The 1972 Trans-American Championship was the seventh running of the
Sports Car Club of America's
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
. The first seven rounds used split classes, while the last four rounds had the Under 2500cc class only.
Milt Minter brought
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
its first win, at
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...
.
George Follmer
George Follmer (born January 27, 1934) is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Career
Follme ...
and
American Motors
American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...
won the over 2.5L division, while
John Morton led
Datsun
Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunche ...
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
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...
, with similarly modified cars, but with a more conventional focus with vehicles such as the
Chevrolet Beretta
The Chevrolet Beretta is a front-wheel-drive two-door coupé produced by Chevrolet from 1987 until 1996. The Beretta was designed in the same design studio as the Camaro and the Corvette, Chevrolet Exterior Studio 3, and was built at the Wilmi ...
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
Championships
Drivers' championships
The points system was as follows:
Over 2.5L
Under 2.5L
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.
Under 2.5L
Best 9 results count towards the championship.
See also
*
1972 Can-Am season
The 1972 Canadian-American Challenge Cup was the seventh season of the Can-Am auto racing series. It was contested by FIA Group 7 racing cars running two-hour sprint events. The series began June 11, 1972, and ended October 29, 1972, after nine ...
References
{{Trans-Am Series seasons
Trans-Am Series
Transam
Transam