Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

And, before leaving the '69 GTO, I'll have to include mine.

NO, it would not have been competitive at any big races. But, I didn't go to big races. The first 2 seasons I raced it were '73 & '74. Raced at 2 local tracks. One was called Harmon Raceway, near Monroe, LA.

The other was just an airport runway, in Haynesville, LA, where they still ran off a flagged start. No timers at all. That was some very interesting racing. Slower cars got a "spot", of so many feet, as specified in the NHRA rules. If neither car jumped the start, the first car to cross the finish line was the winner.

That was not the 1st time I'd raced on an airport runway. When my '69 GTO had 500 miles on it, my girlfriend(now wife) & I went to the local airport race, just to watch. But, the local guys would not let that happen. They ragged me & said I was afraid my ole Goat would get beat. Well, I stood it long as I could. They ran classes first. I was in the same class with several big block Chevelles, & at least one 442. Didn't have any trouble with the Chevelles. But there was a 442 which had headers & slicks. I had hard street tires as well as factory exhaust manifolds & dual exhaust pipes, all the way out the back. I ran the 442 in the finals. With the slicks, he pulled me good out of the hole. But, I caught him & passed right at the line. Picked up my class win trophy & went back to my parking spot to watch the rest of the race.

Back then, fans could pull up close to most tracks & watch from their vehicle. At Haynesville, we had lots of Pontiac fans who watched the race from pickup beds, parked on a hill overlookin the strip. I remember them clapping & waving, as I'd drive back past them, after a round win.

I especially remember one particular win there. I ran a 4cyl Pinto. The spot was 410ft. They didn't have that many feet marked off on the track. So, the flagman just sat down on the front fender of the Pinto & road off down the track. He just guessed at the distance. The Pinto was undefeated that year. So they had a $25 bounty, for anybody that could beat him.

Well, it was real close at the line, but I got there 1st. It was a real popular win. The loyal Pontiac fans were jumpin & hollerin & goin wild. That was without a doubt, the best reception I ever got for a win. The Pinto was a street car. So, after he lost, he kept right on driving, right out the gate, & we never saw the car again. I know that story can't compare to the wins some of you guys have had, at big races. But it was a big deal to me.

At the Monroe track, they did have timers. It was the 5-amber tree. They didn't give out any RT's or 60ft times, just 1/4 mile ET. They ran off track records, for each class. I ran D/S. My track record was real soft. After I lowered it a couple of times, most other D/S cars that ran there could not run the track record. My record ended up being quicker than the C/S record. My main competition was a Stage 1 455 Buick that ran C/S. I suppose it was similar to bracket racing, except that you couldn't dial your own ET. Your dial was the track record. For '75 they switched over to the NHRA index system. More about that later.

Anyhow, I won quite a few races with my '69 GTO. And it could have been much quicker. I only had 3.90 gears. And the engine was bone stock, with just over 60k street miles on it. Hey, it wasn't quick. But it won lots of races, gave me LOTS of pleasure, and got me started in drag racing. Everybody has to start somewhere.

Hey, its the off-season, it's almost Christmas, and in some parts of the North, it's cold outside. So, some of ya'll didn't really have anything better to do than read some of my ancient history.

In '73, I pulled my car to the tracks with a '68 Caddy & a tow bar. When pulling more than about 10 miles, I'd use some old junk tires, then change 'em at the track. Began with a scissor jack I borrowed from my Dad. Sometimes the winner's pic would make the Monroe newspaper. For '74, we could run some M&H "cheater" tires. They were soft compound, but had a couple of small grooves. I've included a pic of the tread. How many ran & remember those ? As I remember, they were only used one year. At least, '74 was the only year we used 'em. In '75, we could run 9" slicks & headers.

[oldskool]

OK, lets look at some '70 model GTO's. The 1st one that comes to mind belongs to Todd Kuhn. It has the 455HO with #64 D-port heads. The 455HO round port heads were not available 'til the '71 models. Todd has run his car for several years now. Right now, it's the only '70 GTO I know of that is still in Stock competition. If ya'll know of others, please post info, & pics if you have 'em.

I remember a '70 named Kathy's Clown. I have a pic of it running against Rock Running's Super Sleeper.

The '70 Judge that Knafel Pontiac campaigned, ran mostly in AHRA competition. I'm not familiar with their rules. Looks like maybe you could run a different 4-barrel carb, and maybe even a 2-barrel ??? Don't think these were considered Super Stock classes. Pic of the car seem to show small tires. Maybe some of ya'll who know can explain those old AHRA rules.

