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#191 |
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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. ![]() Last edited by oldskool; 01-01-2020 at 02:54 AM. |
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#192 | |
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#193 | |
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For my part, I'll keep my discussion mostly about Pontiac V8 powered cars, '81 & older. But, I have mentioned that some raced the OHC inline Six. And, there was the 4-cyl that was sorta half of a 389. But, for this thread, that's about all I'll say about it. No offense is meant to anyone, by this or anything else I'll say here. By he way, Happy New Year, ya'll ! ![]() |
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#194 |
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OK, I've begun my research on the '71 Bird that Scott Burton was driving at the 2004 US Nats.
The first thing I found was that at that race, Scott made it to the quarterfinal round, and Sal Biondo made it to the semifinal round. I mention this because going rounds at Indy seems to mean a little more than at a small race, Same with winning your class, especially if there are several cars in your class. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop Next, in '03, Scott had run the Bird as a '72 model. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop He also won his class, along with Mike McGinley & Don Himes. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop And, Sal Biondo had also made it to semifinal that year. Hey, 2 semifinals in a row at the Big GO, ain't bad. It beat what most have done there. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop In '02, Scott also ran the Bird as a '72. I noticed something on this Q-list. Tim Gillespie's '68 GTO was bumped from the field, by much slower class winners. That don't seem right. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop Scott also won class that year. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop Scott was not on the '01 or earlier lists. But, while I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd go ahead & check out those years, anyhow. I did find the '00 list interesting. Don Holmes was #2 @ 1.265 under. 5 of the top 15 were Pontiac. 2 of those were '74 GTO's. #15 was Danny Ashley. And Tim Gillespie's '68 GTO did make the field. There were a couple of Pontiac names I don't know. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop Don Holmes, Dave Edwards, & Danny Ashley won class. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop In '99, Don Holmes was #4 @ 1.264 under. Bill Rink was # 7 @ 1.154 under. Dave Ribeiro was on the list. Peter Biondo was driving Sal's Bird. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1999#indextop In '98, Bob Michael was #12 on the list with a '78 T/A. There was a '71 Bird driven by Alton Minchey. Anybody know this guy/car ? I was glad to see that Todd Kuhn's '70 GTO made the field. Love those old GTO's. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1998#indextop Bob Michael got the only Pontiac class win. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1998#indextop I also noticed that Lee Banister was there a couple of years, but didn't go quick enuff to make the field. ![]() That's as far back as the DRC records go, as far as I know. But, the Burtons do most of their racing in the West, even all the way to the coast, sometimes. So, I'll began combing thru the DRC files & see what else I can learn about this 71/72 Bird. I assume it's the one Brad drives now. But I don't know that. Last edited by oldskool; 01-01-2020 at 05:01 AM. |
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#195 | |
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Your thread..You can exclude whoever you want, but it doesn't say V8 in the heading ;-)
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#196 | |
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RSM. Last edited by RacerET; 01-01-2020 at 01:25 PM. |
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#197 |
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Hard to believe in all of these posts no mention of one of the most diehard Pontiac guys of all time, Phil Szupka. A true Pontiac historian and expert who had a string of real fast Pontiacs !
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#198 |
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At the 2000 Mile-High Nats, Scott was #9 @ 1.052 under. He claimed a '73 Bird at this race. Ran G/SA. I assume that means he was running a D-port 455. I think the SD455 would run a higher class & the 400 would run lower. Bill Rink had the only other Pontiac on the list.
https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop At the '01 Mile-High race, he was also listed with the '73. Also, Larry Maxwell is on the list with a '72 Bird. Anybody have the info on this car, such as previous owner, next owner, etc ? He ran E/SA. So he had the 455HO engine. Wonder if this might be the car Brad later had, and maybe Scott converted the car he'd been running over to a '70 RAIV ? That body style could work for a '70, '71, '72, or '73, with only minor changes. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2001#indextop I know that in recent years Scott & Brad have been running some of the West coast races. So, I checked out the '01 Winter Nats. Scott was not on the list. But, Bill Rink was on top of the list @ 1.300 under. Larry Maxwell was on the lsit with his E/SA '72 Bird. Near the bottom was Michael Moyer, with a '78 Bird. Bryan Phillips & John Schloe were also on the list. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2001#indextop While out in that area, decided to check out the Phoenix race. Bill Rink was on top of this one too, and even further under, @ 1.384. Neil Smedley was 1.129 under, with his 301T '81 Bird. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2001#indextop Scott did not make the '02 Winter Nats. Only Pontiac on the list is Bob Mulry @ 1.049 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop Scott did make the Phoenix race. This time he is listed with a '72. Ran 1.008 under. Neil Smedley was there, and a guy named Richard Desmond is on the list, with a '74 GTO. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop Scott & Bob Mulry were at Denver. Bob went 1.130 under, with his K/SA '74 Formy, & Scott went 1.084 under with his '72 Bird. I assume it was a Formy also, since the only Stocker Birds I've known the Burtons to race are Formy models. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop Scott also won class at this race. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop In '03, Scott made the Phoenix race. Both he & John Schloe were 1.041 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop He made the 1st Vegas race that year. Slowed a little, to .941 under. Ahead of him, in Pontiacs, were Bob Mulry @ 1.115 under, Bryan Phillips @ 1.084 under, & John Schloe @ 1.065 under. Larry Maxwell was also on the list @ .714 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop At Denver, he was 1.151 under. Lee Bannister was on the list. He ran .741 under, with his H/SA '73 Formy. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop Scott was running F/SA at this race & won the class. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop Looks like they didn't run Stock at either Denver or the early Vegas Race, in '04. Don't know what the deal was there. Anyhow, Scott did make it to Fall Vegas race. Apparently, they had some real good air. Bob Mulry was #1 @ 1.544 under, Scott was #3 @ 1.312 under. He was listed with a '71 Bird, and moved up to D/SA. I assume that means that he had swapped in a 455HO engine. John Schloe was #7 @ 1.266 under. Don Elgin even went 1.060 under. Larry Maxwell is also on the list. And Shawn Kvaas, from Canada, is listed with a '77 Bird. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop So, if I understand what I've seen, Scott's Bird would run close to a sec under, with both a D-port & a round port 455. And, Brad had not started driving it, as of 2004. Well, that's enuff for now. BREAK ! ![]() Last edited by oldskool; 01-02-2020 at 11:07 AM. |
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#199 | |
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You guys have to understand, I live in the deep South, where there has been no class racing, with only a very few exceptions, for a LONG time. I have never lived near any of the big tracks, and areas where there is lots of class racing. So, there may be LOTS of Pontiac racers who I have never heard of. So, I'd like for you guys to help us get all the good Pontiac racers' info posted here, for all to see. PS: I have since talked to Phil, by phone. Seems like a nice guy & obviously knows a lot of drag racing history. Last edited by oldskool; 07-11-2020 at 07:16 PM. |
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#200 | |
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Looks like I'll be busy finding & posting info about Pontiac V8 powered cars & their drivers. I'm no expert, as all can tell. But, I know enuff to be able to look up stuff and ask for the info I need. When ya'll think of good Pontiac racers from the past, try to help locate info about 'em, or provide contact info for people who might have 1st hand info about 'em. It's great when you can hear from the guys who were on the scene & witnessed this stuff. Similar to talkin to a soldier who was actually in the battle. Thanks to all who have & will help gather all this info ! ![]() Last edited by oldskool; 01-02-2020 at 11:22 AM. |
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