Best Pontiac Powered Stockers - Page 14

Mark Yacavone · 12-26-2019, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldskool

Right now, this is the only other pic I have of a '67 Bird Stocker. Don't know who it belongs to or any other info.

So, I need some help makin an ID. The permanent # looks to begin with a 7. So, I assume it was a West coast car.

And, I need names and/or pics of other '67 Bird Stockers.

Rod Keeney...then DeFranks , then Randi Lyn

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Hulquist

Lee Bannister comes to mind, in 1999-2000 he was in 11 finals and won 8 of them in NHRA and IHRA i belive it was a 1972 firebird 455 that was driven by the creator of the Texas Twister "Lee B" himself which many got to experience first hand. Not sure how fast it would run but, rarely lost a hdsup in elimination's and surprised quite a few.

Have never heard those names, but would like more info & pics.

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Rod Keeney...then DeFranks , then Randi Lyn

If Keeney & Defranks had '67's that were not the same as Randi Lyn's car, I'd like more info & pics.

Mark, you obviously know a lot of Pontiac racers, & history. Would appreciate any help you could give with possibly contacting those who have had competitive Pontiacs, and having them provide info and/or pics for these threads. Would like to see them become exhaustive & ongoing threads.

I know there are several other members here who can help supply info, and could possibly get info and/or pics from others who are not on this forum.

Would appreciate any and all help gathering as much info as possible for these Pontiac threads. Thanks in advance to all who can help !

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 01:06 PM

We'll start lookin at '68 Birds now. This will take a while, because there have been more '68 Bird Stockers than any other Pontiac model I know of. I suppose that's because the 330hp '68 Bird combo has always been so competitive. For a long time it was a perfect 10lbs per hp car, with 330hp @ 3300 lbs.

That brings up a question for you guys. What was the first year that NHRA allowed weight to be added or removed, in order to move up or down a class ?

I wanna start with the car that is said to have triggered the 8hp hit the 330hp engine took, a few years back. Don't know if that's true, or not. ? It belongs to Bob Aceves.

Here's just one example of the car's performance. It was more than 1.3 sec under, at this race. By the way, his racing partner was #1 on this list @ more than 1.5 under, in a 2nd gen Bird. But we'll talk about that later.

"...9) Bob Aceves, Coarsegold, Calif., '68 Firebird, E/SA, 10.993, -1.307..."

He was #1 qualifier at more than a sec under, & won this Stock/SS combo race.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...&postcount=177

After the 8hp hit, he qualified @ .820 under, at the '18 Winter Nats.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 02:18 PM

Before we leave silver '68 Birds, let's leave the West coast & travel all the way over to the East coast.

Adam Strang has a silver 10 sec '68, stick car. I think I've mentioned it already. He has run it mostly with a 400. But, he used a 350HO for a couple of races last year. Still ran high 10's.

He recently made a West coast swing, & at the Pomona race he ran a .929 under 10.571.

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

At this div 1 race, he won the D/S class with a 10.562.

https://www.nhra.com/results/2018/lu...-eliminator/c1

Rag71 · 12-26-2019, 03:28 PM

What about Jumping Jack Flash Jack Matyas had Pontiacs thru the 60's till about 2010 ? Has won class and wcs events and a good guy to boot .
Still racing even if it is Copo .

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 05:25 PM

Sure wish there was some online source to find results of nat & div races, including class wins, from the '60's on up.

Would also like a source for all the cars that have set new nat records, thru the years.

Does anyone here know if any such sources exist ?

If nothing else, I'd love to see all the results of just the US Nats, including final qualifying lists, class winners, & Stock/SS winner/RU.

As mentioned, right now, all the nat event results are listed, back to 1998, on DRC. Anybody here know where to find results for any nat events, especially the US nats, for any years prior to 1998 ?

oldskool · 12-26-2019, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rag71

What about Jumping Jack Flash Jack Matyas had Pontiacs thru the 60's till about 2010 ? Has won class and wcs events and a good guy to boot .
Still racing even if it is Copo .

Looks like Jack had a '74 GTO, that won a lot of races & was a "15 time record holder". This was long before the big hp increase Bill Rink mentioned.

http://classracer.com/classforum/sho...43&postcount=1

Actually, as can be seen by the pics, the car was really a base model Ventura. Appears as tho Jack added the GTO Trim items, later.

Jack said he was #1 qualifier, with his '74 GTO, at the Winter Nats one year. Anybody know what year that was ? Anybody have any online results showing that ? Looks like Chief Auto Parts sponsored the Winter Nats for about 10 years, '85 thru 94. So, it had to be one of those years.

NHRA Junior Stock

Jack also had a big Pontiac.

NHRA Junior Stock

I'll just throw in a '58 Pontiac winner, that I saw in that same thread.

