Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I've enjoyed looking thru the Olds SS thread.

But, since I'm a Pontiac fan, I'd like to see a thread about the top Pontiac Stock & SS cars, thru the years.

But, since I've already posted many of the pics I have, and can't use 'em again here, I'd like to start this thread, & one for SS Pontiac powered cars.

If there are already threads about these old Pontiacs, somebody please post a link to 'em, & I may not need to continue my threads.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

One of the best Pontiac-powered Stockers had to be Rock Running's 71 T37 HO-455-powered "Super Sleeper". It's still out there with Don Turk behind the wheel.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Neil Smedley and his 301 powered firebirds !! Set many records and and was #1 qualifier in Vegas and............ wait for it............... won the national event as well.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Freddy Borchardt's 69 gto Rocky's Goat

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Truman Fields.....no contest !

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

can't forget Charlene and Gary Woods wagon and coupe in Div1

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I can't think of another Pontiac Stocker that has won more National events than Ms. Randi Lyn Shipp. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

John Thropp's 57 fuelie hard top. 69 World Finals r/u

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Sam Biondo in Grey Ghost and Phil Monteith in orange 69 Firebird.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Thanks for that info ! I knew Don had sold his Grand Am, & had a T37. But I had no idea it was the Super Sleeper.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Phil Monteith

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Can't complain about the price here, but I just use Post Image..It's a lot easier



https://i.postimg.cc/bvG3Lycz/lowe-easley.jpgwindoge 8

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Here's the only pics of his car I could get to post.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

He was my first Pontiac hero, when he won the '73 US Nats, & set the nat record.

http://www.risesales.com/pages/Dragr.../t_fields.html

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

That's a real good point. I'd like to know, too. Don't know how many she's won.

So, what Pontiac powered Stocker has won the most national events ?

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Loved those Tons-a-Fun wagons ! At least one of 'em was a record holder.

I suppose they were famous for raising the left front, at launch. They were real "torque twisters". They ran both the round port & D-port 455 engines.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Knafel Pontiac had quite a few quick Pontiacs.

They had a '65 GTO record holder.

And this '66 GTO apparently won lots of trophies.

https://www.google.com/search?q=knaf...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Bill Knafel bought Anderson Pontiac, & kept the Anderson name for several years. So, there were some pretty quick Pontiacs with Anderson Pontiac wrote on 'em.

http://www.pontiacpreservationassoci...ll-knafel.html

Many of those 421SD cars were more like factory stock race cars. They used Pontiac factory engines, but the car may not have come from the factory with those engines. In some years, the 421SD parts were available over the counter, but could not be ordered in a new car. Pontiac also installed some of these engines into '63 Tempest bodies, & gave them to selected Pontiac racers.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

The Herslow & Morlock '73 SD455 Bird was an E/SA nat record holder. It made a mag cover in '76.

https://www.classracer.com/classforu...91&postcount=8

https://www.classracer.com/classforu...8&postcount=10

And, here's a '74 SD455 E/SA Bird. I have it listed as Bill Foder. But it has Tony Reiter on the door. Anybody know this car ?

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Pontiacs were winning LOTS of races, several years before the GTO & Firebird came along.

The 421SD cars won lots of 'em. One of those was the A/S car driven by Don Gay. It won A/S at the '62 US Nats.

Don & Gay Pontiac got some good ink in this article.

https://www.nhra.com/news/2015/drag-...s-teen-terrors

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I believe George Cureton raced a 58 Pontiac, after the 56 "Tokyo Rose"delivery. Jack Cassidy's GTO, 60 hard top "Arapaho", 60 wagon "Big Bruiser".

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I think if you checked his win record it would be substantial and with more than one car.....and with a 4 speed....

I was a Pontiac fan in my earlier days and loved them all.

Capital Raceway had a lot of Pontiac racers in the mid 1960's......when I was there racing......early wagons and there were lots of Pontiacs being raced pretty much everywhere I was racing......

My first 2 cars were Pontiacs and I had a '58 street car/tow car that I drag raced a few times.....Ramon Lowe, Jay Hamilton.....west coast Pontiac hitters. John Thropp, Fred Borcherdt and another well worth watching was Jack Mullins.....manual trans wagon and he really pushed the limits with that car.....weight, rpm......

