Boss 302

At the end of the ’60s, Am­erican manufacturers placed a lot of emphasis on the “Pony Car” market. As a result, everyone wanted to win the Trans-Am championship. By 1969, all the major American manufacturers had thrown their weight into the Trans-Am – Ford, Chevrolet, Pontiac, American Motors, and Chrysler with the Plymouth Cuda and the Dodge Challenger. As a result, there was a lot of emphasis – and a lot of pressure – put on the Trans-Am teams to perform. It was a very intense competition the whole year, in fact, both in ’69 and ’70. It made for some great racing, and at that time, I think it was the best road racing in the country.

In 1969, when Ford got very serious about winning the Trans-Am, they put Parnelli and I in a pair of Bud Moore-prepared Boss 302 Mustangs, but they also had the Shelby team which consisted of Peter Revson, and most of the time, Horst Kwech. So, Ford basically had four very competitive cars. We were basically faster with the Bud Moore cars than the Shelby cars and should have won the championship, but we had some difficulty with tires that year. Our Firestone tires were quick, but they had a hard time surviving a full race distance. Both Parnelli and I had a lot of tire troubles throughout that year. It got a little better towards the end, but the horse had already been stolen at that point, so it was too late. However, in 1970, we brought back a more refined car and a much better tire and were able to win the championship.