THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN

NASCAR IS SENDING A STOCK CAR TO THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, BUT NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

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ONE OF MARTINI RACING’S factory Porsche 936s driven by Jacky Ickx and Gijs van Lennep won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976. It was a rough race, one of the hottest on record, and Ickx struggled to keep the throttle down as his feet burned and blistered in the pedal box. That’s a good story, but with all due respect to Ickx, a better story was happening behind him. Way behind.

The day before, just off the starting line, tabletailed Lolas and swole-fendered Porsches revved and darted into the first turn. In the back, as menacing as a tornado cutting across a prairie, came two cars of a sort that the French had never seen. Straight piped and V-8 powered, the Dodge and Ford stock cars plowed past Datsuns and BMWs at 200 mph. Both cars were doomed, but in their initial laps, they branded themselves on French memory and Le Mans history. Sometimes you don’t have to win; it’s enough to be big and loud.