Looking for 1970's statistics

[oldskool]

In 1980, Phil Szupka got 2 RU's in SS. I assume he was driving the former Herslow & Morlock '73 SD455 T/A.

Bob Michael got 1 SS RU. Ray Stover got 1 Stock RU. Don't know if he still had his '70 GTO, "Kathy's Clown". Since no car brands are given, I can't be sure of all these cars.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1980

In '81, Sonny Ray got RU @ the Gators. Larry Maxwell was Stock RU @ the World Finals. He MAY have been driving his '74 GTO. Rock Running got a win & 1 RU. He switched to another brand somewhere around this time. But I don't remember if he was still running Pontiacs at that time, or not.

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

For '82, I'm not sure of some of these. Bob Michael got 1 SS RU. Larry Maxwell got another RU @ the World Finals. Rock Running got 1 RU, but I think he'd already switched brands. Maybe some of the guys who do the all the research can ID what brand/year cars these guys were driving each year.

Billy Joe Moravits was Stock RU @ the Cajuns. He was Stock RU @ the '78 IHRA points race in Tyler TX, where my wife TJ won the bracket race.

Jerry Stealy was SS RU @ a race. He had some Pontiacs, including a '72 SS wagon. Don't know what he was drivimg in '82.

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

In '83, David Rampy won SS @ the Cajuns, in Sonny Ray's '72 GTO. Roy McKinney got a SS RU, as did John Angeles. Larry Maxwell got another Stock RU.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1983

@ the '85 Spring Nats, Mike McKinney won Stock & Sonny Ray got SS RU. Jerry Stealy also got another RU. Car brand unknown.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1985

In '86, Gary White won stock @ the Northstar Nats. Don't know if he was driving one of the White bros Pontiacs, or not. At that same race, Glen Tinsley was SS RU. Assume he was still driving a Pontiac. Mark Yacavone won Stock @ the Summer Nats. He drove so many different cars, I have no idea what he was driving at that race. Maybe he'll see this & let us know.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1986

In '87, Mike McKinney scored 2 SS wins. Harry Axemaker got a Stock win. I suppose he was driving the Axemaker '72 GTO. And John Schloe got RU @ the Mile-High Nats, I assume in his '69 Bird.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1987

In '88, Harry Axemaker got another Stock win. Ken Shawver got a Stock win. I assume he was driving the former Rock Running '71 T-37. Mark Maxwell was Stock RU @ a CA race. If he was kin to Larry Maxwell, the car may have been a Pontiac.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1988

Mark Maxwell won Stock @ the '89 Spring Nats. Would like to know if he was kin to Larry Maxwell, the Pontiac racer, & if so, what he was driving for that win.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1989

In '90, Sal Biondo got a SS win. I just learned that the car he was driving was the former Herslow & Morlock '73 T/A. Then Phil Szupka ran it for a while. Then, as the story goes, Phil Monteith bought it, changed it over to a '74 model & put a 400 engine in it.

Mick Leiferman got a SS win & RU. So, I'd REALLY like to know exactly what he was driving. Since he was a multi year nat record holder & got lots of nat event RU's, I'd like to think his SS ride was also a Pontiac. But I don't know. Somebody please help me ID the cars these guys were driving !

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1990

[oldskool]

In '91, Mick Leiferman got another SS win, in an as of yet unknown car. Art Peterson got a SS RU in his '69 GTO.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1991

In '92, Mike McKinney got a SS RU. Sal Biondo got a SS RU. Don't know if he was driving a Phil Monteith Pontiac, or not. Mark Maxwell is on the list again. If I find some of these guys were not driving Pontiacs at these races, I'll come back & edit them out, in order to have a more accurate account.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1992

In '93, Sal Biondo got 2 SS wins. Car unknown. Mark Maxwell Stock win. Car unknown. Mike McDonald got a Stock win & RU. Seems that name rings a Pontiac bell. Will have to do some checkin on that. If anybody knows about the car, please post your info.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1993

In '94, Art Peterson won SS @ the Winter Nats. Peter Biondo got a SS win. Don't know if he was driving a Phil Monteith Pontiac or not. John Clegg got a SS win. He may have switched to Chevy power by then. Don't know.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1994

In '95, Peter Biondo got 2 SS wins. I assume that maybe he was driving the Phil Monteith '82 GT Bird. Don Elgin won Stock @ the Northwest nats, I assume in his '74 Grand Am.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1995

In '96, Peter was definitely driving Phil Monteith's '82 "Hatari" Bird. He got 2 nat event wins & 1 RU, on his way to a div 1 & National SS Championship !

Lee Bannister got a Stock RU, in his '72 Bird. Mick Leiferman got another SS win, in an unknown car.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1996

[oldskool]

I REALLY love the DRC files. Beginning in '98, you can see what car all the drivers were racing, at all the nat events.

It begins with the Winter Nats. The Stock Q-list includes 5 Pontiac drivers. #18 was Jack Matyas, in a '74 Pontiac, which I assume was his GTO.

Larry Maxwell is #19, listed driving a '72 Bird. Barbara Maxwell is #73, driving a '73 Bird. I assume Barbara was Larry's wife, or at least some kin.

