Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

Here's the Q-list from DRC, for the AZ race. Ryan Schloe finished #19. C.W., John, & Rick were #39, #40, & #41.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...er=30#indextop

Just watched the last round of Stock qualifying, at the div 4 race, on Drag Racer TV. Only Pontiac I saw was driven by Wayne Larsen. I think it's a '77 Lemans. I have it listed under Jack Larsen. I assume the 2 are kin. Jack is also entered in this race, driving another brand car.

I labeled the pic Wayne Larsen, for this post. But it still had Jack's div 3 number on it. But, Wayne was definitely driving this same car today. Pretty easy to tell by the checkered flag paint job on the sides. IIRC, he was running N/SA, & ran a 12.24 on a 13.00 index. So, he was .760 under.

[oldskool]

Well, at the div 4 race, another Pontiac sneaked in on me. Logan Galbraith came down, from Indy, with his '74 Grand Am. It is the former Don Turk car. Logan won some races with it, last year.

He qualified #23 Fri, @ .980 under. Wayne was #36, @ .873 under.

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

Logan won the N/SA class, with an 11.943, on the 13.00 index. Wayne was RU in the class.

After Sat qualifying, Logan is #13 @ 1.042 under, & Wayne is #44 @ .873 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r=100#indextop

Both cars lost in E-1. Wayne cut a great light, then screwed up the finish. Logan cut a slow light, then never had a chance.

[oldskool]

At the div 7 race in Tucson, Brad Burton Joined the party, with his '72 Bird. There are now 5 Pontiac powered Stockers entered. Ryan Schloe is #2 @ .993 under, & C.W. Hoefer is #3 @ .991 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...er=30#indextop

[oldskool]

Finally got time to start lookin for Pontiac info the the Junior Stock book I was given. Some of the cars & info, I was already aware of. But, there is some info that is new to me.

So, I'll go thru the book slowly & point out some of the Pontiac info in it. Those here, who have a copy, can check & see if what I'm posting is correct.

The 1st Pontiac I'll mention is the win that Jim Wangers got, at the '60 Nats. It's on P-13. For that win, he was declared "Mr. Stock Eliminator".

[oldskool]

On P-14, the 7-11 Packer Pontiac is mentioned. The caption for the pic of that car explains how some of the big Pontiacs were shipped with a 348hp engine under the hood, but had lots of upgrade parts in the trunk, with which a guy could build his motor to run at 368hp.

They say that car was totaled in a towing accident, in '62, but not before scoring a class RU, at the '62 Nats, running 12.90's.

Apparently Packer sponsored several big Pontiacs back in the early '60's. Here's one with 7-16 on it. The 2nd pic is of a recreation of that car that was totaled.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2007/1...gstrips-again/



The 3rd pic looks to be a recreation or rstoration of a later year model, with 7-11 on it. The 4th pic is of a silver '63 Cat. Don't know how accurate these cars are to a car that was actually raced. Also don't know if some are actually a restoration of the original race car.

This article says the silver "Swiss Cheese" car set a C/S nat record in '63, @ 12.27.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/drive...ction/9658243/

[oldskool]

That same page of the book also mentions some other Pontiac class winners from that year. It says that Hayden Proffitt got an OS/S class win at the Nats, running a 12.55, in a Mickey Thompson Pontiac. Not real sure which car that was. But I'll see if I can find out.

Also mentions that Lloyd Cox won the S/SA class. Pretty sure I mentioned this one. I think he also won the class @ the Winter Nats that year. The next year, his wife Carol won the auto class at both races. Haven't seen her named mentioned, in the book, yet.

Although there are no names on the car, in the 1st 2 pics, I think this is Hayden Proffitt & the M/T car he drove at the '61 Indy race. If I'm wrong, somebody can correct it, & post the correct info.

Just thought I'd better mention this again, for those who may not have seen it earlier, or may not know. In the early '60's, these cars were not considered "Super Stock" cars, as we know 'em. A/SA & above, including FX, ran in what was called "Top Stock". Lower classed cars later became known as the "Junior Stock " class. That's why I'm listing these cars in the Stockers thread.

[oldskool]

Well, after reading the book's coverage of the 1962 season, I'm real disappointed. Hey, it was a big year for Pontiac. The M/T A/FX Tempest won the class, at the Winter Nats & @ Indy. No mention of that. Carol Cox also won the S/SA class at both races. Since she is said to be the 1st female to win class at a nat event, looks like it would have deserved a mention.

The book mentions her name, by saying that a Chevy beat her, & that she was driving a similar car. Not even close.

"...Don Nicholson. His Chevy defeated the similarly equipped Carol Cox car..."

https://www.nhra.com/news/2018/carol...t-class-winner

But hey, I understand how a non-Pontiac guy could find it real easy to overlook or leave out Pontiac accomplishments. I understand that this is a Junior Stock book. But, for '61 & '62, the book mentions several classes that ran Top Stock. So, why leave out the A/FX car that won at both big races ?

Hey, still a good book, with lots of info. But, as I go thru it, I'm gonna add all the Pontiac info I know, about the year in question.

The book does mention that Arlen Vanke took 3 "Tin Indian" Pontiacs to the Indy race. Says he won at least one SS class, & turned the quickest SS time, of 12.65, & the fastest, @ 113.20. Well, this leaves out a lot of details. I'll do some research & see if I can fill in some of the details. Will edit & post what I find, here.