NHRA Junior Stock

KRatcliff · 12-26-2019, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Hulquist

Lee Bannister comes to mind, in 1999-2000 he was in 11 finals and won 8 of them in NHRA and IHRA i belive it was a 1972 firebird 455 that was driven by the creator of the Texas Twister "Lee B" himself which many got to experience first hand. Not sure how fast it would run but, rarely lost a hdsup in elimination's and surprised quite a few.

oldskool · 12-27-2019, 12:09 AM

OK, that was some good info. The car has Beringer wrote on the window. Who or what is that ?

DRC still has '98 & up nat event results. So, I began in '98, lookin up Stock winners. Lee won the '99 Gators in the '72 Bird.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1999#indextop

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1999#indextop

He also won again, in 2000. That's doin pretty darn good, I'd say. The car wasn't quick. But as long as you don't have a heads-up run, it don't have to be quick.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop

Looks like he won both finals, hard on the brakes.

Wow, I had never even heard of that guy, & he won 2 Gators in a row. This is cool !

Also noticed some quick Pontiacs on those Q-lists, including Dave Ribeiro & Bill Rink.

Lee was entered again, in '02. Car was listed as a '73 Formula, in a lower class. So, I suppose he was claiming a D-port 455. It was .613 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop

He was also there in '03.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop

There were some other interesting Pontiacs on some of these lists. Peter Biondo drove a 2nd gen Bird one year. In '04, Al Vanis is shown as driving a '77 Lemans. Ya'll may remember that he won Stock at the US Nats, back in the '70's. There was another '77 Lemans that also ran good, driven by Kyle Riley.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

And how 'bout this ? In '06, Truman Fields was entered, in a C/S '68 Bird, and he had the only Pontiac powered car entered.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2006#indextop

In '09, Don Himes was entered in his '79 301 Lemans. There was a '68 Fla Bird, driver Steve Hunt. And, there was a '70 GTO, driven by Allen Hollingsworth. That's one of only 2 I've known to be in competition, in recent history. In recent years, Allen has had a 2nd gen Bird. So, I'm wondering if Todd Kuhn bought that GTO from Allen. Anybody know ?

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2009#indextop

The Gators have had some interesting Pontiacs show up there, thru the years. In '10 Ryan Warter made the long trip from the state of Washington, with his '75 Formula. Marion Stephenson was there with a '77 Lemans. I assume he's kin to Chris Stephenson, who has the quick '68 Bird Stocker.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop

In '11, Brad Burton was there. And it is no surprise that he was the highest Pontiac qualifier.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2011#indextop

In '12, the highest Pontiac qualifier was a '74 Grand AM, driven by Mike McGinley, @ .902 under. Don Himes was next, @ .855 under. And Bryan Phillips was next @ .840 under.

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

Randi Lyn Shipp showed up in '13.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2013#indextop

In '14 Randi Lyn ran a 1.176 under 10.374. Also picked up the class win, as did Dom Himes. Byran Phillips ran quicker, but got treed in his class final.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2014#indextop

In '17, Adam Davis showed up with a '73 Formula. It ran a .929 under 10.921.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop

In '18, there were 4 strong Pontiacs there. Adam Strang was 1.026 under, Allen Holingsworth was .993 under, Michael Brand was .973 under, & Randi Lyn was .939 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop

This year there were 5 strong Pontiacs there, driven by Chris Stephenson, Randi Lyn, Adam Strang, Thomas Strand, & Lindsey Brand. Thomas Strand was driving the '70 RAIV Bird he'd bought from Scott Burton. And Lindsey Brand was driving her husband's '73 Formula.

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

And, this year, Randi Lyn won it !!!

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

12-26-2019, 01:06 PM	#134
oldskool VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish Posts: 1,668 Likes: 223 Liked 750 Times in 361 Posts	Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers We'll start lookin at '68 Birds now. This will take a while, because there have been more '68 Bird Stockers than any other Pontiac model I know of. I suppose that's because the 330hp '68 Bird combo has always been so competitive. For a long time it was a perfect 10lbs per hp car, with 330hp @ 3300 lbs. That brings up a question for you guys. What was the first year that NHRA allowed weight to be added or removed, in order to move up or down a class ? I wanna start with the car that is said to have triggered the 8hp hit the 330hp engine took, a few years back. Don't know if that's true, or not. ? It belongs to Bob Aceves. Here's just one example of the car's performance. It was more than 1.3 sec under, at this race. By the way, his racing partner was #1 on this list @ more than 1.5 under, in a 2nd gen Bird. But we'll talk about that later. "...9) Bob Aceves, Coarsegold, Calif., '68 Firebird, E/SA, 10.993, -1.307..." He was #1 qualifier at more than a sec under, & won this Stock/SS combo race. http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...&postcount=177 After the 8hp hit, he qualified @ .820 under, at the '18 Winter Nats. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop Attached Thumbnails Last edited by oldskool; 07-11-2020 at 12:50 PM.