#89 was John Schloe, driving his '69 Bird. #90 was Bryan Phillips, driving his '67 Bird. Both these Birds later became strong Stockers, running well down into the 10's.

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

The SS Q-list includes 3 Pontiacs I find interesting. At #17 is Don Kennedy, driving his '92 GT Bird. I think it was SD455 powered. Don helped write the original GT rules. I think this was his 1st GT car.

@ #20 is Keri Angeles, driving her Dad's '69 Bird. This is the car that she drove into the 9's, later on.

@ #49 is an extremely rare SS car. It was a '67 GTO, driven by Jay Cason.

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

Since all the DRC files can be seen by anyone, I'll just mention one more '98 race. It's always interesting to see what happens @ Indy.

In Stock, Bob Michael's '78 Bird qualified #12 & won the M/SA class. Don Holmes' '78 Bird was #29. Bill Rink's '74 GTO was #47. Alton Minchey's '71 Bird was #76. Todd Kuhn's '70 GTO was #103. @ #140, Lee Bannister's '72 Bird missed making the 128 car field. 4 of these Stockers are still active, today. Don't know about the other 2. I'm not familiar with the name Alton Minchey, or his '71 Bird.

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

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

In SS, Peter Biondo was driving what I assume was Phil Monteith's 1st Hatari 4th gen GT Bird. Ken Shawver is on the list, with his '78 Bird, which would later win class at Indy multiple times & would be the #1 SS qualifier one year ! Roy McKinney & Stacy McCarty missed the 128 car SS field.

I found Mick Leiferman on a '98 nat event SS Q-list, driving a SS/AX '92 Bird. So, what did the X stand for ? Don't see that class today. I assume a '92 Bird would have had to run in a GT class, in order to run a Pontiac engine. But, for some of you guys who were around back then, what was the X for ? In other words, what engines would have been legal in a '92 Bird running SS/AX ?

Well, I always enjoy seeing what the Pontiac powered cars did, up thru the years. This thread was started, lookin for 1970 results. So, I'll go back now & look up some results from the early years, when I get around to it.

[DeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by oldskool

I LOVE this thread !

It's where I found the link to all the NHRA nat event winners.

I love to go thru it & ID all the Pontiac powered winners I can. Since the thread is 10 years old, I assume the OP won't mind if I hijack it.

One I especially like is an all Pontiac(I think) final. I'm not absolutely sure. Arlen Vanke was the winner, & Bill Abraham was RU. I know that both guys drove other brands. But I THINK that for that race, Arlen was driving a Knafel Pontiac '66 GTO, & Bill was driving a Knafel '65 GTO. But, they had two '66 models. So, both cars could have been '66 models.

Does anybody know what car each guy was driving, in the '66 Spring Nats ?

http://www.nhra.net/50th/results.asp?mYear=1966

Also notice the Jr. Stock finalists at the World Finals race. I know Jay Hamilton raced at least 2 different '58 Pontiacs. Assume he drove one in this race. Bill Abraham was RU in that race, also. So, it MAY have been another All-Pontiac final. So, anybody know how to find out what car all these guys were driving in those 2 Stock finals ?

Hey, there were only 4 nat events that year. So, if both those were All-Pontiac finals, that means that half the nat events in '66 had All-Pontiac Jr. Stock finals, How cool is that, for a Pontiac Freek, like me !

Per Boyce's book on pg48, Vanke drove Tin Indian V, a Ram Air therefore I assume a 66 GTO, in C/S=9.50. Also says Abraham drove a 63 (MaxWedge wagon in B/SA=8.70.

I dont have a compilation for the World Finals, but I'd guess Hamilton was still in his 4dr 370/330-6v running F/SA=11.90 class. He set a record in F/SA that year.

[oldskool]

"...says Abraham drove a 63 (MaxWedge wagon..."

Aw, Shucks !

"...I'll go back now & look up some results from the early years.."

There were certainly some '56 thru '59 Pontiacs racing. But, I like to start with the 1960 models. There were several of these which did real good. I've mentioned this on several other threads, but not on this one, I don't think.

At the 1960 Nats, Jim Wangers drove the Royal Pontiac "Hot Chief #1" '60 Pontiac to the Stock title, making him "Mr. Stock Eliminator". In the picture that I always think of as being the Stock final, it shows two '60 Pontiacs running against each other. Don't know if that was just a class run or for all the Stock marbles ?

I've read that for those who wanted to upgrade the performance level of their '60 Pontiac, they could order a certain package, & along with the new car would come engine parts to upgrade it to 389SD specs. I'm sure the Hot Chief had all the latest Pontiac "go fast" parts on it, plus a Royal super tune.

[oldskool]

'61 would be a good year for Pontiac drag racing. I think Lloyd Cox won the S/SA class @ Indy. According to a '61 Winters list I just saw, Pontiacs won D/S & C/SA, I believe it was. Not familiar with either drivers' name. I'll try to go back & find that article & post a link.

