Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

Somebody just posted this pic of a Ray Hunt 2nd gen Bird Stocker. Said it was on the back of a Mid America Speed Center catalog. Looks to be classed D/SA.

The caption says it was running as an SD455 car. But, I've read that the SD455 powered '73 Formulas came with a T/A hood & shaker.

So, maybe the caption is wrong. Maybe it was actually a '72 455HO powered car. Or, maybe NHRA didn't care what hood SD455 Formulas ran.

Anybody know, for sure ? Anybody have any more pics or info about this car ?

This shows that NHRA will allow the SD455 engine to be run in a Formula, a T/A, as well as Lemans, GTO, Grand Prix, & Grand Am, even tho most agree that the SD455 engine was only available in the Bird.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2080

[Stan Weiss]

He even ran a '72 GTO and '72 Firebird as part of a factory deal with Pontiac.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/hppp...ders-shootout/


Well if he never ran the Firebird a number of people have got it wrong.


Stan

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Stan Weiss

https://www.motortrend.com/news/hppp...ders-shootout/


Well if he never ran the Firebird a number of people have got it wrong.


Stan

Yeah, I've read that several times. That should indicate that the car actually existed.

BUT, I have never seen one single pic of that Stock class Bird. Have you ?

And I've never seen one list or mention of any kind, of any race he ever ran the car in. Have you ?

There are quite a few pics of the GTO. Does anybody else find it odd that there seems to be no pics or other info about that Bird Stocker that Truman supposedly ran in '72 ?

Would love to have pics of the car, as well as info on races run & times turned. Can anyone here provide any pics or info.

Could it be that he had someone else drive it ?

Since the NHRA rules that year said the Stockers had to be driven to the track, not trailered, do ya'll think that prevented Truman from racing the car at any big races ?

I assume that lots of Stocker guys trailered their car close to the track, then drove it in the gate.

Then, I assume that some of the tracks ignored that rule & let racers tow or trailer their Stockers.

Can any of you older guys shed more light on running a Stocker during the '72 season ?

[oldskool]

Don't know why I haven't thought of this before.

Below are pics of Truman's '68 "Hard Times" Bird, @ the 1972 Summer Nats. There is no class trophy or Wally that I see, in the 1st pic. So, was that pic for the class win, or did he win Stock Eliminator, or ?

He obviously couldn't have driven that car AND the '72 Bird he supposedly had.

So, that brings up some possibilities/questions.

(1) Why was Truman NOT driving the '72 Bird Stocker ?

(2) Was it not in racing condition for that particular race ?

(3) Was it entered in that race, with someone else driving it ?

(4) Had Truman already raced it some & it did not run quick enuff to be competitive ?

(5) I've read that all nat records were set at minimums at the beginning of the '72 season. So, did the '72 Bird set it's class record that year ?

(6) Did another car in the same class bomb the record, therefore making Truman's '72 Bird non-competitive ?

(7) Why does there seem to be no pics or records of this car's performance, but only mentions of it's existence ?

(8) Does anybody have any real solid evidence that Truman ever actually drove this car in competition ?

(9) Does anybody know the car's history, after Truman had it ?

I know there are guys on this site who were around back in '72. Gotta be somebody here with more info about this car AND Stock racing in general, for that particular year, 1972. I've read that lot's of Stock racers switched to SS. But some still ran Stock. Have read that the Stage 1 455 powered Buicks did good that year. Same car won 1st & last nat event. Don't know how the Pontiacs did. Anybody have any info about Pontiac NHRA Stockers, for the year 1972 ?

[oldskool]

Since I made that last post, I've read that Truman did win @ the Summer Nats, and @ Indy, in his '68 Bird.

BUT, what I read said that he was DQ'd @ both races for tire rule infractions.

Can anybody here verify this ?

If this is true, I'm wondering exactly what the infraction was. Have read that the tires had to be street legal, not softened any, and not shaved down below a certain groove depth.

So, if he was indeed DQ'd for a tire rule infraction, there was obviously something about the tires he ran that didn't pass tech.

Would appreciate any info about this reported DQ.

[oldskool]

I've read that sometime during the last half of the '73 season, a soft compound M&H wrinkle wall DOT tire was allowed by NHRA. Could be any size that would fit in the stock wheel well.

They had 2 very small grooves in 'em. I didn't find out about these tires til after the '73 season was over. I bought a pair over the winter & ran 'em during the '74 season. They instantly dropped my ET aprox 1/2 sec. I've already posted pics on this thread.

Truman Fields won Stock @ Indy '73. I assume he was running those soft tires. I found 9 pics of Truman's Bird, supposedly taken in '73, on the Petersen site. You can see in some of those pics that the rear tires were wider than the 9" slicks that were made legal for '75.

[Frank Castros]

Motor Wheels look fantastic.

[oldskool]

Also found 4 other Pontiac Stockers on that Petersen '73 Indy section.

#1 & #2 are of what appears to be a '63 Catalina wagon, which was running T/S. Has "NHRA National Class Champ" on the side. Don't remember ever seeing this wagon before.

#3 IIRC, this is a '73 Model. It's obviously a 4-door & was named "Tijuana Taxi". Not long after this, V8 engines were not allowed in that class.

#4 This is obviously a '68 GTO which was running C/S. I assume that would make it RA2 powered. Looks to have "Win Gurney Pontiac" on the side. If I've ever seen a pic of it before, I don't remember it.

#5 This is Dave Pruden's E/S '69 Goat.

#6 I've posted this pic of Dave, as an Indy class winner. Don't know if it was in '73 or not. Didn't get it from Petersen.

[oldskool]

While lookin thru the Petersen archives for the '72 Indy race, I kept noticing pics of this early '70's T/A.

But, the pics weren't made at the Indy track.

And, although the section was for something that happened in around the 1st of Sept, 1972, the shaker scoop has SD-455 decals on it. But, the 1st year of SD-455 cars were '73 models. Don't think any SD-455 powered Birds would have been sold by Indy race time.

So, I concluded that the Bird in the pics must have been a test car of some type. So, I posted the pics on the PY Pontiac forum, asking for info.

Sure enuff, some of the members were familiar with the car. It was indeed one of the "mule" cars which was used for testing SD-455 engines, and other parts.

The pics show that it had a trunk mounted fuel tank, with the filler neck coming right up thru the trunk lid. Also had lots of small vent holes in the tail panel.

These pics are obviously in b&w. The car was actually gold colored.

Any of ya'll familiar with this car ?

[oldskool]

Here's a colored pic of the SD-455 T/A test mule.

It is said that this Bird was later destroyed, rather than being sold. Can't verify.

More info & pics:

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showpost...3&postcount=15