Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[Dave Ribeiro]

Lee's car wasn't that Fast , but man could he drive !!!! He also would give you the shirt off his back ? I can remember one year at Indy , when I got a flat tire in class- final, in the staging lanes ?? Lee, went back to his car & took off both front tires and help me put them on !!! I ended up wining L/SA in my Firebird ..

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Dave Ribeiro

Lee's car wasn't that Fast , but man could he drive !!!! He also would give you the shirt off his back ? I can remember one year at Indy , when I got a flat tire in class- final, in the staging lanes ?? Lee, went back to his car & took off both front tires and help me put them on !!! I ended up wining L/SA in my Firebird ..

Yeah, I noticed that the car wasn't that fast. But, as you know, as long as you don't get a heads-up run, you can win.

I've also had other racers help me, in the lanes. And I've helped others. I remember one time when I loaned somebody a tool. Don't even remember what it was now. They left without returning the tool. That's pretty low. I didn't even see when they left. I think either me or TJ won the race. So, most everybody else had left the track.

You can have both good & bad experiences racing, if you do it long enuff. I can remember a bracket race where we got winner, RU, & semi, with the 3 Pontiacs we entered. I can also remember lots of times when we all lost 1st round & were loaded up & driving out the gate before the 2nd round. Also remember driving for 3 hours, only to get rained out for both the Sat & Sunday races. Total waste of a weekend.

Our best year was also the year we had the most rain outs. Went to 49 races, but 4 were rained out. Now that don't count those we didn't go to because we knew it was gonna rain. We drove 3 hours to get to the Tyler TX track, for all 4 of those rain outs. But, if you're gonna do it, you gotta take the bad along with the good. Overall, I loved all my racing experiences, even the dirt trackin.

Dave, if it's not too much trouble, and you still have 'em, would you Email me pics of your national record certificates. I haven't been able to find any source for old nat record info. But I've seen a few certificates posted. Or you can post 'em on this thread yourself. Hey, since you've done good with Pontiacs, I wanna be sure that info is recorded here. Most of the Chevy, Ford & Mopar guys don't care. But I do. And there are a few others here who do also.

Would also like to know about any/all nat & div race wins, as well as any other big races, such as the Dutch Classic. I have a few pics of your Bird, which I'll post when I get around to the late 2nd gens. But, if you have some good pics that you especially like, please either post 'em here, or Email 'em to me. Email: speedbarn455@gmail.com

This goes for all you other Pontiac guys. I wanna know about all the big wins you've got, plus nat records, & your best pics of those winning Pontiacs. There are so many that I don't know about. That car with the 2 Gator wins is a good example. I'd never heard of the car or driver. and I'd never taken the time to look thru the DRC archives to find out.

[Stock4106]

Originally Posted by oldskool

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.ID=349415&Filter=30#indextop[/url]

I'll help shine some light on this car. If I remember the story correctly, Kyle Riley bought a running '77 Lemans and had a towing accident which damaged the car. He found a clean body and used parts from the damaged car to build this car. He did well with the car for a few years, including a RU at the Allstar race in '03 or '04.

At some point Kyle passed it to Marion Stephenson and it was one of many cars that Marion raced. Jack Larsen got it from Marion and has raced it in rotation with other cars he has. Wayne, Jack's brother, recently put is C/SA Mustang on the bench and races this car.

[oldskool]

OK, so we're talkin about one car that has been passed around.

Thanks for the info !

I've noticed more & more that many, if not most, of these old Pontiacs have been raced by many different owners. I'd like to see 'em all keep racing as long as possible.

[Adam Strang]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Harry Axemaker. Didn't he win a couple of National events in the '80s? Believe he had a '72 Firebird.

[Lyn Smith]

My vote goes to Todd Hoven's G/SA 72 GTOs performance at the 2008 US Nationals. Todd qualified in the top 10,but there was 4 other G/SA Barracudas right there with him. He took them out one by one,and put away Chuck Beach in the final. As the story goes he had one of those special metric transmissions shipped into Indy from California to help him. Quite a sight seeing his big old boat run down the Mopars that day.

