Rooted in development work led by Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chevrolet’s head of Corvette engineering, the “Heavy-Duty 427” engine that gained fame as the heart of RPO L88 was first “field tested” with Roger Penske’s Sunoco Racing team at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental. When the smoke cleared, Penske’s team broke the GT class record, won class and finished 11th overall, confirming the potency of Arkus-Duntov’s brainchild and immediately conferring a victorious competition pedigree on the L88 option yet to come for 1967. Next, at the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours, one of Penske’s 427-powered cars led class from start to finish and finished ninth overall, the best-ever Corvette finish until then at that famous venue. The newly restyled third-generation Corvettes were intended—in L88 tune—to race at Daytona and Sebring in early 1968. However, the FIA-mandated 500-car production numbers required for the new car could not be achieved by Chevrolet within the August-November 1967 timeframe. It was not until November ‘67 when Hollywood legend James Garner’s high-profile American International Racing (A.I.R.) team received the first three third-generation L88 cars from Chevrolet. While only two of them ran at Daytona, one retiring early and the other finishing 29th, all three of Don Yenko’s Sunray-DX team cars swept the GT-class podium, cementing the L88 legend. Race-numbered 29 and co-driven by Yenko and Peter Revson, this L88-powered 1968 Corvette finished second in class at Daytona between the class-winning Grant/ Morgan No. 31 1967 L88 and DeLorenzo/Thompson in the No. 30 ‘68 car. For a brief but brilliant period during the late 1960s, the Sunray-DX petroleum company of Tulsa, Oklahoma, fielded one of America’s best and most successful road-racing teams, one that brought its products and the brutal L88-powered Corvette to international prominence. Starting in 1965, Ralph Morrison Jr., public relations supervisor for Sunray-DX, organized a promotional campaign involving auto racing to market their products. Morrison approached Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Chevrolet dealer Don Yenko, the successful road-racer who enjoyed a special relationship with GM, and Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov to launch the project. In just 16 months, Sunray-DX cars raced with great success at the pinnacle of 1960s motor racing at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Riverside and in SCCA competition. Known as the “showroom” car to L88 experts and historians, this particular Corvette was built up for racing when new by Don Yenko, since the factory L88 car he ordered would not arrive in time for the 1968 Daytona 24-Hour race. Accordingly, he plucked a Rally Red L71 427/435 street hardtop convertible off his showroom floor to transform into a screaming L88 racer. Following the 1968 Yenko/Sunray-DX 1-2-3 triumph at Daytona and this car’s second-place podium there, Yenko teamed up for the Sebring 12 Hours in this car (renumbered 2) with Pedro Rodriguez in the rising star’s one and only race outing in a Corvette. While the L88s suffered suspension issues and rear-end failures, including this car, which was forced to retire on Lap 43, Yenko and Rodriguez set a blistering new GT-class lap record with it. This car was also registered as one of two anticipated Sunray-DX entries for the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, but political unrest in France and rescheduling of the race from June to September frustrated this effort. Finally, the buyout of Sunray-DX by Sun Oil, which already sponsored Penske Racing, closed the final chapter of this highly successful American racing team. Next, Don Yenko campaigned this Corvette as his personal racer up and down the East Coast and Midwest, and it carried him to the SCCA Midwest Division Title in 1968, before it was sold by Sunoco to fellow SCCA racer Robert Luebbe of New York. Inside the historical binder accompanying this car, detailed correspondence documents the sale of this car and a supply of spare parts from Sunoco to Luebbe, dated late 1970. The Corvette continued to be raced until the early 2000s when it was purchased from Californian racer Frank Joyce, who campaigned the car through the ‘70s and ‘80s. The car remained in his racing livery until it was restored in 2008 to its “Number 2” Sebring 1968 glory by Corvette Repair of Valley Stream, New York. Following completion, the car received the NCRS American Heritage Award representing the Corvette racing legacy, which involves verification that this is the car and chassis number that raced in period. Other recognition includes induction into the Bloomington Gold Special Collection. As expected, this famous L88-powered racing Corvette is extremely well documented with a thick binder containing full ownership history, the NCRS Shipping Data Report, NCRS Award Verification Letter and original Sunray-DX paperwork and correspondence. In addition to its fabulous restoration and racing livery, the ex-Yenko Corvette features a 427/430 HP V-8 engine, Holley 850 CFM 4-barrel carburetor, M22 “Rock Crusher” 4-speed transmission, F41 suspension and looks and sounds ready to storm the track all over again. In short, this Corvette is one of the most historically significant and well-verified of all third-generation Corvette racing cars in existence and available to collectors.