Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[oldskool]

Yeah, I think one of those RA2 Birds has run a 9.99 in F.A.S.T racing.

https://www.fastdrags.com/fast-records

And IIRC, that's with hard narrow street tires & no traction bars. Don't seem possible.

Obviously, the engines are not small cubes, & nowhere near stock.

I'm still searching for the best times some Pontiacs have turned in the pure stock class. Will post if I find it.

Here's a '68 RA2 Bird that ran 11.54. Some RA4 cars also ran in the 11's.

https://www.psmcdr.com/all-time-lists

[DeuceCoupe]

I did a study a while back on Pure Stock PSMCD from 1998-2015.
I looked at a weighted average trap MPH (to get rid of anomalies like a single incredibly fast MPH done once) and ranked all the engine combos by MPH.
To combine stick and auto I added 2mph to all the auto trans cars which I find correlates mighty close from that era. That let me average more runs over the years.
Heres some of the rankings:
RANK MPH #Runs Engine
1 119.2 41 426hemi
2 116.7 13 427-L72-COPO
3 115.8 38 400ra4
4 115.0 32 454LS6
5 114.6 50 396L78
6 114.5 53 440-6v
7 113.0 36 455ho&sd
8 112.0 12 409-8v
9 112.0 41 455stage1
10 111.5 37 428CJ
11 110.3 63 400ra1ra3
12 109.9 47 455w30
13 109.0 3 351boss
14 109.0 3 302boss

19 107.0 11 421HO

That covers the Top 14, all the Pontiacs I found in there, and the Top BOP and FoMoCo, sadly down at #10.
I don’t think anybody was running their 427 Fairlane or Hi Riser Galaxie (if they’re even legal in PSMCD). To FoMoCo’s credit though, they did take the top 2 small block spots.

The last Pontiac on the list was the 421HO at #19. The other 3 Pontiac engines that showed up all made the Top 11. I didn’t see any RA2 cars in that 1998-2015 PSMCD era.

[oldskool]

"...didn’t see any RA2 cars in that 1998-2015 PSMCD era."

In more recent years, I think the RA2 Birds are the quickest Pontiacs in Pure Stock type racing.

I don't know if that's just because nobody has done a real serious pure stock RA4 Bird build, but some have done the RA2 Birds.

Again, the scarcity & price of the RA4 heads may be a factor.

Going quick, under pure stock type rules, is not easy. So, to do it, requires people who know what they're doing, & have the time & money to put into the project. Also must have a real desire to wring everything they can out of the combination. There are just not that many qualified guys around who have all these things going for them, IMO.

A Pontiac name I've seen more than any other, connected with pure stock type racing, is Dan Jensen.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/hp...ol-pt1-engine/

[DeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by oldskool

"...didn’t see any RA2 cars in that 1998-2015 PSMCD era."

In more recent years, I think the RA2 Birds are the quickest Pontiacs in Pure Stock type racing.

I don't know if that's just because nobody has done a real serious pure stock RA4 Bird build, but some have done the RA2 Birds.

Again, the scarcity & price of the RA4 heads may be a factor.

Going quick, under pure stock type rules, is not easy. So, to do it, requires people who know what they're doing, & have the time & money to put into the project. Also must have a real desire to wring everything they can out of the combination. There are just not that many qualified guys around who have all these things going for them, IMO.

A Pontiac name I've seen more than any other, connected with pure stock type racing, is Dan Jensen.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/hp...ol-pt1-engine/

That's a great link.
That SUN Distributor machine!
Our high school had one so I spent quite a few mornings on it.

I forgot the PSMCD rule about 12mo12K warranty so that knocks the 427 Fairlanes out, making the 428CJ / 429SCJ / Boss351 Ford's top combos.

I thought for a while that PSMCD was using "factory+1.0" as the max compression ratio but it looks like they've just gone to the NHRA specs, but also check .050 duration.

[oldskool]

I occasionally run across "new"(to me) pics of Pontiac Stockers which I download to my files.

