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#57 Plymouth STP

   In 1969 Fred Gerhardt built several copies of the STP Lotus-Turbines that ran during the 1968 season on the USAC Championship Trail.  The Lotus chassis had a wedge shape that reminded many people of a door stop.  Gerhardt’s cars were nearly identical except they were built to carry an internal combustion engine since USAC had effectively outlawed Turbine engines.  Gerhardt sold one of these new cars to the STP team owned by Andy Granatelli. 
 
   Granatelli had a Turbocharged Offenhauser engine installed and named Art Pollard as the driver.  Painted in the STP color day-glo red and number 20, Pollard dropped out of the first two races of the season at Phoenix, AZ an Hanford, CA.  During the course of the Hanford race tragedy struck the team when the car caught fire during a pit stop.  Grant King and Larry Stainton were changing right side tires and both jumped back when the car started burning.  Stainton was struck by the car of Mario Andretti as it was entering its pit.  Stainton’s head injuries proved fatal.

​   The car was repaired and renumbered 57, and taken to Indianapolis for the 500 mile race on Memorial Day.  Greg Weld practiced in the car but had trouble getting it up to speed so veteran Carl Williams was put in the car and qualified at 163.265 mph.   He dropped out of the race early on with clutch trouble.
   Weld was back in the car for the next race at Milwuakee and qualified the car solidly in the field.  At the start, team leader Art Pollard had the gearbox lock up on his car, with the ensuing mess taking out 10 cars including his own and causing a red flag situation.  While the track was being cleaned up, Pollard replaced Weld in the number 57 and restarted at the tail of the field.  Pollard charged through the pack and took the lead when Mario Andretti suffered engine problems on the 90th of 200 laps.  Pollard led the rest of the distance to record his first Indy car win.

   On August 24, 1969 the car showed up at the new Dover Downs for the first Indy Car race at the 1-mile paved oval.  Something was very different however, as the Turbo-Offy power plant had been replace with a naturally aspirated 318 cubic inch Plymouth.  The high banked track proved very tough on cars but the #57, in the capable hands of Art Pollard was more than a match for the first superspeedway to be built in the state of Delaware.  After 200 grueling laps Art Pollard passed under the checkered flag as the first and to date, the only man to win an Indy car race in a car powered by a Plymouth engine.

 
   Granatelli sold the car to Art Pollard before the start of the 1970 season.  Pollard owned several car washes in the Portland, OR area thus the name of the car became the Pollard Car Wash Special.  Pollard drove it in the opening race at Phoenix but retired the car with turbocharger problems.  Greg Weld drove it at Trenton.  ​
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Employee Login
  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Volunteers
  • Displays
    • Vehicles >
      • Open Wheel >
        • 1935 Miller-Ford
        • Mechanical Rabbit
        • Johnny Lightning Special
        • #8 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special
        • #45 “The Pup” Champ Car
        • Wolfgang #4 Sprint Car
        • #4 LeFevre Dirt Champ Car
        • Opperman's 4x Sprint Car
        • #1 Dunseth Sprint Car
        • #5 Randol Offy
        • 4x Sedan
        • Wolfgang 4x Sprint car
        • 4x Offset Roadster
        • #43 Christie Miller
        • #57 Plymouth STP
        • Blue Crown Special
        • Tamale Wagon
        • #11 Kinser Sprint Car
        • #1 Kodiak Special
        • Channel-Lock Special
        • Stealth Special
        • Andy Gump Sprint Car
        • #94 Kenny Weld Sprint Car
        • Black Deuce
        • #1 Delrose Holt Silver Crown
        • #30 P.O.B Sprint Car
        • #2 Watson Dirt Champ car
        • #5 Watson Roadster
        • #96 Trostle Sprint Car
        • #94 Nance Super Modified
      • Indy Pit >
        • #54 Chicago Rawhide Special
        • #81 Central Excavating Special
        • 1914 Cornelian
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        • 1953 Corvette
        • Hedy Lamarr's 1958 Cadillac
        • 1920 Model T Ford Hot Rod
        • Lady Luck T-Bucket
        • 1949 Kurtis Sports Car
        • Jack Beck's Alfa Romeo
        • 8 Ball Hudson
        • Ariel Square Four Motorcycle
        • Turbine Powered Daytona Boss
        • 2003 Honest Charley's Flathead Motorcycle
        • #2 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle
        • Coors Extra Gold "32
        • The Dale Car
        • 1966 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere
      • Land Speed >
        • MacKichan-Schulz Streamliner
        • Rossi's 1927 T Cosworth
        • Eelco Wee Eel II
        • #494 Model A Streamliner
        • #43 Creel Lakester
        • Ron Main's Flatfire Streamliner
        • HAL Dry Lakes Roadster
        • Art Gerrick's Dry Lakes Car
        • 1933 Chevy Comp Coupe
        • Seth Hammond Lakester #77
      • Safety >
        • Jack Petty Ford
      • Show Cars >
        • Bergler's 'More Aggravation'
        • Red Baron
        • 1934 "Sweet Dreams" Ford Roadster
        • "Big Daddy" Roth's Outlaw Tribute
        • 1937 Studebaker Extremeliner
        • Boothill Express
        • Fahrner's X-Ray Roadster
        • Goldbrick
        • Venus
        • Zausner Speedway Special Roadster
        • Zausner Vicky
      • Luxury Cars >
        • Tucker
        • Duesenberg Model J
        • Essence of Bucciali
      • Legends in Racing >
        • 1965 Mustang GT
        • Shelby Series 1 Roadster
        • Pumpkin Seed
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        • GMC Dragter
        • Tony Nancy Wedge II
        • 303 Roadtser
        • Smaldino & Yates "Fargo" Dragster
        • E.J. Potter's "Whizzer" Drag Bike
        • Ramcharger Funny Car
        • Swamp Rat V-B
        • 1931 Bantam Drag Car
      • NASCAR >
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        • #26 Curtis Turner 1956 Ford Sunliner
        • 1956 Pontiac Sedan
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        • 1908 REO
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        • 1953 Studebaker DOHC V-8
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        • Bob Coulter
        • Tim Schulz
        • Grady Wade
        • Larry Dickson
        • Howdy Williams
        • Jay Woodside
        • John Wilkinson
        • Ray Lee Goodwin
        • Don Droud Jr.
        • Frank Brennfoerder
        • Woody Brinkman
        • Bill Utz
        • Ed Bowes
        • Harold Leep
        • Thad Dosher
        • Roy Bryant
        • Dick Sutcliffe
        • Don Maxwell
        • Danny Wallace
        • Lonnie Jensen
        • Jerry Stone
        • John Gerloff
        • Bob Burdick
        • Shane Carson
        • John Larson
        • Ed Leavitt
        • John MacKichan
        • Bill Smith
        • Greg Weld
        • Gordon Woolley
        • Kyle Berck
      • Famous Photographers >
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        • Bob Mays
    • Toys, Etc. >
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      • Lunch Boxes
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        • #777 Garold Frymire Streamliner
        • Champion
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        • Polywog
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        • Richter #12
        • Royal
        • Bluebird Streamliner
      • Soap Box Derby
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    • FAQ
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