Don yenko racing driver

Don yenko whose father founded yenko chevrolet began selling performance upgrades parts and service for what had become known as the yenko stinger with a primary focus on scca road racing. After this race, don asked jerry thompson to compete for yenko with the new stinger, and jerry went on to to win the division championship that year. Nov 22, 2019 it was specifically built for racing and features a competitiontuned, sixcylinder, aircooled engine in the backand, no, its not a porsche. He is a muscle car fan first and foremost, being just eight years old when the dealership opened its doors in 1949. Don, as for racing, the corvair was very popular in the nitro funny car drag racing class in the mid to late 1960s. Yenko owner and driver charlie doerge has taken his 25 years of research and obsession with the stinger and compiled all his knowledge and stories into one 270page, black and white book that will surely stand as a definitive work on these unusual racecars. Both men started out as racing drivers before moving into performance car production, yenko did this before shelby, starting his first performance garage in 1957. Supported by jeff moore story of its past and current racing and event plans with svra and cvar. Both men started out as racing drivers before moving into performance car read more. He continued with gibb and helped take the zl1 to the nationals. Revson had many formula 1 and canam series victories. The side stripes look to stop short on the front fender, and the sides at the quarters look incomplete. Don yenko, son of the dealership founder, first sold specially ordered and equipped corvairs in 1965 through 1967 called the yenko stinger. With yenko s connections, they ordered a 1967 l88 corvette coupe.

To get around this issue, don yenko, an american racing driver started to swap the camaros engines with larger l72 427 cu in 7. Yenko s final touch was to pull the factory 427 and perform his own magic on it notesrace history. Dernoshek keeps busy, actively working on a yenko stinger ys057 project that he and his son campaign in vintage racing events. It does have its share of race track rash and bruises. During the late 60s, don yenko owned and operated a chevrolet dealership located in cannonsburg, pennsylvania that specialized in supplying highperformance modifications to factory supercars. Racing was in his blood, and he opened up a shop inside the yenko family dealership to modify cars in the 1960s. Although this car hasnt been freshly restored it is still very presentable. Yenko owner and driver charlie doerge has taken his 25 years of research and obsession with the stinger and compiled all his knowledge and stories into one 270page, black and white book that will surely stand as a definitive work on these unusual. The thing i don t like about yenko cars are the stripes. He learned to fly an airplane at age 16 and went on to serve in the united states. Donald don frank yenko was a car dealer and race car driver from bentleyville, pennsylvania. He is a lifelong car guy, growing up just half a mile from the chevrolet dealership run by don yenko. Car and driver april, 1973 this was a group 7 promotion for a 1973 stinger vega. Here is one of the first 100 stinger corvairs built.

Sep 25, 20 in 1965 he went to work for nickey chevrolet and after a couple years started his own performance shop in st. Yenko s racing career would ultimately lead to the nowfamous yenko super cars, a collaborative effort with friend, and rival, carroll shelby, driver and builder of the ac cobras, gt40s. Street racing legend 1969 yenko camaro 427 found parked since. This yenko corvair is a stinger and it hurts so good. Street racing legend 1969 yenko camaro 427 found parked.

Sports car racing photo gallery of don yenko usas cars photo gallery. Yenko chose to race the corvair corsa because it was about 500 pounds lighter than the corvettes he was racing, and he called it the yenko stinger. She won her first race in 1960, driving her corvette at the b production race at the cumberland national. The yenko stinger was developed by don yenko, a former race car driver and worthy rival of his ontrack nemesis carroll shelby. The yenko dealership had a division involved in automobile racing, and in 1960, mims started racing cars with friends from yenko. One mans passion for the yenko stinger has lasted 50 years. He was aware of a 1969 yenko camaro a close friend was currently racing in nhra super stock.

