Always the underdog, American Motors didn’t have the advertising budget to go toe-to-toe with Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. What it did have was a ton of chutzpah, and a belief that putting its products on the track and the strip was a cost-conscious way of proving to buyers that it could build something besides the fuel-stingy sedans it was known for. In 1969 alone, the automaker participated in no fewer than seven racing programs.
For 1970, the Independent pulled off
