Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[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 ?

[Alan Nyhus]

The Axemaker & Reuland car is a local car (an hour West of me). It has a ton of history and has been around forever.

In your post #521, one of the cars pictured has some serious history, beginning with it's factory incarnation.

Brad Koivisto's killer fast '74 is currently being run as a Ventura, not a GTO.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Alan Nyhus

The Axemaker & Reuland car is a local car (an hour West of me). It has a ton of history and has been around forever.

In your post #521, one of the cars pictured has some serious history, beginning with it's factory incarnation.

Brad Koivisto's killer fast '74 is currently being run as a Ventura, not a GTO.

Well, that's a very interesting post, which brings up more questions.

(1) So, what happened to the 2nd '72 Lemans or GTO, that is NOT the one you're talkin about. TWO cars & TWO drivers were mentioned on the same Q-list. Any info on the other car ? Did it also belong to either the Axemakers or the Reulands ? In fact, on that same Q-list, there was another '72 Lemans, driven by Jon Wacholtz. Anybody know anything about it ?

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

(2) I assume the car you're talkin about, in post 521, is the T-37. I've read that it was the car that Rock Running raced, named "Super Sleeper". Then Ken Shawver raced it for a while. Danny Ashley had it & made a few improvements. Don Turk sold the Grand Am he'd raced for years, & now has the T-37. At least that's the story I've read. Somebody even posted a radio interview on which Rock told the whole story of how he got the car. I'll post a link to that interview. It should be very interesting to most Pontiac guys, up to the part where Rock went with Olds, somewhere around '82.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/c...13_28_01-08_00

(3) All the pics I have of Brad's '74 show it to be a GTO, complete with the shaker hood & grill lights. I don't see an advantage of running a regular Ventura, unless you just don't wanna run the shaker scoop ? But, I remember that Al Vanis won Indy, in '74, with a regular Vent. Jack Matyas also began with a reg Vent, then changed over to the GTO. So, why did Brad change from a GTO ? Anybody have pics of it in the new form ?

In looking thru the older race Q-lists, I've seen lots of '74 GTO's. But, after Bill Rink, as he has posted, caused such a big hp hit, the number of '74 GTO entrants has dropped, drastically. On my list of recently active '74 GTO Stockers, I only have 2 cars. Besides the Koivisto car, I have a pic of a red one, driven by Greg Krause. I've probably already posted it here. But this thread is now so long, I'm not gonna look it up. I'll just post another pic here. Some will remember it as the one with John Force riding shotgun. At the time, it didn't appear to be a serious competitive car, barely running under it's index. Bill Rink was running quicker, more than 20 years ago. At the current NHRA hp factor, a '74 GTO/Ventura is definitely NOT the most competitive Pontiac V8 powered Stocker combo. But, thru the years, until the big hits, there were quite a few '74 Pontiac X-body Stockers which did very well & held lots of class records. I suppose there are certan combos of most brands which have been factored completely out of competition.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=328825

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1998#indextop

Other than these 2, does anybody else know of another recently active '74 GTO or Ventura Stocker ?

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...8&MAKE=Pontiac

https://autoimagery.photoshelter.com..._ACT=usrSearch

Edit: I now have a pic of Brad Koivisto's X-body, with a plain Ventura hood on it. Problem is, it still has the GTO grill lights & a GTO decal. I suppose that just points out how much less strict today's NHRA tech is. Wesley would not have let this go, back in the '70's.