12-26-2019, 02:18 PM	#135
oldskool VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish Posts: 1,668 Likes: 223 Liked 750 Times in 361 Posts	Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers Before we leave silver '68 Birds, let's leave the West coast & travel all the way over to the East coast. Adam Strang has a silver 10 sec '68, stick car. I think I've mentioned it already. He has run it mostly with a 400. But, he used a 350HO for a couple of races last year. Still ran high 10's. He recently made a West coast swing, & at the Pomona race he ran a .929 under 10.571. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...UMMIT#indextop At this div 1 race, he won the D/S class with a 10.562. https://www.nhra.com/results/2018/lu...-eliminator/c1 Attached Thumbnails Last edited by oldskool; 12-26-2019 at 03:34 PM.

12-26-2019, 03:28 PM	#136
Rag71 Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 45 Likes: 9 Liked 9 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers What about Jumping Jack Flash Jack Matyas had Pontiacs thru the 60's till about 2010 ? Has won class and wcs events and a good guy to boot . Still racing even if it is Copo .

12-26-2019, 05:25 PM	#137
oldskool VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish Posts: 1,668 Likes: 223 Liked 750 Times in 361 Posts	Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers Sure wish there was some online source to find results of nat & div races, including class wins, from the '60's on up. Would also like a source for all the cars that have set new nat records, thru the years. Does anyone here know if any such sources exist ? If nothing else, I'd love to see all the results of just the US Nats, including final qualifying lists, class winners, & Stock/SS winner/RU. As mentioned, right now, all the nat event results are listed, back to 1998, on DRC. Anybody here know where to find results for any nat events, especially the US nats, for any years prior to 1998 ?

12-27-2019, 12:09 AM	#140
oldskool VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish Posts: 1,668 Likes: 223 Liked 750 Times in 361 Posts	Re: Best Pontiac Powered Stockers OK, that was some good info. The car has Beringer wrote on the window. Who or what is that ? DRC still has '98 & up nat event results. So, I began in '98, lookin up Stock winners. Lee won the '99 Gators in the '72 Bird. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1999#indextop https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1999#indextop He also won again, in 2000. That's doin pretty darn good, I'd say. The car wasn't quick. But as long as you don't have a heads-up run, it don't have to be quick. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop Looks like he won both finals, hard on the brakes. Wow, I had never even heard of that guy, & he won 2 Gators in a row. This is cool ! Also noticed some quick Pontiacs on those Q-lists, including Dave Ribeiro & Bill Rink. Lee was entered again, in '02. Car was listed as a '73 Formula, in a lower class. So, I suppose he was claiming a D-port 455. It was .613 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2002#indextop He was also there in '03. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2003#indextop There were some other interesting Pontiacs on some of these lists. Peter Biondo drove a 2nd gen Bird one year. In '04, Al Vanis is shown as driving a '77 Lemans. Ya'll may remember that he won Stock at the US Nats, back in the '70's. There was another '77 Lemans that also ran good, driven by Kyle Riley. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop And how 'bout this ? In '06, Truman Fields was entered, in a C/S '68 Bird, and he had the only Pontiac powered car entered. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2006#indextop In '09, Don Himes was entered in his '79 301 Lemans. There was a '68 Fla Bird, driver Steve Hunt. And, there was a '70 GTO, driven by Allen Hollingsworth. That's one of only 2 I've known to be in competition, in recent history. In recent years, Allen has had a 2nd gen Bird. So, I'm wondering if Todd Kuhn bought that GTO from Allen. Anybody know ? https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2009#indextop The Gators have had some interesting Pontiacs show up there, thru the years. In '10 Ryan Warter made the long trip from the state of Washington, with his '75 Formula. Marion Stephenson was there with a '77 Lemans. I assume he's kin to Chris Stephenson, who has the quick '68 Bird Stocker. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2010#indextop In '11, Brad Burton was there. And it is no surprise that he was the highest Pontiac qualifier. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2011#indextop In '12, the highest Pontiac qualifier was a '74 Grand AM, driven by Mike McGinley, @ .902 under. Don Himes was next, @ .855 under. And Bryan Phillips was next @ .840 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2012#indextop Randi Lyn Shipp showed up in '13. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2013#indextop In '14 Randi Lyn ran a 1.176 under 10.374. Also picked up the class win, as did Dom Himes. Byran Phillips ran quicker, but got treed in his class final. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2014#indextop In '17, Adam Davis showed up with a '73 Formula. It ran a .929 under 10.921. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop In '18, there were 4 strong Pontiacs there. Adam Strang was 1.026 under, Allen Holingsworth was .993 under, Michael Brand was .973 under, & Randi Lyn was .939 under. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop This year there were 5 strong Pontiacs there, driven by Chris Stephenson, Randi Lyn, Adam Strang, Thomas Strand, & Lindsey Brand. Thomas Strand was driving the '70 RAIV Bird he'd bought from Scott Burton. And Lindsey Brand was driving her husband's '73 Formula. https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2019#indextop And, this year, Randi Lyn won it !!! https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2019#indextop Last edited by oldskool; 12-27-2019 at 12:57 PM.