The winner of the Daytona 500 receives the Harley J. Earl trophy

Posted: February 18, 2012

Ask any NASCAR driver which race they want to win above any other and they’ll tell you the Daytona 500. It’s the oldest and most prestigious race of the season and taking the checkered flag brings instant fame and a career boost.

The winner receives the Harley J. Earl trophy, named for the creator of the first styling department at General Motors. Earl (on left in photo) and Bill France Sr. were friends when France was organizing NASCAR as a governing body for stock car racing and Earl became one of the first commissioners after his retirement from GM in 1958.

Earl designed the GM Firebird XP-21 concept car in 1953 which was essentially a jet car. It was powered by a gas turbine engine and had short wings and a tailfin, reminiscent of jet fighter aircraft from that era. It was only fitting that a sterling silver miniature of the futuristic concept car sit atop the trophy of what has become the Great American Race, perhaps seen then as an icon to what the sport would become today.

Earl was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1986 for his iconic leadership in automotive styling and design. His post at GM was really the first in the industry, and some may say that Earl was the first to take our young industry from boxes on wheels to art on wheels. Among his earliest works are the Buick Y-Job and the LaSalle. He designed the 1953 Corvette, an idea spawned from the European cars he saw racing at Watkins Glen, NY. He thought America needed something to compete with them. Earl was largely responsible for the chrome and tailfins of the 1950’s, had women on his design staff which was rare at that time, and made the first use of clay modeling in phases of design.

Earl truly influenced what you drive today.

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