The unfair advantage?
The illegal tricks that made these Camaros so dominant
Started by
NSwanberg
, May 09 2026 09:57 PM
5 replies to this topic
#1
NSwanberg
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Posted 09 May 2026 - 09:57 PM
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#2
Mark Onofri
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Posted 13 June 2026 - 08:24 PM
There was a strange looking black and gold 67-68? Down the street from my house in the 60's&70's. Turns out it was one of Smokey. Had I only known!
#3
Mr. M
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Posted 14 June 2026 - 06:42 AM
Finally, A good recap that was not AI.
Chris McCarty
#4
Dave Crevie
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Posted 14 June 2026 - 03:16 PM
Good explanation of something a lot of us already know. A couple of other "cheats": If you noticed in one shot, the oversized filler neck on the gas tank on one of the Cameros. This was supposedly part of the "quick release" filler system that was to not only facilitate faster filling of the tank, but also make a fuel proof disconnect that would lessen the chance of a fire. Penske took advantage of the fact that the SCCA inspectors only measured what was in the tank, not including what was in the filler neck. That held an additional 4 gallons of gas. Smokey countered by putting in balloons filled with air, that would take up the extra space he built into his tanks. After passing tech, he would pop the balloons, giving enough room for 5 extra gallons of gas. The Trans Am series was notorious for racers skating around the rules.
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#5
Phil Hackett
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Posted 16 June 2026 - 10:45 AM
Good explanation of something a lot of us already know. A couple of other "cheats": If you noticed in one shot, the oversized filler neck on the gas tank on one of the Cameros. This was supposedly part of the "quick release" filler system that was to not only facilitate faster filling of the tank, but also make a fuel proof disconnect that would lessen the chance of a fire. Penske took advantage of the fact that the SCCA inspectors only measured what was in the tank, not including what was in the filler neck. That held an additional 4 gallons of gas. Smokey countered by putting in balloons filled with air, that would take up the extra space he built into his tanks. After passing tech, he would pop the balloons, giving enough room for 5 extra gallons of gas. The Trans Am series was notorious for racers skating around the rules.
They might have been "skating around the rules" but it made for a great series.
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#6
Dave Crevie
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Posted 16 June 2026 - 03:25 PM
True. I'm sure SCCA just said, "Everyone is doing it, so why make a fuss?"