[oldskool]

OK, continuing now with '68 Bird Stockers. There have been far too many to name. But I'll name a few. The first one I remember was Truman Fields Hard Times Bird, with which he won the '73 US Nats.

That same car also won the '77 US Nats, with Mike McKinney driving. I suppose that by now most Pontiac guys know about the sale/trade deal Truman made with Roy & Mike McKinney. They wanted to buy the car, but didn't have the money. But they did have another '68 Bird, which they'd been racing. So, they traded their car, plus some cash, and maybe even a motorcycle, for Truman's car.

Truman took their car & made it just a little quicker than his old car. He won his class at the '77 Indy race, which Mike won. Truman raced that Bird for a long time. Then a few years back, Todd Hoven got the car & raced it as a Truman Fields Hard Times tribute car. It now no longer has the tribute lettering.

The original Hard Times is now either being restored or has already been restored. So, the original will be a restored piece of Pontiac history, and the 2nd Hard Times is still an active Stocker.

The McKinney's built another '68 Bird for Super Stock, which Mike's son Marty is now bracket racing. I've posted pics of it on the SS thread.

If any of this is wrong, Todd will have to correct it. He seems to be the only one who knows all the details.

As I looked over the pics to post, I realize I may still be confused. The 1st pic is at the '72 Spring Nats. The 2nd pic is of Truman with a D/S class win @ Indy. But the decals are different than in the '72 pic. And he ran C/S @ Indy in '73. So, from what year is that class win ?

As far as I know, all these pics are of the original Hard Times Bird. The last 2 are of the resto. Obviously, I have no way to know what car was used in the resto. The last 2 pics could be of 2 different cars, as far as I know. I'll leave it there.

[oldskool]

So, the 2nd pic below shows an E/S '68. So, is this still the original Hard Times, with different paint ? Or is this the car they made into a Super Stocker. Or is this car, & the original Hard Times, and their SS/IA car three completely different cars ?

If I understand correctly, Truman raced this car in several different parts of the country, with several different paint jobs, over the years. The last race I know of that Truman raced a '68 Bird in, was the Gator Nats, which I've already posted about. Don't know how much more racing he did with it, before he passed it on to Todd Hoven. And I don't remember what kind of paint it had when Todd got it. Maybe Todd will post a pic of it right after he got it, before it was painted up to look like the original Hard Times. Or, maybe it was already painted when Todd got it ? Don't know.

Anyhow, I'll post pics I have showing different paint jobs. I ASSUME that all these pics are of the same car. The last pic is dated 2005.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Adam Strang

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Harry Axemaker. Didn't he win a couple of National events in the '80s? Believe he had a '72 Firebird.

Thought that name sounded familiar. I posted a congrats to Sam Reuland for winning a race with Pontiac power, because his car was listed as a '71 Pontiac, & the pic I had matched the perm # of the winning driver.

But somebody posted that he was NOT driving a Pontiac. I should have suspected that something was wrong, when I saw a '71 Bird listed in B/SA, since I've never seen a '71 in B/SA. But, I suppose, at the time, I just figured NHRA had added some hp & they could now make B. Didn't take time to reason it out. Hey, it showed that a '71 Pontiac had won the race, so that was good enuff for me.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2019#indextop

Anyhow, I've got these pics with the names Axemaker & Reuland on 'em. There's a '71 Formy & a '72 Goat. Sam Reuland is the name on the windows.

Don't have a clue what either car did. Who knows more details ?

The number is from div 5. So, The Warlings or Scott Burton may know these guys & cars. Any of you guys friends with them, or know anyone who might have more info on the guys and/or the cars ?

Here's bit more info.

https://classracer.com/classforum/sh...3&postcount=12

How 'bout this ya'll. Harry Axemaker got his 1st Nat event win at the '87 Winter Nats, in the '71 Bird !

