t’s not often that a former NASCAR car comes to market, but even less common is it that one with a unique tie to America’s first racing scene goes across the auction block. Russo and Steele Monterey offers all that and more with the 2001 Ford Taurus NASCAR Super Speedway Racecar that is schedule to cross the block this August 14th-16th.
The lot featured here ties together the history of racing with the modern era in NASCAR more than any other known example. Once an ex-Jimmy Spencer K-Mart sponsored car built to NASCAR Super Speedway specification to compete on the high-speed ovals of Daytona and Talladega for the 2001 season, the story takes a sharp turn in the car’s “retirement”. On July 3, 2006, a new World Stock Car Speed Record was set in a NASCAR-spec Ford Taurus of 222.623 miles-per-hour at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats. The previous milestone of 216.946 mph was set in September 1971 by legendary NASCAR Champion Bobby Isaac in his winged Dodge Charger Daytona. Not only was the event notable in its own right, it also made the current owner the only living person to have set official speed records of over 200 mph on land and water, as he holds the mile record for prop-driven boats of 205.494 mph. Along with running it under all current NASCAR Cup specifications, the current owner also drove the vehicle in a non-spec NASCAR configuration and made a 237 mph one-way pass through the measured mile.

Auction info www.russoandsteele.com

Posted: 08|12|08 at 11:28 am. Filed under: US News.