A scan thru the '71 section of the book revealed the the mention of only 1 Pontiac. It is a '63 wagon, which ran R/S.
He quoted the driver, Bob Williams, as saying that at one of the tracks they ran on a regular basis, Quaker City, the track ran uphill. Since they didn't have a line-lock, they had to block a rear tire, after staging, to prevent the car from rolling backwards, out of the beams.
Said the car was RU @ Indy that year, in R/S.
But, the 455HO engine was available in '71 Birds & A-bodies. Nobody can make me believe that there were not quite a few 455HO cars bought, strictly for drag racing. Probably quite a few Pontiac dealerships, as well as individual racers campaigned a 455HO powered car.
I'll post examples I have. Again, I can't always say exactly what season these cars began racing. I've heard of several cars that were raced by a dealer maybe only one season, then by others, after that.
The '71 T-37 is the 1st model that comes to mind. But the 455HO was available in T-37, Lemans, & GTO models.
http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2060
The most famous one that I can think of right now is Rock Running's "Super Sleeper". I've already mentioned this & maybe all these cars I'll post pics of on this post. The White Bros, Ken Shawver, & Jack McCormack all ran one. We all know how some race cars changed hands a lot. So, I don't know exactly who was the 1st to race any of these cars.
As mentioned, Mick Leiferman ran a '71 GTO, was RU @ Indy 3 years straight, & was a nat record holder for 5 years straight, beginning in '73. Don't know exactly what year the car first began racing. The pic I have shows it in H/SA.
Have a pic of the White Bros '71 Formy, running H/SA, & a Towne Pontiac '71 Formy running H/S. Also have pics of Gary Moore & Max Sterling in H/S '71 Birds.