Page 264 - 2019_NPPG_digital copy

By 1959, America had given birth to the Capping the finish of every Daytona the U.S., weighed a mere 2,500 pounds
jet age with the Boeing 707 (based on 500, the race’s iconic 4-foot tall trophy is and had a 100-inch wheelbase. The
the military’s’ KC-135 Stratotanker) and carefully removed from its display case XP-21’s engine, motivated by what GM
to racing’s modern era with the Daytona and escorted to Victory Lane where engineers dubbed “Whirlfire Turbo-Pow-
500. Within a decade, bigger and faster photographers from around the world er,” generated an enthusiastic 370
jets had taken over the skies and NASCAR capture images that will appear in maga- horsepower.
settled into an aggressive ground game zines, newspapers, and on the Internet;
that would sweep America. each year, new generations of NASCAR Inspiration for this audacious car-plane?
fans become enamored by the futuristic America’s post-WW2 fighter aircraft.

Nowhere is the energy, ambition and bullet-shaped design perched on top.
optimism of this military-turned-civilian Harley Earl – “Father of the Corvette”
generation better represented than in the The captivating car on the trophy is and a NASCAR commissioner from
provocatively designed vehicle on the no mere model. It’s actually based on 1960-1969 – gave the OK for the
Harley Earl Trophy, presented each year the XP-21 Firebird I, a concept vehicle ground-breaking stylistic cue affec-
at NASCAR’s season-opener in Daytona with a rocket-like nose, clear teardrop tionately known as the tailfin. It first
– the Great American Race – 200 laps canopy, stubby wings, seductive intake appeared on the 1948 Cadillac because
of 2.5 miles, each etched with enough scoops and a single, thin, cheeky rear Earl was inspired by the Lockheed P-38
drama to turn a Sunday afternoon into a fin. The full-scale, drivable prototype - Lightning, a plane that played multiple
life-long memory. first gas-turbine auto built and tested in roles during the war, from interception

264 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2019 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE