Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

OK, got some Nat record certificates to post. Let's see if it works.

Nope. They're in pdf form. But TJ is workin on 'em on her Mac desktop. So, when she gets 'em back to me in a form I can post, I'll post 'em.

By the way, all you guys who have set a record with a Pontiac powered car, please post your certificates, or send 'em to me so I can post 'em.

And it don't matter how slow the record was. It was quicker than any same class car had ever set that record, before that time.

Now, ya'll will have to help me here. I don't understand this nat record deal, where an existing record is "retired". I use to think all records stood, 'til somebody else beat those records. What is the thinking on retiring a record ?

OK, the Mulry/Aceves '74 Bird set the J/SA, K/SA, & L/SA records. The first 2 were set with the car as a Formula. But, to run L/SA, they had to add the hood, shaker, & all the T/A body pieces. So, in the pics below you can see it as a T/A, and, in the last pic, as a Formy, in an all Pontiac class final !

[oldskool]

Well, we're up to '70 model Birds. Scott Burton's '70 RAIV Formula Is the only '70 Stocker I can think of. It's been sold & shipped overseas now.

But, while Scott was racing it, it made some noise. It is known as the quickest Pontiac Stocker ever. It ran B/SA, and actually dipped into the 9's, in legal form, at a bracket race. Here's the round, posted on DRC.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop

He dialed a 10-flat, & here's what he turned.

72 Scott Burton
0.028 9.989 129.77

I assume that everybody here knows about this car. But, for any who don't, here's a link to a fairly detailed magazine article about it.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hppp...tiac-firebird/

As far as I know, it was the only RAIV Stocker engine still in competition.

It would take a long time to post all of Scott's Pontiac racing accomplishments. But, I'll do some searching & try to hit some of the highlights, of what he did with just this car.

OK, the 1st time the car pops up on my radar is as #8 qualifier, at the 2010 Mile-High Nats, @ .982 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

Also won the B/SA class.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

Just as a side note, Brad Burton qualified higher, also won his class, AND won the race. But we'll talk more about Brad later.



At Indy, Scott went .869 under, which was good enuff for #58, in the 128 car field. Brad was higher & got RU.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

At Vegas, Michael Brand drove it, & ran 1.047 under, for the #8 position.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

Scott drove it at Pomona & ran 1.014 under, for the #10 position. Ya'll take a look at this Q-list. There were 3 Pontiacs above Scott. That means that 4 of the top 10 were Pontiacs. How cool is that ? Also Pontiacs in #15 & #20 positions.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

Well, it looks like the RAIV Bird was off to a great start !

At Indy 2014, he ran a .977 under 10.273.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2014#indextop

[oldskool]

A few more B/SA pics.

[Mike Jones]

I think YoKen is going to start charging you rent!

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by mike jones

i think yoken is going to start charging you rent! :d

10-4 !

[Bob Mulry]

Originally Posted by oldskool

OK, got some Nat record certificates to post. Let's see if it works.

Nope. They're in pdf form. But TJ is workin on 'em on her Mac desktop. So, when she gets 'em back to me in a form I can post, I'll post 'em.

By the way, all you guys who have set a record with a Pontiac powered car, please post your certificates, or send 'em to me so I can post 'em.

And it don't matter how slow the record was. It was quicker than any same class car had ever set that record, before that time.

Now, ya'll will have to help me here. I don't understand this nat record deal, where an existing record is "retired". I use to think all records stood, 'til somebody else beat those records. What is the thinking on retiring a record ?

OK, the Mulry/Aceves '74 Bird set the J/SA, K/SA, & L/SA records. The first 2 were set with the car as a Formula. But, to run L/SA, they had to add the hood, shaker & most of the T/A body pieces. So, in the pics below you can see it as a T/A, and, in the last pic, as a Formy, in an all Pontiac class final !

Just a little clarification, because you know how the Stock Police can be..

That wasn't most of the pieces to make it a Trans Am, that was ALL of the pieces to make it a Trans Am...

Thanx,
Bob

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Bob Mulry

Just a little clarification, because you know how the Stock Police can be..

That wasn't most of the pieces to make it a Trans Am, that was ALL of the pieces to make it a Trans Am...

Thanx,
Bob

OK, I stand corrected.

I know how picky some tech guys can be. Wesley told me I'd have to get the correct factory fan & cover up the radio hole before he'd even look at anything else. That was my introduction to NHRA tech.

I said it that way because I could not see a T/A fender vent. Maybe it's there & I just couldn't tell, in that pic. I just looked at it closer, and I can just barely make out small parts of it.

[MR DERBY CITY]

You have missed a few d 3 die hard Pontiac racers. Former d 3 champ Jack Treola ....as in the Treola - Hoy firebird. After he retired from racing jack sold the car to another Pontiac die hard Larry Sloan. You would have to go back many years to see Larry on a Q sheet but he was Pontiac through and through. In his younger years he was groomed at the track by Roy Dean Sr. Not sure if Larry still has the Treola-Hoy firebird....

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

You have missed a few d 3 die hard Pontiac racers. Former d 3 champ Jack Treola ....as in the Treola - Hoy firebird. After he retired from racing jack sold the car to another Pontiac die hard Larry Sloan. You would have to go back many years to see Larry on a Q sheet but he was Pontiac through and through. In his younger years he was groomed at the track by Roy Dean Sr. Not sure if Larry still has the Treola-Hoy firebird....

Thanks for that info. I've never heard of any of those names. But, I'd like to get all the names of all the good Pontiac racers, thru the years, AND info/pics of their cars, in these Pontiac threads. Pontiac drag racing history is a big part of my history.

But, I knew VERY few Pontiac racers, in my area. There were LOTS of races we went to where we had the only Pontiac engines that came in the gate. I caught a lot of flack from the area Chevy guys, at first, telling me how I should get rid of all that Pontiac "junk" & get me a Chevy motor. But, they were wasting their breath. I'd been in love with Pontiacs since I'd seen the first ads for the '64 GTO, followed by the '65, '66, & 67 GTO ads.

Was '69 before I was able to borrow the money to buy one. Drove it on the street for 60k miles, then put it on the track. Some of the most enjoyable times of my life were spent in & with that GTO & all my Pontiacs that have followed. Nowadays, I love to talk about the Pontiac drag cars of the past & present.

For this Stocker thread, the story begins with the Pontiac V8 drag cars of the late '50's, and ends with the 1981 301T Bird Stockers. So, we're talkin about cars from a period of only about 25 years. I refer to the 60's & '70's as Pontiac's "Glory Days". Some end it when the last SD455 Bird rolled off the line. But, for Stocker drag racing, the later Pontiac V8 cars have & still do play a big part in Pontiac Stock class racing. So, I wanna talk about all the competitive Pontiac powered models.

PS: Can't talk about 'em much more this year. But I plan to ring in the new year doin just that !

Happy New Year, ya'll !

[oldskool]

OK, in going up thru thru the Firebird years, we got to 1970. I personally can't think of another competitive '70 Bird Stocker. BUT, since they were available with the RAIV engine, I figure some dealers raced 'em. So, if ya'll know of any other '70 model Bird Stockers, please post that info.

I figure that when the '71 455HO Birds came along, some dealers & others fielded one. I can't see much difference in the '71-'72 Birds. So. I'll lump them together. In recent years, I suppose Brad Burton has had the most competitive 455HO powered Bird Stocker, ever. He's won lots of big races & I think maybe a championship or 2. Several of you guys probably know the car & the Burtons well, & have raced against 'em. So, some of you can add things to this thread, about them & their cars.

All I know is what I've read online. But, there is a lot of online info about the Burtons & their cars. So, I'll dig into some of it, and ya'll can add some stuff I can't find.

Usually, one of the 1st places I like to check is the US Nats records. Most of the really quick Pontiac Stockers show up at Indy. So, lets see when Brad shows up there. Decided to start with 2004. Wow, is it rich with Pontiac Stocker history.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

I think I count at least 10 Pontiac powered cars on the Stock Q-list. Some of the names I'm familiar with are #4 Bob Mulry, #10 Bryan Phillips, #13, Don Holmes, #36 Bill Rink, #54 Mike Morgan, #59 Scott Burton, #91 Todd Hoven, #93 Sal Biondo. That group includes some big names in Pontiac drag racing history.

#40 is Mike McGinley, with a '74 GA. I assume this is one that we've discussed that has been passed around. Maybe some of you guys can give us it's complete racing history.

#98 is Kyle Riley, with a '77 Lemans. Same for this car.

A couple of the cars I'm not sure about. So, maybe ya'll can help. #34 is Dave Edwards with a '78 Tra. So, is that a '78 T/A ? And, '78's could run a 403 Olds. So, have you guys known of any competitive 403 powered '78 Birds ? Or did they all have a 400 Pontiac ?

#31 is Dave Batta, with a '78 Firebird, It could also have a 350 sbc engine. Do ya'll know this car ?

And all these cars were more than a sec under. By the way, Bob Mulry & Bryan Phillips picked up their class wins.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

Anyhow, the car I wanna look at now is the car Scott Burton was driving. It's listed as a '71. Since he was running D/SA, I assume it had the 455HO engine. So, is this the same car that Brad has been running as a '72 455HO ?

I'll do some research on that '71 Bird & see what I can find. Guessing that Scott made some noise with it, before Brad did. It may be next year before I can post any of what I find.