Junior Stockers

[oldskool]

Haven't found a lot of pics of '59 Pontiac Stockers.

But apparently, the '60 models were quite popular, with racers.

I suppose the 1st really popular '60 model was the one that Jim Wangers drove to the win a the 1960 Nats. He won the title "Mr. Stock Eliminator". The pic of him driving the "Hot Chief #1" against another '60 Pontiac @ the '60 Nats is probably one of the most famous Pontiac drag racing pics, ever.

Ronnie Broadhead did real good with a '60 model.

And, there were quite a few others that got class & event wins, & set records.

The over the counter 389SD & 421SD parts really pepped up the Pontiacs of the early '60's. NHRA eventually outlawed some of these parts, on certain models.

[oldskool]

Before leaving '60 models, I need to mention a couple of '60 wagons.

Joe Perzen ran a record holder.

Douglas & Forys also built a strong running '60 wagon.

There were also some '61 Pontiac Stocker wagons that did pretty good.

[oldskool]

Lots of '61 Pontiacs ran strong. But it seems that most of those I have pics of ran Top Stock, in classes like S/S, OS/S, & S/SA. But, I'll post 5 that ran lower classes.

I'll start with one of my favorite '61's. It ran F/S. Set the F/S record @ Pomona '69. Gary was div 4 Stock champ in '68.

Have already posted pics of some '62's. But, I'll add 4 more, here.

The caption I have for the #6 car says it got 63 class wins & 7 race wins '68-'71. Don't have any details about where those wins took place.

Don't know if the car in pic #9 ran Jr. Stock or Top Stock. I included it because of the candy stripes. Looks typical of a lot of the Jr. Stock paint jobs of that era.

[oldskool]

For '63 models, I couldn't find hardly any Jr. Stock Pontiacs.

I suppose the 421SD powered '63 models were not NHRA Stock legal. But, I do have a pic of a '63 model running E/SA.

Also have a pic of a '64 big Pontiac Stocker. Caption says it was 421 powered. Mark said it had 400 power.

For the rest of the '60's, there were very few big Pontiacs run as serious Stockers, from what I can find. Pic #6 shows a 421 powered 2 + 2. Don't know how many of those hit the strips, as serious Stockers.

Well, '64 was the 1st year of the GTO. So, I assume lots of guys took 'em to the strip, to see what they'd do. A few dealers sponsored serious effort '64's.

During the pre-Firebird years, I'm sure there were lots of Tri-Power stick Goats running Jr. Stock. Other than the Knafel Pontiac '66, don't know how successful they were, nationwide.

[oldskool]

Tho the big news for Pontiac, in '67, was the new Firebird, that wasn't the only big news.

The 389 was gone, replaced by the 400.

Tri-Power was gone, replaced by the Q-jet.

The TH400 was now available in the Birds & Goats.

The 421 was gone, replaced by the 428.

Some of the heads were improved, with screw-in rocker studs, push-rod guide plates, and bigger valves. The valve angle was changed.

I'm sure lots of racers tried the new Bird on the strip. But, there were also some serious '67 Goats. One of the most famous was the "Limelighter".

[oldskool]

For '68, the A-body got a new look.

'68 was the 1st year of round port heads. They were #96, called Ram Air 2 heads. This engine also had a bigger cam, referred to by most as the "041" cam. This engine has been raced by many, & is still a very competitive Stocker engine today.

The best D-port heads were open chamber, with 2.11/1.77 valves, screw-in studs, & pushrod guide plates. The 330hp D-port engine, in a '68 Bird, has been a very competitive combo thru the years. It was a perfect fit for the 10lb/hp class, for a LONG time. Then, in recent years, NHRA bumped the hp factor up to 338, then back down to 333.

The most famous '68 Bird has to be Truman Fields' 1st one. He won D/S with it @ Indy '71. The Bird also won Stock @ Indy in both '73 & '77, plus lots of other stuff.