In that article I saw something for the 1st time, that I should have known. I knew that Mickey Thompson had lots of Pontiac powered drag cars. But, this article shows him actually driving his X/D Pontiac 4-cyl powered front engine dragster. And, he actually won his class AND "Middle Eliminator". Says he had 3 of these 4-cyl dragsters entered in that race.

For any who don't know, that Pontiac 4-cyl was known as "Half a 389". It indeed did have one bank & head of a 389. I had one of these in my shop for a few years, storing it for a friend. It came out of a dragster that ran at our local track. But I don't remember ever seeing it run. Anyhow, IIRC, it had aftermarket forged rods, hi-comp dome pistons, either a RAIV head or an SD455 head, & a healthy lookin solid roller cam.

This was also the 1st year of the 421SD engine. Hayden Profitt drove a M/T SD421 powered '61 Pontiac to the OS/S class win @ Indy that year. I've read that the OS/S class became the FX class in '62.

https://www.nhra.com/news/2021/421-n...n_proffitt_jpg

Maybe some of you guys can help with a couple of the Pontiac Stockers on the list. D/S winner is Allen Hart. No year or model listed. C/SA is Bob Battelle (sp?) 4th letter don't look like a t or an l. Just assuming it's supposed to be a t, or maybe an i ? Anyhow, would like to ID what Pontiacs they drove. Notice all the Stock class winners that were DQ'd.

[oldskool]

'62 was another great year for Pontiac.

NHRA let females drive in the nat events. So, Carol Cox won S/SA at the Winters & @ Indy, In a '61 Pontiac.

Mickey Thompson's 421SD powered A/FX '62 Tempest won the class @ the Winters & @ Indy. Hayden Profitt drove @ the Winters. Lloyd Cox drove @ Indy.

Lloyd Cox also won SS/SA at the Winters.

And, of course, the M/T Pontiac powered dragster beat Don Garlits for the dragster crown @ Indy.

The 421SD was legal for Stockers in '62. So, there were several that did real good.

Right now I can't remember all the classes won by a Pontiac @ the '62 nat events. Maybe some of these stats guys can chime in with that info.

Note: Pic #7 reminded me of something. Since I've been lookin up these old pics, I've been seein the D-A on the tower @ Indy. Have wondered what those D-A letters stood for. Well, while lookin up some of these old pics, I accidentally ran across a pic of an ad for D-A Speed Sport motor oil. Seems I remember hearing that name, but don't ever remember seeing it for sale anywhere. I used Vavoline racing oil when I started.

Here's a D-A can for about $90, on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264487575362

[oldskool]

'63 was the year of the "Swiss Cheese" 421SD Pontiacs. Weren't enuff made to be legal in the lower Stock classes. But, they could run in the upper FX classes. I think the B/FX final @ Indy was between 2 '63 421SD Pontiacs. Jim Wangers drove the winner.

Arlen Vanke drove one in A/FX.

There were several 421SD '63 Tempests built. IIRC, Pontiac built & shipped 8 of 'em, 2 of which were wagons. The quickest were those which had the stock Tempest type rear driveline replaced with with a Pontiac chunk type rear end like those that came in the big Pontiacs. They were much stronger & more reliable.

The M/T 421SD '63 Tempest that won A/FX @ the Winters was driven by Bill Shrewsberry.

Jess Tyree eventually had one of these Tempests.

Arnie Beswick eventually had a '63 Tempest, Tempest wagon, & a big Cat, all with 421SD power. Ran several different classes with 'em.

Don Gay eventually ran one of the wagons, for a while, along with his '62 421SD A/S Cat.

Right now, I can't remember if I've seen a class winners list for the '63 nat events, or not. So, the above mentioned wins are all I can list, for now. If I come up with more, I'll edit & add it.

Here's the video of part of the '63 Indy nats. Between the 2:00 & 3:30 points of the video, are the A/S & A/SA class finals.



The 1st part of this video also shows glimpses of some Pontiacs @ Indy '63.

[oldskool]

Of course, '64 was the year of the GTO. Don't know how many were raced across the country, that year. But, "3 deuces & a 4-speed & a 389", in a mid-size A-body, had to be very inviting to a lot of young guys.

I was too young to buy one. But I sure liked 'em. Plastered GTO ads & pics all over the walls in my room. Kept adding pics of the new models up thru at least '67. It was '69 before I could buy my own GTO. I was going to college & workin all the hours I could at the Pizza Inn, for $1.50 per hour. Total price was a bit over $3400. My monthly note, including ins, was only around $125.

Once the GTO came out, I can't find evidence that there were very many '64 & later big Pontiacs raced, after that. But, there were a few.

May add more later.

[oldskool]

For '65, there were probably lots of new Goats on tracks across the country. Don't know who had the quickest ones. I figure some the dealers, such as Knafel & Packer, had the quickest.

There were also some 421 powered big Pontiacs out there. Most were probably 2+2 models. They came with either an AFB 4-barrel or Tri-Power. Guessing that most big cars & Goats that spent lots of time on the track were Tri-Power equipped. Most of the Goats probably had a 4-speed, since the only auto trans was the 2-speed. But the big car auto trans was a TH400.