Have never posted these 1st 2(that I remember). They're of a '68 Bird that was running B/S. The name on the side is Frank Mulvihill. Perm #1535. Never heard the name or seen the car.

Because the same cars ran different classes back in the old days, sometimes changing from one year to the next, I've recently began trying to determine when a pic was made.

In the top RH corner of the 2nd pic, there is the nose of either a '77 or '78 Bird. Therefore, I figure the earliest that pic could have possibly been made was the fall of '76, after the new '77 Birds hit the streets.

So, can anybody here provide more info about this car or it's owner, or what year the pic was taken ?

Pic #3 is of a Knafel '68 Bird. I assume it was a Stocker. Don't recall seeing any pics of it in action. I did find a pic of a For Sale ad for it & the Knafel '68 GTO. Says both cars will run under their nat record. I assume that means their Stock Elim record.?

In the pic, it appears to me that there is no lens or light in the turn signal/park light hole. Can anybody provide more info on this Bird ? Any action pics ?

I've probably already posted pic #5. But last time I wanted to use it, I couldn't find it. So, here it is. It's the Wells Pontiac '68 Bird, which was raced by the Frame bros. In the pic I have of it, on a hauler truck, it has B/S marked on it.

Probably also posted pic #6. It's a '68 Bird marked E/SA. Best I can tell, it appears to have Bill Hay & Jack Treola on the door. Looks like Jack's name on the window, as driver. With a quick check an 11.07 is the best ET I could find. It was apparently raced in the late '90's & early 2000's, with both James & Jack Treola sharing the driving duties.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=48030

I think I've brought this up before, and someone posted that this is the car that Tim Gillespie now owns, & Julie Biermann drives. But, my memory may not be correct on this. And I hate to post incorrect info. So, would one of you guys who knows, please post the racing history of this car, or at least it's owners who raced it.

Edit: The search function on this site is really bad. I entered Jack Treola. Got this post, then it began listing every post it could find with "Jack" in it. Totally useless.

[oldskool]

May have posted this. Don't remember.

It's an article about Dave Ribeiro & his '78 Bird, from more than 20 years ago.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...tiac-firebird/

May have also posted this video of Rob Holmes makin a pass.

[oldskool]

Qualifying for the Pomona Finals race was today. There use to be lots of Pontiacs at the Pomona races. Not anymore. There were only 3 Pontiac powered Stockers, today, Randi Lyn Shipp, C.W. Hoefer, & Adam Strang. Randi Lyn was .941 under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r=100#indextop

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

I think I've brought this up before, and someone posted that this is the car that Tim Gillespie now owns, & Julie Biermann drives. But, my memory may not be correct on this. And I hate to post incorrect info. So, would one of you guys who knows, please post the racing history of this car, or at least it's owners who raced it.

.

NO. Tim built their car from a rusty body shell.

[Stan Weiss]

Originally Posted by oldskool

Probably also posted pic #6. It's a '68 Bird marked E/SA. Best I can tell, it appears to have Bill Hay & Jack Treola on the door. Looks like Jack's name on the window, as driver. With a quick check an 11.07 is the best ET I could find. It was apparently raced in the late '90's & early 2000's, with both James & Jack Treola sharing the driving duties.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=48030

Edit: The search function on this site is really bad. I entered Jack Treola. Got this post, then it began listing every post it could find with "Jack" in it. Totally useless.

From a few years ago in this thread. Look at Post #189


https://classracer.com/classforum/sh...=74965&page=19


Stan

[oldskool]

OK, my mistake.

The other name on the Treola Bird is Hoy, rather than Hay, as I listed it. I can't tell that from the angle of the pic. And I certainly didn't remember it from any previous post.

I'll go to my files & label the pics correctly, for future reference.

Mark said:

" Jack and Bill were a couple of really nice fellows, who I believe, won the Div. 3 championship in the mid- 90's .I haven't heard anything lately about them or the car..."

Last time I see the car on DRC is in Sept of '04, with James Treola driving. He's listed as living in WV. But the car # is 3049. DRC shows both Jack & James Treola driving the car, at different races. Assume they were kin.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=1260