Corvair book detail don yenko and the yenko stinger. Don yenko had created the perfect pony car with the chevrolet. Mims worked as a secretary at yenko chevrolet in canonsburg, pa, in the 1950s. For 1967, he delivered the goods for yenko, bringing home the national title, proving to yenko that the corvair indeed was the right platform to take racing. Dec 09, 2017 street racing legend 1969 yenko camaro 427 found parked since 1979. The stingers proved to be another one of don s good ideas. Jeff was a very frugal teenager who had saved a lot of money. Don yenko is in the national corvette museum hall of fame because of his years of racing corvettes. Nov 05, 2019 the yenko stinger was developed by don yenko, a former race car driver and worthy rival of his ontrack nemesis carroll shelby. Don yenko was a successful road racer who began racing in 1957 and later convinced his chevy dealer father to help sponsor his efforts that included dealership prepped corvettes wikipedia photo yenko took matters into his own hands after approaching gm about producing a factory racer that could give the mustang a run for its money. Don yenko s father, frank, who opened yenko chevrolet in the 1930s, raised no fool. The owens corning corvettes take up a large portion of this book. We just competed this june at the svra indianapolis invitational, where the car place second in class, what a great event. Meet the 1966 yenko stinger, the first fortified, competitiontuned car built by don yenko, the pennsylvania chevrolet dealer whod eventually become a darling of the muscle car world.

Back in the 60s, dealers bulked up factory muscle to. For 1967, he delivered the goods for yenko, bringing home the national title, proving to yenko that. The car comes complete with a transponder, 2 racing logbooks its entire racing history, full rollcage, buick skylark aluminum drums on all 4 corners with kevlar linings and an adjustable proportioning valve. Yenkos racing career would ultimately lead to the nowfamous yenko super cars, a collaborative effort with friend, and rival, carroll shelby, driver and builder of the ac cobras, gt40s. Don, as for racing, the corvair was very popular in the nitro funny car drag racing class in the mid to. Classic cars the yenko stinger was developed by don yenko, a former race car driver and worthy rival of his ontrack nemesis carroll shelby.

Remembering chevrolet racer fatalities from past septembers. It was a savvy move, and it allowed yenko to badge and distribute far more 427powered machines than his rivals more than 350 in 1969 alone. Known as the showroom car to l88 authors and historians, this particular l88 corvette was built up for racing when new by don yenko, since the factory l88 car he ordered would not arrive in time for the 1968 daytona 24hour race, so he plucked a rally red l71 427435 street hardtop convertible off his showroom floor to transform into. Regular members racing drivers who have participated successfully in major professional events, i. Sep 06, 2017 to top off this episode, tom uncovers a gorgeous, unrestored sunbeam alpine with a welldocumented scca racing history, which includes a close encounter with famed race car driver don yenko. Pictures and info on the team chris langely ys199 russ rosenburg ys320 john gresham. The yenko stinger was don yenkos first attempt at building a series of dealer prepped vehicles for the performance minded driver. Dave ran in the top 5 throughout this race and led laps 3033. Profile for racing driver don yenko from united states. Jul 15, 2010 mark donohue, along with jack brabham and bruce mclaren, was one of the great driver engineers of motor racing. By 1967, thompson had what it took to pull off the divisional championship and class d national championship, which was sealed at the daytona arrc. Yenko took matters into his own hands after approaching gm about producing a factory racer that could give the mustang a run for its money. His don yenko sunray dx corvettes were raced for years.

Street racing legend 1969 yenko camaro 427 found parked since 1979. Brad keselowski jimmie johnson joey logano kyle busch kurt busch. Signup now for access to a limited number of articles. To top off this episode, tom uncovers a gorgeous, unrestored sunbeam alpine with a welldocumented scca racing history, which includes a close encounter with famed race car driver don yenko. Open wheel stars parnelli jones and lloyd ruby, nascar drivers tiny lund, jim paschal and buck baker, and sport car drivers such as peter gregg, bob tullius and don yenko. This car was set aside and painted silver pearl and was used as yenko s family driver. The short story is that sunray dx was the sixth largest oil company in 1967 and to bolster marketing efforts aimed at racers and mechanics, they partnered with chevy dealer and race car driver don yenko to field a racing team. In case you are unfamiliar, the first copy printing of this book was released in october 2011. Don was a avid corvette racer years before he created and developed his 427 yenko sc camaros. Very soon, she became a force to be reckoned with on the circuits, winning her first race in 1960 and. To top things off for this episode, tom uncovers a gorgeous, unrestored sunbeam alpine with a welldocumented scca racing history, including a close encounter with famed race car driver, don yenko.

Don yenko was a successful road racer who began racing in 1957 and. Yenko and copilot jack lord, better known as steve mcgarrett of televisions hawaii fiveo. They even had a co driver by the name of don yenko. Dick thompson and jerry thompson at the wheel, these. In 1966, don yenko was impressed enough with the late model chevrolet corvairs handling, and decided to apply for scca approval of the corsa model for racing. Once it was determined he was a race car driver, no charges were pressed and. Don yenko usas cars photo gallery racing sports cars.

