Driver

Always punching above his weight, former White House staffer and Polish Racing Drivers of America co-founder “Tony A2Z” began competing in the early ‘60s behind the wheel of his daily-driver Volvo PV544. He was spotted by 2018 inductee Bob Tullius, with whom he won a 1966 Trans-Am race in a, yes, Dodge Dart. Next, Adamowicz won the 1968 Trans-Am Under 2-Liter championship in a Porsche 911 and the 1969 F5000 championship in an Eagle-Chevy. He took a surprising second against the factory 917 Porsches in a NART Ferrari 512S at the 1971 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Ronnie Bucknum, and third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Sam Posey. That same year, he hustled Oscar Koveleski’s obsoleted McLaren M8B to an impressive third at the Mid-Ohio Can-Am. Later, Adamowicz moved to IMSA and won the 1981 GTU title and 1982 and ’83 GTO championships in Electramotive Nissans. In his final years, Adamowicz won vintage races in his championship-winning F5000 Eagle. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.