Racing involvement Racing versions of the car were initially fitted with the FE 427 side oiler engine that had been Ford's main racing engine since 1963. Later in the season, the Boss 429 engine was used by many of the teams, after it had finally been declared "officially homologated" by NASCAR president Bill France. The Boss 429 engine was homologated in the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429. In a very unusual move, Ford homologated the engine separately from the car in which it was to race. Many experts think this may have been done in order to get the bodywork of the Talladega officially homologated at the beginning of the 1969 race season, as the Boss 429 was not yet in production in sufficient numbers to homologate it. All production Talladegas were actually equipped with the new 428 Cobra Jet, which, while very powerful and reliable, was intended as a street engine for Ford's muscle cars, as it developed high torque at low RPMs, rather than being a high-revving race engine. Accolades The Torino Talladega did exactly what Ford hoped it would do on the racing circuit: it won 29 Grand National races during the 1969 and 1970 NASCAR seasons - far more than any other model. Further, it won the 1969 NASCAR Manufacturer's Championship with David Pearson winning the Driver's Championship, and it won the 1969 ARCA Manufacturer's Championship with Benny Parsons winning that Driver's Championship. Chrysler's initial competitor was the Dodge Charger 500, which proved to be aerodynamically inferior to the Talladega, especially on NASCAR's super speedways (tracks of a mile or more in length). After realizing that Ford's Talladega (and its sister ship, the Mercury Spoiler II) were much more effective as race cars, Dodge went back to the drawing board to create the Dodge Charger Daytona, which managed to win a total of 6 races during the 1969 and 1970 NASCAR seasons. Richard Petty finished second in NASCAR's Grand National points race in 1969, driving a Talladega. Abandonment 1969 was Ford's last year of factory involvement in racing of any kind for several years. Following Congressional hearings in which they were questioned about the R&D costs of racing vs. improving fuel economy and safety, Ford completely abandoned all of their racing programs, starting with the 1970 season. Subsequently, most of the NASCAR and ARCA race teams that were running Fords continued to run their 1969 Talladegas