers had a turn with it."
Today, Craig enters Bill Champion's Cyclone at vintage races with the Historic Grand National group. You can learn more at www.historicgrandnational.com .
This article originally appeared in the March, 2012 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.
