View Single Post
Old 09-16-2021, 01:50 AM   #82
oldskool
VIP Member
 
oldskool's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish
Posts: 1,668
Likes: 223
Liked 747 Times in 362 Posts
Default Re: Best B.O.P. stock and super stockers of all time

Can't think of any major changes in '72 that changed Pontiac drag racing. The 455HO was still available in A-bodies & Birds.

Changes were mostly cosmetic. Bird grills were changed to a honeycomb hole pattern. The '71 rectangular fender vents were dropped.

For the A-bodies, the Judge & the T-37 were dropped. The GTO type T-41 front end changed slightly, including more recessed grills & fender vents, behind the front wheel wells. The 455HO engine was still an option for the GTO & Lemans, including the Lemans wagon. Gary & Charlene Wood ran a '72 GTO & '72 Lemans wagon. May have run 2 wagons. I have wagon pics showing both a regular Lemans nose & the GTO type T-41 nose. I read that they ran both a D-port & round port 455. Charlene won the Grand Molson race, in Canada. The wagon also won smaller races & got some class wins.

Out on the West coast, Larry Maxwell had a strong running 455HO powered '72 Lemans. A div 6 lady racer from Canada drives it now.

In 2008,Todd Hoven won a nat event & won the G/SA class at Indy, with a '72 GTO. He qualified #7 at Indy.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2008#indextop

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2008#indextop

I suppose the most well known '72 Pontiac racer of this modern era is Brad Burton. He won 2 Stock national championships in the Burton 455HO powered '72 Formy.

Sonny Ray had one of the most famous '72 GTO SS cars. It won several big races, including David Rampy's 1st nat event win, at the '83 Cajuns.

Here's some '72 Pontiac Bird pics.

The '72 Honeycomb grills can be seen in some of these pics.

Love pic #3. It shows a small tire Super Stocker, with slapper bars.

Pic #4 shows Gary Moore at the World Finals, in what I assume was 1972. I attended that event in '73. It was my 1st time to see the Funny Cars. There were lots of 'em & they put on an awesome show ! I watched most of the Sat daytime Pro qualifying from the overhead walkway, shown in the pic. Whole lotta shakin goin on ! Lots of noise & lots of nitro fume tears. That's been almost 50 years ago. But it's an experience I'll never forget.

Billy Foder owned the car in pic #6. As you can see, it has T/A hood & fenders, but no wheel flairs.

The car in pics 7 & 8 is the same car as in pic #6. In those last 2 pics, it had the T/A fenders, but had a Formy hood. When it had the Formy hood, it belonged to Lee Bannister. He won some nat events with it, including the Gators.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1 - '72 SS-JA .jpg
Views:	119
Size:	152.8 KB
ID:	59412   Click image for larger version

Name:	2 - OLSON '72 455HO .jpg
Views:	124
Size:	461.4 KB
ID:	59413   Click image for larger version

Name:	3 -Golden United Life .jpg
Views:	126
Size:	304.2 KB
ID:	59414  

Click image for larger version

Name:	4 - '72 SS-J Record Holder Gary Moore .jpg
Views:	115
Size:	509.7 KB
ID:	59415   Click image for larger version

Name:	5 - Larry Maxwell .jpg
Views:	124
Size:	462.0 KB
ID:	59416   Click image for larger version

Name:	6 - TA with no Wheel Flairs .jpg
Views:	145
Size:	388.6 KB
ID:	59417  

Click image for larger version

Name:	7 - '72 TA Fenders Formy Hood .jpg
Views:	114
Size:	730.4 KB
ID:	59418   Click image for larger version

Name:	8 - Ennis TX Nat Win '99 .jpg
Views:	115
Size:	611.4 KB
ID:	59419   Click image for larger version

Name:	9 - '72 Brad Burton .jpg
Views:	124
Size:	706.8 KB
ID:	59420  


Last edited by oldskool; 09-16-2021 at 07:56 AM.
oldskool is offline   Reply With Quote