Well, this 1st post in the thread isn't about 1st gens, but it is about Pontiac power. So, ya'll please excuse me, if I'm out of order, or posting in the wrong section.
Brad Burton races a 455 powered 2nd gen in Stock Elim. He has had a great month of racing in Vegas. He got a RU finish earlier in the month. Then thurs, he got another RU at the big "Spring Fling" bracket race. And Fri, he won the Pro bracket, & $5000 !
He has represented Pontiac power very well ! So, congrats to Brad for a job well done !
Now, speakin of this month at Vegas, but gettin back to 1st gens, Leo Glasbrenner made it to the semi final round, at one of the races, with his C/SA '68 Bird, Stocker. There, he was defeated by a lady racer, who cut a .008 light.
I think Leo's Bird has a Ram Air 2 engine, and runs well into the 10's. I think (not positive) it's the 2nd quickest Pontiac powered Stocker, now racing--2nd only to Scott Burton's B/SA '70 RA4 Bird.
Now, speakin of lady racers and 1st gens, this post is about my very favorite, currently active, 1st gen racer. Her name is Randi Lyn Shipp. And her car is a '67 400 Bird. She runs mostly in D/SA class. But the rules now, will allow you to add or remove weight to make the class above or the class below the natural class the car falls into, with it's factory weight. She ran in C/SA at the Gators this year, and qualified with a 10.45 ET. That's impressive !
She is mostly known for some huge wheelies when launching. But she is also a good racer, who has won a Wally.
I'm quite sure that one reason she is my favorite racer is because of our history, with my wife (TJ) racing several 1st gens, years ago.
I'm sure that some of you guys can see some things about this car that would not be correct at a car show or for an exact restoration. But hey, it's a race car, and one of the quickest Pontiac Stockers. And I'll guess that it's probably lots of fun to drive.
Another quick 1st gen belongs to Bob Aceves. It's a '68 400 D-port, which runs different classes. Thru last season NHRA rated the 330hp D-port at 330hp. But, I've read that because Bob and maybe a couple of others were running so quick with that engine, NHRA bumped the HP factor up to 338. So, these Birds have to carry more weight or move up to the next class.
Bob had the highest qualified Pontiac at the big race in Vegas.
Very Cool. With the demise of HPP, it's nice to see news/coverage regarding FGF's involved in racing.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
Interesting that some of the pictures show her hood scoops closed and others show her scoops open.
I feel dirty for typing that.
1968 400 Coupe, verdoro green, black vinyl top 1968 400 Convertible, verdoro green, black top 1971 Trans Am, cameo white, auto 1970 Buick Skylark Custom Convertible 350-4(driver)
Well, this 1st post in the thread isn't about 1st gens, but it is about Pontiac power. So, ya'll please excuse me, if I'm out of order, or posting in the wrong section.
Brad Burton races a 455 powered 2nd gen in Stock Elim. He has had a great month of racing in Vegas. He got a RU finish earlier in the month. Then thurs, he got another RU at the big "Spring Fling" bracket race. And Fri, he won the Pro bracket, & $5000 !
He has represented Pontiac power very well ! So, congrats to Brad for a job well done !
Interesting that some of the pictures show her hood scoops closed and others show her scoops open.
I'm not sure, but I think the scoops may just be painted black in some of the pics. OR, NHRA may have given her a horsepower factor increase if she ran the scoops open. So they decided the car would be more competitive with closed scoops and a lower hp factor.
I've read that because those scoops are so small and back toward the middle of the hood, that they are not very efficient, and may not actually increase power. Do ya'll know of any dyno tests to determine this, one way or the other ?
This is probably why the '69 TA and the Formulas from the early '70's had larger scoops that were closer to the front of the hood. These had to catch more air.
Yes, Very cool. Where did you get the pictures? (if you don't mind me asking)
There is no shortage of racing pics online. Sometimes I just Google the driver's name. The cars that win races, most of the time, get their pics on some of the racing news sites. And I got some of 'em just by Googling Pontiac race cars, or Firebird race cars, and such.
What does it take to do a wheelie in one of our stock birds? I mean how much HP/TQ is required to lift the front wheels?
400 hp and 500 ft lbs of torque, will do it. It's a matter of traction and leverage. These Stock Eliminator Birds have Cal-Trac type traction bars, which when combined with 4.56 or better gears, a 4000 + stall converter, a sticky track, and a loose front end, will produce some nice wheelies.
We got a little air under the tires with one of our '68 bracket Birds. It had a 455, TH400, stock 13" converter, 3.64 gears, and slapper bars. Some 4.11 gears, and a 3000 converter would probably have produced some nice wheelies, on sticky tracks. But we were bracket racing, and some of the tracks we ran were not sticky at all. We were more interested in low reaction times and consistent ET's, than doing wheelies. Winning was more fun !
There's a division 3 race at Indy this weekend. There are 120 Stockers qualified. Quite a few Pontiac powered cars are on the list. I'm not familiar with all of 'em. Randi Lyn Shipp has the highest qualified Pontiac, with her '67 Bird. She's running C/SA for this race.
