Roger Penske retired as a driver after racing the Grand Sport Coupe at Nassau in 1963, focusing his energy on the Chevrolet dealership he had purchased. With the dealership doing well he turned to the formation of Penske Racing and securing sponsorship. Starting in 1966, Sunoco signed on to support Penske's Corvette program. This event marked the beginning of a long and successful partnership between Penske and Sunoco!
Penske started by racing a production-based Stingray Coupe which would be driven by Dick Guldstrand. While the Coupe was being prepared, Penske also bought two Grand Sport Roadsters - the only two Roadsters ever built - from the GM factory.
Penske sent Guldstrand, Bill Scott (a mechanic supplied by Sunoco) and George Wintersteens mechanic, Bill "Murph" Mayberry, to pick up chassis 001 from GM. Although the Roadsters had been in storage since 1964 and would receive complete rebuilds before seeing action on the race tracks of the world, the plan was to have chassis 001 ready for the 1966 Sebring 12 Hour event.