Don yenko stock car racing wiki fandom powered by wikia. Donald don frank yenko was an american car dealer and racecar driver best known for creating the yenko camaro, a highperformance version of the. Vintage scca race car with don yenko connection barn. Races, wins, podiums, pole positions, fastest laps. The first officially licensed yenko continuation camaro. Don yenko is best known for his late1960s antics of stuffing 427cubicinch bigblocks into camaros, but before he was putting muscle cars in the 11s on the dragstrip he was scca racing and needed something to get him to the front of the pack. On the race track, yenko driver jerry thompson won a regional d production title in 1966, but finished fifth in the national championship race. Don yenko was a secondgeneration chevrolet dealer in western pennsylvania with a keen interest in roadcourse racing.

His passion for racing and competition never deserted him. He was also the nicest driver ever to grace the circuits and this book is a very worthy tribute to him. In the 1960s, he created the yenko stinger corvair, which still is used in racing. After many incidents with the very lenient authorities and the possibility of losing his drivers license, jeff decided to. An opportunity for young american drivers to showcase their talent internationally. Yenko gained international recognition for driving corvettes in endurance races, including the everpopular 24 hours of lemans. Director of general motors performance devision zora. After many incidents with the very lenient authorities and the possibility of losing his driver s license, jeff decided to. Don yenko don yenko raced his sunray dx corvettes at daytona, sebring, watkins glen and many other tracks around the country.

Duntovs secret 1961 chevrolet corvette gulf oil race car. He certainly had a different career to most drivers an his record of wins to races entered of 38% shows just how good a driver he was. Vintage scca race car with don yenko connection barn find. This was don s first real dealings with using the copo pipeline to get the ideal car for that type of racing. Dec 01, 2017 jeff was a very frugal teenager who had saved a lot of money. The yenko stinger had a highly successful outing in scca d production racing in 1966. Pages in category trans am series drivers the following 158 pages are in this category, out of 158 total. She quickly became one of the top amateur race car drivers in the country.

Don yenko and the yenko stinger is one of those labors of love by a dyedinthewool enthusiast. Mar 27, 2020 don yenko was a successful road racer who began racing in 1957 and later convinced his chevy dealer father to help sponsor his efforts that included dealership prepped corvettes wikipedia photo. Don yenko s name was synonymous with highperformance chevrolets, and mims and her husband bought a fuelinjected corvette, which donna mae started racing in the 1960s. In early 1966 micheal summers of syracuse, new york contacted his close friend don yenko yenko chevrolet, canonsburg pa. All this time, yenko continued to race corvettes, either on his own or as a co driver with a number of prominent corvette teams.

Driver bob wearing knew and worked with performance expert don yenko. After the yenko supercars program came to a close, yenko continued to sell performance parts through a catalog and through his dealership. Dedicated to the promotion and preservation of american muscle cars, dealer built supercars and copo cars. Don yenko would help pioneer the muscle car era with some of the most powerful chevys ever produced and grady davis would develop and oversee gulf oils campaigning of the legendary ford gt40. The drivers competing in this new event represented a wealth of talent from several forms of racing. View mobile site jokeypsych endgamehonest galaxyquest. It all began with the awkward midengine powered chevrolet corvair stinger in 1966. Dec 01, 2017 during the late 60s, don yenko owned and operated a chevrolet dealership located in cannonsburg, pennsylvania that specialized in supplying highperformance modifications to factory supercars. Sep 18, 2011 dave macdonald early in his career racing his 1958 corvette in the 1961 road america 300 enduro. I even have the receipt from don yenko chevrolet for the stinger kit continuation series car.

It is ys071 which puts it in the original 100 white cars that don yenko. Don yenkos l88powered 1968 chevrolet corvette race car. While he had success in campaigning corvettes in scca beginning in 1957, by 1965 he was becoming an alsoran behind the shelby cobras and gt350s. Don hoped to do with the corvair, what carroll shelby did with the. You can find the complete history with oversize color and black and white photography of this record setting corvette racing team in the book. Yenko stinger ys095 this is a wonderful and rare vintage racing car. His speed shop in canonsburg, pennsylvania, turned from race car support to production line in 1967 as new camaros received heart. Donald don frank yenko may 27, 1927 march 5, 1987 was an american car dealer and racecar driver best known for creating the yenko camaro, a highperformance version of the chevrolet camaro.