There's another lady driver on the list, with a '68 E/SA bird. Because of my history, I'll have to pull for the Pontiac ladies.
Brent Flynn is also on the list with his '68 E/SA Bird. This is just his 2nd season in Stock Elim.
There are both 1st and 2nd gens on the list, plus a GTO. And how about a '62 GP, driven by Bob Michael ? I'd like to wish all the Pontiac racers good luck this weekend !
They've run a round of Stock and SS this morning. Randi Lyn was the only Pontiac Stocker to make it thru round 2. Russ Abrams won his 1st round match-up in SS.
There's good news and bad. The good news is that Randi Lyn, in her 1st gen, cut a better light, ran closer to her dial, and got the double breakout win, in round 3 of Stock.
And here's some more good news. Randi Lyn cut a .015 light and ran right on her 10.56 dial, to win round 4 of Stock, by 5 feet ! First gens rule--ain't they cool ?
Well, it looks like I missed one of the Pontiac powered cars at Indy. It was the '81 GP, driven by Ken MacNicol. It runs in the 10.90 Super Street class. Ken made it to the 4th round. So congrats to Ken for a good showing.
There are several division races and a National event this weekend. Looks to be 3 Pontiac powered Stockers at the Big race--Randi Lyn Shipp, Michael Brand , and Adam Davis.
Randi Lyn is the highest Pontiac qualifier. And both she and Michael Brand picked up their class wins.
In the division 5 race, in Kansas, Carroll Warling qualified #4, in Super Stock, with his record holding SS/MA '74 Grand Am. Qualifying at the div 6 race was rained out.
But, there are still some Pontiacs racing at the division races. We got at least 4 Pontiac Stockers in the div 3 race at Norwalk. Tommy Pettigrew is the highest qualified Pontiac, with his '77 Bird. Then we have Julie Biermann and Brent Flynn with their E/SA '68 Birds. And Bob Michael is entered with his '62 GP.
There are also at least 2 Pontiacs in SS at Norwalk. There's Joel Larkin in his '67 Bird and Russ Abrams in his '73 Bird. Don't know if any of the GT cars have Pontiac power or not. But, I don't wanna leave anybody out. So if ya'll know of any Pontiac powered cars I'm missing, please post that info. Thanks.
Well, they finally got in some qualifying out in Idaho. Looks like there are at least 3 Pontiacs in action there. The cars are all 2nd gen Birds. There's Scott Burton, Brad Burton, and Ryan Warter. So, good luck to these Pontiac racers.
They also got in a round of Stock Elim at Norwalk. The bad news is that even with all the Stockers entered, 2 of the Pontiacs had to run each other in the 1st round. But the good news is, 3 Pontiacs made it to the 2nd round--the '77 Bird and both E/SA '68 Birds.
Well, I read that Bob Michael blew a motor in his 1st round race at Norwalk. Sorry to hear that !
But the two E/SA '68 Birds made it to round 3. So, I reckin they had fun. Brent Flynn made a real good pass in round 2, with a .002 light and an 11.58 on an 11.57 dial.
Breaker ! Breaker ! If I'm reading this sheet correctly, Scott Burton won Stock in Idaho, and Brad Burton was RU ! Now I KNOW that's fun ! 2 Pontiacs run in the finals, while all the Chevys(and everything else) are gone or loading up. It just don't get much better than that. Well, except for a winner, RU, and semi final finish with your 3 Pontiacs entered. That's fun too !
CONGRATS to the Burtons for their win & RU, and for being very good representatives for Pontiac powered class racing ! GREAT job guys !
There is another National Event and some division races again this weekend.
If I read it right, Miss Pontiac--Randi Lyn Shipp, has the only Pontiac powered Stocker listed in Q1, with her 1st gen '67 Bird. I've experienced this many times. My old Pontiacs were the only Pontiac powered cars at the vast majority of all the races we entered. But, that just made the wins more fun ! So, good luck to Randi Lyn !
Bill Rink is entered in SS with his '74 GTO. He is qualified #2 @ more than a sec under his index ! That might cause another hp factor hit from NHRA. But he has experienced this several times before. His little GTO has a very potent little 350 engine !
But, there is lots of racing going on this weekend. There is a div 3 National Open race in Kentucky. There are at least 2 Pontiacs there, for sure. One is Allen Hollingworth's 2nd gen Formula and the other is Todd Kuhn's '70 GTO.
Looks like there are 2 Pontiac powered Stockers at the Div 1 race. Todd Hoven is entered in E/SA with what I believe is one of Truman Fields old cars. And Billy Nees is entered in a P/SA 301 powered '79 Lemans. I assume this is the same car that Don Himes drove in several of the races earlier this year. Not positive. Good luck to these Pontiac racers.
Well, the weekend is here. So it's time to race ! Leo Glasbrenner, Tommy Brown , and Lindy Lindholm will be in action again, at the Pacific Sportsnationals. That means that Leo's 1st gen will be poppin wheelies and runnin 10's !
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