This article says the car won a couple of nat events, set multiple records, & won the championship in 1970.

https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0509-79...iac-gto-judge/

[oldskool]

When we come to the 1971 models, I'll have to include the Lemans and/or T-37 cars. They're almost GTO's. And there have been quite a few 455HO T-37's in competition.

I think I've already mentioned some of 'em. Don Turk now has one, that has a long racing history.

I like the looks of a T-37, with Monk King sponsorship. It was bought stripped down, for racing, with the 455HO engine. I'm not sure if it ran Stock any. I assume it did. By 1974, I think it was running either all or mostly bracket racing. There is a newspaper article showing that it beat out a 32 car field, for the win. Don't say what class it was. I just assume it was bracket. But, I like the car, and it's exactly the kind of car others bought for Stock racing.

http://www.monkking64gto.com/Dragworld.html

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hppp...1-pontiac-t37/

[ss3011]

"I remember a '70 named Kathy's Clown. I have a pic of it running against Rock Running's Super Sleeper."

Ray Stover raced Kathy's Clown in Div 3 , Ray was an NHRA Tech Inspector after he stopped racing . Both Ray and Kathy worked for Div 3 , nice people !

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by ss3011

"I remember a '70 named Kathy's Clown. I have a pic of it running against Rock Running's Super Sleeper."

Ray Stover raced Kathy's Clown in Div 3 , Ray was an NHRA Tech Inspector after he stopped racing . Both Ray and Kathy worked for Div 3 , nice people !

Yeah, I remember that name now. Haven't seen or heard it in years. I always remembered the car's name, because Kathy was the name of my high school girlfriend. And, because of the old pop song "Cathy's Clown".



As all the older guys will remember, there were LOTS of cars back in the old days that had some sort of name on the side. Yeah, many had a sponsor's name, or the name of the car owner, or the business the car owner had, or the driver's name, & sometimes the name of the driver & owner or driver & partner, or driver & wife.

But, there were also lots of catchy names. Seems that those were the names that were easy to remember. And we usually referred to a car by it's name, especially if it had a good one. For example: I would never have referred to that car as Ray Stover's car, since I didn't even know him. I'd have referred to it as Kathy's Clown, or the Kathy's Clown car.

Same with Rock Running's "Super Sleeper" cars. I know he's had quite a few with that same name. So, I might have said the Super Sleeper '74 GTO. or the Super Sleeper T-37, or whatever kind of car he had that name on.

So, when I built a car for my girlfriend(now wife TJ), we decided to come up with a good name for it. Again, you older guys will remember this. There was a song that was the country music song of the year, for 2 years in a row, back in the early '70's. It also went pretty high on the Billboard top 100. The song was "Easy Lovin", by Freddy Hart. It was played on radio stations, a LOT. Most everybody could sing along without missing a word.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Loving

Why am I spending so much time on this. It's because car names were a very important part of drag racing, back in the old days. Hey, if you wanted your car to LOOK like a drag car, all you had to do was put a good name on it, lots of racing decals, then a nice set of wheels & tires, just like the real drag cars had. I can still call a car's name, from some of the tracks we raced, over 40 years ago, and TJ will remember the car, & sometimes even the owners name. We can all remember certain cars by their name.

I've noticed that in recent years, lots of racers don't want a name on their car. They don't want ANY lettering of any kind, and no decals. I personally don't like that look, for a drag car. I want a drag car to look different from a street show car. Opinions differ.

We used the EZ name on 3 different '68 Firebirds. All our area tracks dropped class racing & went to all brackets, by '77. So, we switched too. TJ went right on winning at bracket racing, just like she had at Stock racing. The basics of driving are the same. Cut a good light & run your dial. She won the LA State Championship Race in Stock, then the Southwest Ark Championship Race, then the IHRA points race held at the Tyler TX track. Got her pic & a little ink in the IHRA drag review paper, for that win. Also got a pic of her car & a little ink in Hot Rod mag, in the Nov '77 issue. The pic was made at the Green Valley Race City track, where the div 4 bracket finals were held.

Well hey, ya'll will just have to excuse me. You just have to toot your own horn now & then. Very few members here have ever even heard of us, much less met us. Due to life's circumstances, I have not got to race near as much as I would have liked, & never had enuff money to do it right. But that don't make me like it any less. I still like to talk about it, & keep up with what others are doing.

[oldskool]

By '72, GTO was just an option on a Lemans. You could get the same front on a reg Lemans, including a wagon.

The '72's had fender vents, just behind the front wheels.

Or, you could get a regular Lemans front, which looked real similar to a '71. No T-37 or GT-37, for '72.

Notice the fender vents on these first 2 cars, just behind the wheel.

The '72 Lemans appears to have a 4-piece grill, with 2 sections on each side. But I've never had one, so I don't know if the grills are actually 2 pieces on each side, or just 1 piece on each side. It's very trivial. But maybe somebody could clear that up for us.