I think it's fairly safe to say that this '62 GP was one of the cars Arlen took to Indy, in '62. It has "Tin Indian" on it. I assume that means it was the 1st Anderson Pontiac Tin Indian. The car in the 3rd pic is a '63, which has "Tin Indian III" on it. So, I don't think he could have raced it at Indy in '62. Don't think they came out that early. But, I assume Pontiac may have released a few to big name Pontiac racers, in time for Indy. Anybody know ?

So far, I can't find a "Tin Indian II" car. But, I assume there was one. So, I'll keep looking.

But, maybe all 3 cars he took were NOT Tin Indian Cars. Here's a '62 ragtop called "Black Whirlwind".

Anderson also had a couple of '63 Tempests. Looks like they ran SS @ some tracks & A/FX @ some. Also assume they wouldn't have been ready for Indy '62.

[oldskool]

The book has over 4 pages of 1963 coverage. He mentions that Bill Golden won the A/FX class, @ the Winter Nats, in a '63 Pontiac, but won overall Top Stock, in a Mopar.

Well, I gotta check this out. I thought the M/T '63 Tempest won A/FX. Maybe Bill Golden was driving. That name doesn't ring a Pontiac bell for me. So, I'll do a search. Here's a quote I found in one article.

"...Tailing Mickey Thompson's sole Pontiac A/FX effort in 1962, when it had won the Winternationals and the Indy Nationals, the factory fielded several 421ci Tempest coupes in the A/FX division in 1963, as well as wagons weighted to run B/FX. There were also a handful of Catalinas built this way. These cars were so above the field in terms of potential and performance at Pomona in 1963 that the new Z11 427/425hp aluminum-panel Chevy Impalas and the lightweight Ford Galaxie fastbacks ended up in a one-race-only Limited Production class to prevent embarrassment, since the companies were lacking proof that the minimum number of 50 cars had been created for Super Stock legality..."

Can't prove this was so. Anybody know ?

Another article says that Bill Shrewsberry drove the M/T '63 Tempest to the A/FX win @ the '63 Winter Nats. Says he ran a 12.04, which was a half sec quicker than his nearest opponent. Also says that later in the year, Arnie Beswick set a new A/FX record, @ 11.89. Shortly after that, the FX class quickly morphed into a wild class, which eventually became Funny Car.

https://books.google.com/books?id=yG...record&f=false

The Junior Stock book, says that Ronnie Broadhead won the Stock points championship, in a '60 C/S Pontiac. Also won class @ Indy, with a 13.54. Also says that Ramon Lowe won the F/SA class at the Winter Nats. His '58's ran lower classes, sometimes. So, I assume he was driving his '62 GP. But I don't know for sure.

I think Jim Wangers won the the B/FX class @ Indy, in a '63 Cat. and Bill Abraham won A/SA in a '62 Pontiac GP.

So far, the Junior Stock book has some Pontiac info correct, some not, & leaves out a lot.

[oldskool]

For '64, the book has 12 pages of coverage. At the Winter Nats, it says that Don Gay won A/S, with a 12.68. Says that Ramon Lowe entered 2 cars. He won D/SA with his '58 Pontiac & E/SA with his '62 GP. Also mentions that a guy named Larry Spina won the I/SA class, with a Pontiac. Not familiar with that name.

Also says that Don Gay was disqualified, @ Indy, for having "non-original-size mufflers". I've posted a pic of him as class winner. So, I don't know if he was later DQ'd, or what. Don't know if the class trophy was taken away from him, or not. Don't really know how to find out exactly what took place at Indy, in '64. Anybody know ? The book says that 9 Stockers were DQ'd.

Wayne Keeling got I/SA RU, in his daily driver '59 Pontiac. One class winner which was mentioned in the 1964 section was Mary Ann Foss. Mary Ann won D/SA & set a new nat record that year. At the time, it is said that she was the only female that held a nat record. She was driving a '58 Pontiac named "Black Magic". For the '64 Nats, the book says that the car had a 370 engine, with Tri-Power, a Jetaway trans, & 3.90 rear gears. Says she won the class, with a holeshot 14.24 ET, over a similar car, raced buy Dixon & Easley. No pic of either car, that I saw, during the '64 season coverage. I have a pic of a Lowe & Easley '58, but not a Dixon & Easley '58. Maybe that car was driven by Larry "Doc" Dixon, who drove some of the Knafel "Tin Indian" cars. Anybody know ?

[oldskool]

Lots of '65 season coverage. NHRA added a couple of nat events, the Spring Nats & the World Finals. No list of class winners.

A couple of GTO's are mentioned. One is the '65 Tin Indian GTO, which I've mentioned. The book says that Knafel Pontiac cars won over 200 races, during the '60's & '70's.

It also mentions a '62 421 A/S Cat that was driven by Jess Tyree. Says the car ran 11.90's & was a frequent winner in div 7, in '65. Also held records in both NHRA & AHRA.

On page 171 of the book, begins a listing of most division points & nat event winners, from '64 thru '71. In '65, the only name I recognize as Pontiac is Jay Hamilton. In order to win the division points, I assume he had to win a div 7 race or 2, & go rounds at most of 'em. So far, I only have one pic of Jay Hamilton's '58 Pontiac.

The caption of the Mary Ann Foss pic says that she won her class at the World Finals. But, in the text, it says she was RU. Don't know which is correct.