[oldskool]

I suppose the big news for Pontiac's '69 model year was the introduction of the Ram Air 4 engine. It had forged pistons, round port heads, 1.65 rocker arms, plus an aluminum intake. It retained the "041" cam from '68.

Another big deal was "The Judge". Had nothing to do with making the GTO any more or less competitive. But, the orange Judge, with it's loud color, decals, & rear deck spoiler was quite conspicuous looking, on the tracks, around the country. Later in the model year, other colors were available. But the orange ones are the cars most remember.

There were a few of these cars that did really well. "Rocky's Goat" & "Nemisis" were nat record holders. Nunzi Romano was partial sponsor of an orange Judge. No telling how many were used as serious Stockers, back then. Have no idea when the last competitive '69 Judge Stocker was active.

The Birds got some cosmetic body changes, to the base models. But, the big change was the introduction of the Trans Am. It had a special hood, fender vents, & a rear deck spoiler. They were white, with twin blue strips. Never saw a pic of one being used as a serious Stocker, back in the Jr. Stock days.

The Grand Prix also got a new body style, for '69. So hey, '69 was a pretty big year for Pontiac.

[oldskool]

The Jr. Stock book goes on thru the 1971 season. So, that means there were some '70 model Pontiacs which ran Jr. Stock.

There were at least least 2 big changes, for the '70 model Pontiacs. A 455 engine replaced the 428. It WAS available in the Goats, but NOT the Birds. It would be the ONLY year of a high compression 455.

The Firebird got a complete body style change.

Formula Birds got a fiberglass hood, with 2 long scoops.

Trans Am Birds got a "Shaker" hood/scoop, fender vents, wheel well flares, plus front & rear deck spoilers.

Some high performance Birds came with a 12-bolt Chevy rear end.

The 400 RA4 engine was still available in Birds & Goats.

[DeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by oldskool

I suppose the big news for Pontiac's '69 model year was the introduction of the Ram Air 4 engine. It had forged pistons, round port heads, 1.65 rocker arms, plus an aluminum intake. It retained the "041" cam from '68.

Another big deal was "The Judge". Had nothing to do with making the GTO any more or less competitive. But, the orange Judge, with it's loud color, decals, & rear deck spoiler was quite conspicuous looking, on the tracks, around the country. Later in the model year, other colors were available. But the orange ones are the cars most remember.

There were a few of these cars that did really well. "Rocky's Goat" & "Nemisis" were nat record holders. Nunzi Romano was partial sponsor of an orange Judge. No telling how many were used as serious Stockers, back then. Have no idea when the last competitive '69 Judge Stocker was active.

The Birds got some cosmetic body changes, to the base models. But, the big change was the introduction of the Trans Am. It had a special hood, fender vents, & a rear deck spoiler. They were white, with twin blue strips. Never saw a pic of one being used as a serious Stocker, back in the Jr. Stock days.

The Grand Prix also got a new body style, for '69. So hey, '69 was a pretty big year for Pontiac.

I'm guessing that big rig is a 69 Executive hardtop
3966/360=11.02
Right at the top of H/SA=11.00 for 1969 or I/SA=11.00 for 1970-71.

I wonder how they did against all those 58 Pontiac 370s?

[oldskool]

OK, there were major changes in Stock, for the '72 season. So, I'll wrap this up where the Jr. Stock book records end. It has the race results thru the '71 season.

That means there could have been some '71 model year Pontiacs racing, during that last year of Jr. Stock racing. Hey, I suppose there could have even been some '72 models racing, near the end of the year, where tracks were still open, after the new models were available.

Anyhow, the 455 was now available in some Birds, Goats, T-37's, GT-37's, & probably several other models. Compression was lower, than in '70. BUT, the round port head 455HO was available. There were probably quite a few 455HO powered cars ordered especially for racing.

I've read that the '71 #66 D-port 455 heads were poor flowing heads. But, the 197 455HO heads were good, basically RAIV heads with bigger chambers, to reduce CR.

Since all the cars pictured below are '71 models, I can't guarantee that any of 'em actually raced during the '71 season. But, I assume that some did.