Todd Hoven won the '09 Carolina Nats, at zMax, in his '72. Assuming it's the same car as the one shown above it. Todd probably picked up some other class or event wins, with the car. Maybe he'll see this & give us more details about the car.

[Jerry Terry]

Does anybody know what happened to Ray and Kathys car ? (Kathys Clown)



Jerry
Retired 3490 3492 STK SS SST

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Jerry Terry

Does anybody know what happened to Ray and Kathys car ? (Kathys Clown)
Jerry
Retired 3490 3492 STK SS SST

I don't. The only '70 GTO I know of that is still racing is the white one that Todd Kuhn has. He lives in Marshall, IL.

Since we've found out that a lot of drag cars have changed hands several times, I suppose it is possible that Todd's car could be the same car.

Looks like he's a member here. So, he can probably give you his car's history.

http://classracer.com/classforum/member.php?u=27111

Don't know if this is the same Ray Stover or not. It's a long shot, but he has racers on his friends list.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...805&sk=friends

[oldskool]

Well ya'll, 1973 was a very traumatic year for the Pontiac A-body.

The body style was COMPLETELY changed. I don't remember ever hearing anybody say they liked the new style. I didn't like it, at all. It completely finished the GTO, on the A-body platform.

But, since the 400 & 455 engines were still available, a few brave souls raced 'em. And, there's been a few more thru the years. For this thread, I'm gonna lump all '73-'77 Pontiac A-bodies together.

It seems that the '74 models have been the most popular, for racing. I suppose that's because the 4X head 400 engine can be competitive. I like the Grand Am Nose best. But the only rear I like is the '77 Can Am. If I had plenty of money & had to choose a '74-'77 A-body to race, it would be a '77 Can Am. Have never seen a Can Am Stocker. Have ya'll ?

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...w=1920&bih=921

Ya'll gonna have to help me with names & pics here. But, I'll share the pics & info I have. I think we've already mentioned the '74 GA that Don Turk raced. He said he wanted to go a little quicker. Logan Galbraith has the car & won some races with it this season.

Tommy Brown has a '74 Lemans, out on the West coast. Don Elgin has a '75 GA, up in the great Northwest. Jack Larsen has a '77Lemans . Bob Michael also had a '77, which Dave Ribeiro has now. I have a pic of one that looks to have Danny Ashley on the side.

As far as I know, most or all these cars are competitive. Tommy Brown is consistently one of the top Pontiac qualifiers. At the Pomona Finals, in 2018, he is on the list just above Brad Burton. Randi Lyn Shipp had the only Pontiac higher than his.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop

At the '15 US Nats, Bob Michael's Lemans & Don Turks GA both made the 128 car field, and qualified above Randi Lyn Shipp.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2015#indextop

This year, there was a driver named Wayne Larsen, listed as driving a '77 Pontiac, in div 4. I assume that since his last name is Larsen, he's driving the same car that has been listed in prior years as belonging to Jack Larsen. Assuming the 2 are kin, & it's the same car. Anybody know, for sure ? Wayne was #27 on this Q-list. And, since we're talkin about Pontiac Stockers, 2 spots down the list is another Pontiac. This one is a 2nd gen Bird, driven by Dwaine Davis. We'll take a look at his car later, when we look at competitive Birds.

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

The bottom row of cars were driven by Jack Matyas, Mick Leiferman, & Kyle Riley.

[oldskool]

I'd read this but didn't really remember it.

Besides the Tons-a-Fun wagons & the '72 GTO, Gary Wood also raced '65 & '67 Goats, several '68 Birds, AND a '71 455HO Bird. He apparently did pretty good with the '71, winning a div race and the Summer Nats, in '75. I can't verify this info. But here's a quote from the "Wagon Masters" article. It also includes a pic of the 2nd gen Bird. But, I can't download it, so far.

"...Next was a long line of 1968 400 Firebirds that he ran in E/Stock and quickly sold. “I actually ran about a dozen different ’68 400 Firebirds in E/Stock,” Gary recalled. “I would build one and then someone would come and buy it out from me. I had a lot of fun building them.”

Wood moved on to a 1968 Firebird, which was updated with a Ram Air IV engine. He then raced a 1971 Firebird Formula with a 455 HO engine, later updating it to SD-455 specs. Running in D/SA, he won the Division 1 points race at Maple Grove in ’75 and also the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown with the Bird. Gary would sometimes run two cars at national events and as many as six cars at local events. The driving duties were divided between him, his then-wife Charlene and employees of his service station in Gansevoort, New York near Albany..."

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0212...tiac-history/#