Before lookin at the 2016 season, I wanna go back & look at some of the oldies. There has already been mention of, & pics of Pontiacs from the '50's. So, I wanna look 1st at 1960 models.
Jim Wangers is a famous name in Pontiac performance history, as is Royal Pontiac. Well, for 1960, Jim had Royal prepare a couple of 389SD Pontiacs for strip duty. There was a red 4-speed car, which Jim drove, plus an auto car, which somebody else drove, if I understand it correctly.
Most of ya'll know that the US Nats were held at several different tracks, before landing at Indy. And, they were just called the Nationals. In 1960, the Nats were in Detroit. Jim, driving the red car, won his his class & the eliminator title. The white car made the final, but was beat by a Mopar.
https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of...catalina-racer
The Super Stock class, as we know it, was not yet established. Some of these Pontiacs were equipped with factory over the counter parts, that were not available as original equipment. They were simple bolt on parts, as I understand it. So, I don't know if they were considered "Stockers", in 1960, or not. Don't know if they ran a separate class, or as a class within the Stock Elim. But, they were certainly not the roller cam, aftermarket intake, aftermarket block, aftermarket head SS engines of today.
And Jim was awarded the title of "Mr. Stock Eliminator", at the '60 Nats.
https://www.sema.org/sema-news/2010/...liminator-1960
The pic I'm posting is quite famous in Pontiac circles. It pops up quickly on a Google search.