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1972 Ford Torino Bud Moore - NASCAR
When the heavy factory sponsorship of Trans-Am racing teams ended after the 1970 season, Bud Moore was able to return to his NASCAR roots. Successfully fielding a car or multiple cars in NASCAR meant securing commercial sponsorship, which did come to Bud Moore from Sta-Power lubricants, but not until mid-season. Until the sponsorship arrived, this car was painted “school-bus” yellow because the team still had some leftover paint from the 1970 Trans-Am Mustangs. The car ran a 351 cubic-inch V-8, much smaller than the 426 Hemis and other monster engines that were the standard in NASCAR race cars of the day. NASCAR allowed the cars that used the smaller engines to be lighter, thus providing competitive parity. Various well- known drivers piloted this car in the 1972 season including David Pearson, Donnie Allison and Bobby Isaac. Driving a car like this one, it was Isaac who, a year later, famously retired from the sport at a mid-race pit stop at Talladega because he decided it was time to do so.