Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

Topeka 2nd Race:

Brad Koivisto's '74 GTO was #3 on the Stock Q-list. Jeremy Romero was #14.

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

Brad survived E-1, but got treed in E-2.

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

[oldskool]

I read that the Baby Blue Firebird Formula Stocker that Michael Brand has raced now for several years, is the same car that Larry Maxwell once raced.

Is this correct ?

Both are pictured below.

Have also read that Scott Burton is the guy who helped Michael set up his Bird & get started racing Pontiacs. Is this correct ? I did notice that Michael was listed as the driver of a Burton Bird, on more than one list.

Still confused about the Burton Birds. Was the Bird that Scott raced as a 1970 B/SA car the same one he'd raced for years as a '71, '72, & '73 ?

When Brad 1st began racing, He drove a car listed as a '72 model, & Scott drove one listed as a '71 model. So, which one of those cars was the one Scott had been racing for years ?

For the 2nd Bird Stocker they began racing, who did they buy it from, OR did they build it from scratch, OR did Scott already have 2 Bird Stockers ?

Thanks to any & all who can help me get all the facts straight, regarding these 3 Birds.

[oldskool]

OK, some questions get answered & some don't.

The only way I know of to come up with more info/history is to keep searching & keep asking questions. And, since there are more long time class racers on this site than anywhere else, I'll just keep asking here.

As I go thru more of the DRC records I keep running across names I don't know, as the driver of a Pontiac Stocker that looks like it could be a car that I've posted about. As all here know, there are usually one or more guys here who can rattle off the names of several people who owned/raced the same car.

A common thing that some will say is something like " He bought John Smith's(or what ever the previous owner's name was) old car."

Well, in my case, I may not have ever heard of that previous owner. And we all know of lots of cars that have had several owners, thru the years.

So, I assume that some names I mention may be just one of many owners of the same car. But, I like to know the history of cars that have been racing for a long time.

Therefore, I'll continue asking questions, beginning with this post.

The 1st car in question is a '72 GTO. I think it 1st came to my attention when I saw that it had won the Carolina Nats, in 2009.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2009#indextop

Or, I may have seen that it had qualified #7 & won the G/SA class at Indy, in 2008.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...15&postcount=1

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

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

OR, I may have 1st heard about it from Todd Hoven, himself. IIRC, he posted about the car in this thread. Thinks it would still be a decent combo.

Anyhow, I found 2 other names connected to a '72 GTO Stocker. The pic I have looks to be the same car Todd had. This car is supposed to belong to Troy Vogel, #5483.

#164 on this 2012 Indy Q-list shows #3332 Dennis Dunlap , as driver of a '72 GTO.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2012#indextop

There are just not that many '72 GTO's still in competition. So, was this 3 different owners of the same car ? Anybody know who originally set the car up to race Stock ? Any other owners ? Current owner ? Just wanna get all the facts straight. Don't like to post bad info. But, I HAVE made mistakes, lots of 'em.

As always, Thanks for help compiling all this info !

[oldskool]

The next car in question is the 455HO powered '72 Lemans that Larry Maxwell raced for several years.

The next driver i saw for the car was Stephanie Pike, from Canada. Car had a div 6 number. On the passenger side window was the name Jack Kostuk. Car # is 6026.

Just today noticed another name listed as driving a '72 Lemans, running E/SA. Don't remember which race, now. Made a note that says it was from 2011. The car # was 6300. Driver was Glenn Person, from Meza, AZ. Again, not aware of another active '72 Lemans Stocker, in recent years.

Does anybody know who set the car up to race, who Larry bought it from, who bought it from Larry, & any other owners it may have had ?

[oldskool]

In lookin back at the pics I have for the Larry Maxwell '72 Lemans, I noticed a pic of a '72 Lemans wagon. Never have seen it on any of the DRC lists I looked at.

But, I think I got it figured out.

The background shows that the pic was taken in CO, at the "Home of the Mile-High Nationals". So, that means I should find the car listed either at the nat event, or a div 5 race held there.

But, there is no '72 Pontiac wagon listed. I did however find a Larry Maxwell driven '72 Firebird, at the 2006 Mile-High Nats. Funny thing is tho, it was running in the I/SA class. His '72 Bird was usually shown in either E/SA or F/SA, IIRC.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2006#indextop

Also found it on a list from a div 5 race, in Kansas.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2006#indextop

So, by simple reasoning, the Firebird part of the listing is wrong. But the rest of it is correct. It was actually the '72 Lemans wagon, running in I/SA. IIRC, that's one of the classes that Gary & Charlene Wood ran with their "Tons-a-Fun" '72 wagons.

So, does anybody here remember seeing Larry's '72 wagon ? Anybody know who he bought it from or sold it to, or any of it's history ?

[oldskool]

Since I posted about the Larry Maxwell wagon, thought I'd better post this also.

Was lookin thru the Larry Maxwell pics on Auto Imagery & found these pics of a '74 GTO that Larry raced. Maybe everybody but me already knew about it, as well as who had it before him & all the owners since.

But, I just saw this a few minutes ago. If I've ever seen this car I certainly don't remember it.

So, who knows all the car's history ?

Hope Auto Imagery don't do what photo bucket did. That messed up lots of car forum threads.

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...NQfJuo-&GI_ID=

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...NQfJuo-&GI_ID=

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...NQfJuo-&GI_ID=

Looks like maybe Larry was R/U with the GTO, at both the 1981 & '82 World Finals. Winning is better. But hey, R/U at the same Nat event 2 years in a row ain't bad.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1981

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1982

Anybody have pics of this car you can post ?

[oldskool]

Have posted about the Axemaker & Reuland '72 GTO.

Well, in doing some more research, I discovered that at one time there were actually 2 of these cars that looked similar. I'd noticed that in 1 of the pics I had, the paint job was slightly different, and one of the pics showed the car in a different class, as well as with a different perm number.

Here's the E/SA car @ Indy.

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...PLrJO8-&GI_ID=

Turns out that in 1998 & '99, both cars show up on the same Q-list. Harry Axemaker is listed as the driver of one & David Reuland for the other. One is called a Lemans. But, in '72, the GTO was just an option pkg on a Lemans. So, I'm assuming that the 2 cars in the pics below are the 2 cars shown on those Q-lists.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=55825

Then, the 3rd pic was taken in 2015, at BIR. There are several on Auto Imagery.

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...PLrJO8-&GI_ID=

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com...PLrJO8-&GI_ID=

The Q-list shows a '71 Bird, with Sam Reuland driving. But, the car is running H/SA, which is lower than the Axemaker & Reuland Bird ran.

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

So, I have to assume that they took the GTO out for the big race at BIR, & the DRC info about the car being a Bird is wrong. Don't think they just took the GTO out to BIR for a photo shoot. But hey, I could be wrong. Anybody have any more info on this ?