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

"Passionate Poncho"! I think the NHRA made him switch to a convertible, due to the Rochester injection was convertible only option.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

A '57 Bonneville convertible was the only model that had Rochester F.I.

'58's.....an option on any body style....

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

The biggest collection of Big early '60's Pontiac drag car pics I know of, is at this link, below the Chevy 409 section.

http://georgeklass.net/ss.html

The 389SD & 421SD cars ran most of the upper Stock classes. And they were heavily involved in what i assume was the beginning of Super Stock. There were classes like S/S, OS/S, & S/SA.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

How about the Burtons?

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Probably correct but didn't matter much in the late 60's ( Sedan Deliverys with Corvette engines and Hydros)

Never saw a picture of John with a convertible. After the FI venture with Freddie Borcherdt, I believe he then built the 56 Chevy, N/SA

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

scott and brad burton brads 1972 firebird 455ho two times national champion. scotts ex1970 firebird 400 ram air 4 best et 9.98 sold to sweden.we invited scott to race his old car in August here in sweden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHSZpQMvhzA&t=412s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzy-JvKx2Q8&t=22s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04ZwsXllHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1osj5TAcFh8

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

You're right for sure Mark.....once they knocked all the non production line combos out, that eliminated a lot of cars and not just Chevy's....

Pontiacs with solid cams .....and there were some who ran those.....Over the counter options never installed in production cars....

I had one of those cams in one engine and it was nothing like a std production street hydraulic......

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I remember Al Vanis's vanis & decker Ventura. Indy winner. On the deck lid was, VD if you can't get near it you can't catch it.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Scott and Brad are 2 very nice people. They have earned and deserve ever accolade that they have received. When you talk to them you had better listen, because they are telling you what you want to know.

Kudos on inviting Scott to race his old Firebird in Sweden.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I can't find any pictures, but Don Himes had an early 70's Lemans wagon (like Tons A Fun), a similar Lemans coupe, and a 77 Grand Prix. RIP Don. A very funny, self-deprecating sense of humor kind of guy.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

How about Bill Edgeworth's 77? Firebird???? Division 6 Bill's number was 6471. This car, with Bill driving held 4 National Records at the same time. A few years ago, but I think they were J,K,M and N. Correct me if I am wrong.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Yeah, I think a '77 Bird can run a 350 & 2 different 400's. Been quite a few competitive '77 Birds.
After Bill's passing, Ryan Warter raced the car, trying to help sell it. Ryan was driving the car in this pic, IIRC.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Yeah, I think the last car he raced was the 301 powered '79 Lemans that Billy Nees still races.

Looks like Don's GP went to Lindy Lindholm. Don't know where it went from there.

http://classracer.com/classforum/sho...35&postcount=1

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

They've had some quick Birds, & won lots of races.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Anybody from the North East remember Thompson Pontiac's GTO's with the Tubular Automotive Headers that hung so low the car's had to be way up in the nose even after that type of ride height had gone by the way side - they ran at NED South I think and NED in Epping NH and probably CT Dragway they were pretty neat car's back in the day

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Been quite few 350 Pontiac powered X-bodies in Stock. Al Vanis is pictured running against the '74 GTO belonging to Rock Running.

Also ran across one that was a nat record holder for several years, with Duttweiler Automotive on the side. Bill Rink ran his in Stock for several years. He also won the J/SA class at Indy, in 2005, for sure. On this '05 Class win list, I also noticed that Pontiac powered cars won N/SA, O/SA, & P/SA. Don Himes '77 GP won P/SA, which was at least it's 2nd US Nats class win. You can find lots of familiar Pontiac names by checking out the Indy class winners, thru the years. Three I noticed were Scott Burton, Bob Mulry, & Mike Morgan.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2005#indextop

The quickest '74 GTO I know of, running this year, was driven by Brad Koivisto. I think he got it down into the low 11's.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

I knew the Project Six Pack guys back when; it was a good C/S competition, even though I believe they only raced once. Back in the days when long distance phone calls fed the rumor mill.

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Mick Leifermans' 1971 GTO with a 455 HO was super competitive , he sold it to Alton Minchey . Mick then ran a 1973 GTO with a 455 Super Duty . These cars were run in the days when you had to have the factory lift , duration , and overlap , he was tight with General Kinetics developing a lot of "square nosed" stocker cams .

Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers
 

Norman Warling from D-5 with the very cool 62 Catalina.