NASCAR should give the T-Bird its due

[bulldogbarks55]

I'm a big follower of NASCAR. But then I've been following the circuit so long I remember when they actually drove STOCK cars right out of the showroom, albeit with safety equipment (such as it was) added.

Now I've got to preface my remarks by saying that I'm an unabashed Ford partisan who has no love or respect for Chevrolet. I don't care which driver wins, just as long as he drives a Ford. My reason is simple. The number of all-time victories by a marque in NASCAR's top division.

From the mid-'60s until just last season, Ford held the all-time lead. But because there are now only around eight or nine Fords running as opposed to over 20 Chevys, the current odds seem stacked in the Bowtie's favor. At the close of the 2004 NASCAR season Chevy had pulled into a one-race lead for the all-time total of wins. But Ford, thanks to Roush Racing, has come back to tie for the lead as of 6/26/05.

So here's my point. In 1959 Ford teams ran the '59 Thunderbird in a lot of races because the stock '59 Galaxie was about as aerodynamic as a breadbox. With the "squareBirds" being put in to race trim by the legendary Ford team of Holman and Moody, the 'Birds won six NASCAR races in the top division, then known as Grand National.

But Big Bill France, the founding father of NASCAR, decreed that the T-Birds were not in fact Fords, but in his way of thinking they were "Thunderbirds," a totally separate make.

His reasoning was that because the T-Bird did not have a Ford crest on it it wasn't a Ford. No matter that the VIN plate on the A-pillar said "Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich," No that wasn't good enough for Big Bill.

Now every five year-old knows that a T-Bird has ALWAYS been a Ford. So the burning question is, "When will NASCAR credit Ford with those six fairly-earned victories?

[Joshawaggie]

hmmm, that is weird. Ford should definitely get those victories.