"...The Stock final matched Norm Rollings (of Pomona, in a Corvette (his first national event) lost to Harry Axemaker, in a G/SA 1971 Firebird; it would be his first class win in eighteen years of trying..."

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/1987_NHRA_Winternationals

Discovered that they entered the Brainerd nat event, with the Bird, most of the years from 2008 thru 2016. David Reuland was listed as the driver in the earlier years. Sam was the driver the last couple of years. The times varied mostly from a half sec under to about 1/4 sec under. Not quick. But quick enuff to win. Haven't checked to see what was the most round wins they got at those races.

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

Found this that shows Dennis Axemaker in a '72 Lemans, & David Reuland in a '72 Pontiac. Don't know what year.

https://us.motorsport.com/nhra/news/...stock/1727331/

[Alan Nyhus]

Originally Posted by oldskool

Thought that name sounded familiar. I posted a congrats to Sam Reuland for winning a race with Pontiac power, because his car was listed as a '71 Pontiac, & the pic I had matched the perm # of the winning driver.

But somebody posted that he was NOT driving a Pontiac. I should have suspected that something was wrong, when I saw a '71 Bird listed in B/SA, since I've never seen a '71 in B/SA. But, I suppose, at the time, I just figured NHRA had added some hp & they could now make B. Didn't take time to reason it out. Hey, it showed that a '71 Pontiac had won the race, so that was good enuff for me.

Anyhow, I've got these pics with the names Axemaker & Reuland on 'em. There's a '71 Formy & a '72 Goat. Sam Reuland is the name on the windows.

Don't have a clue what either car did. Who knows more details ?

The number is from div 5. So, The Warlings or Scott Burton may know these guys & cars. Any of you guys friends with them, or know anyone who might have more info on the guys and/or the cars ?

I posted previously the info on the Axemaker Firebird. Here it is:

Here's the history on the white '71 Firebird:

Car was ordered through Schoon Motors in Luverne, Minnesota. Schoon Motors was owned by Arnie Toftland, a pretty successful Pontiac racer in his day. The car was ordered and purchased by Don Breen of Sioux Falls, S.D. specifically to race. It had very few options: 455 H.O. engine, heavy duty suspension and TH400 trans. It's also a radio delete car and came with a column shift, no console. The window sticker for the car still exists. Don and partners Daryl Vanderploeg and Greg White raced the car in SS/JA with engine work by Larry Nagel's Precision Engineering in Sioux Falls.

After racing it, the car was sold to Dennis Kohler from Sioux Falls and was driven on the street for several years before being parked. Don was looking to build another Firebird for Stock Eliminator and I told him that I knew where his original Firebird was sitting. Don bought it and did a beautiful job of turning it into a Stocker, running the low h.p. 455.

Don sold the car to John Spry, who was originally from Mitchell, S.D. John was living in Montana or Wyoming...not sure which. John repainted the car grey and raced it as a Stocker for several years. Harry Axemaker, also from Mitchell, S.D. and a friend of John's, brought the car back to Mitchell after it was purchased by Harry's brother Ken, who lives in Alaska. The car was repainted to it's original white by Dennis Axemaker, a brother of Harry and Ken. Harry raced the car for quite a while. When he was done racing it, the car was turned over to their good friend Dave Reuland from the Mitchell area. Dave also raced the GTO pictured with Axemaker and Reuland on the door. Dave and son Sam raced the Firebird for several years before deciding to do the silver Challenger.

Unfortunately, Harry passed away in late January of 2018. Ken Axemaker, the brother that owned the car, sold the car to Dan Johnson of Mitchell, who was a long time friend of Harry's. Dan and his grandson are now racing the car in F/SA with the low h.p. 455. Plans are to do a 455 H.O. engine in the future.

I may have missed a few details, but that's a pretty good over view.

Here's the car as it now looks: