On display at the National Corvette Museum is a famous 1961 Corvette loaned from Ted and Shannon Skokos. Painted white with blue racing stripes down the middle, this car is one of the historic racing Corvettes fielded by the Gulf Oil team. Also on exhibit is a black and white photograph from the Museum’s archives of the same Corvette. The photo captures a celebratory display created by Gulf honoring the car’s 1961 championship season. Seated in the Corvette are two men who were instrumental in earning that championship, Dr. Dick Thompson and Don Yenko.
Yenko and Thompson were both experienced racers before joining forces with Gulf Oil. Yenko began competing in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events in the 1950s, and his Chevrolet dealership in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania became a well-known center for building performance cars. Thompson was a dentist in Washington, DC who caught the racing bug in 1952 and started winning SCCA championships just a few years later. Yenko’s and Thompson’s connection to Gulf Oil was Grady Davis, the company vice president who financed the race team. The Corvette in the photograph was delivered to Yenko’s shop early in 1961 and competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring with Yenko and Ben Moore as drivers. The duo finished the race and placed third in their class.
The Gulf Oil Corvette quickly became a dominant force in SCCA B-Production racing. Yenko finished third in his first start in the Corvette but won the next five races, earning victories at tracks like Bridgehampton, Road America, and Lime Rock. However, he was disqualified from another victory when SCCA officials found the car had an aluminum flywheel. Yenko was suspended and Thompson took over driving duties for the Corvette, winning another five races and securing the B-Production championship.
In the photograph of the championship display, Thompson sits behind the wheel of the Corvette with Yenko in the passenger seat. A large banner above the car declares it the “Production ‘Sports Car of the Year.’” Next to the Corvette is a record of its near-perfect SCCA B-Production season and signage honoring the championship points accumulated by Thompson and Yenko. The Gulf Oil Corvette would win a second SCCA championship in 1962, cementing its legacy as one of the most dominant racing Corvettes of its era.
Weissflog, Lois M. “Dr. Richard ‘Dick’ Thompson and Don Yenko in the 1961 Gulf Oil Corvette race car.” Photograph. FIC2015.3.1. From National Corvette Museum Library and Archives
