2003 High Peformance Pontiac Day

High expectations were in the air as the morning of Saturday, April 19, 2003 cleared of overcast gray skies, promising a bright, if somewhat cool spring day, perfect for an action-packed event full of Pontiac racing, showing, and swapping. On the racing side, more than 100 owners of potent Pontiac machinery, new and old, stock and modified, filled out their tech cards and got ready to have at it on E-town's quarter-mile strip.

However, the tone of the day was quickly muted--for as all participants already knew, this was to be a "street muffled cars only" day because of local noise ordinances. What many might not have realized, especially the owners of the more powerful, and typically louder Ponchos, was that an inspection with a decibel meter awaited them in the tech line.

Track policy now mandates a stationary sound inspection with engines running to 5,500 rpm. Not the kind of thing most owners of quality race equipment are willing to do without much of a warm-up. Though all possessed some form of race muffler and complied with the test method, many of the day's would-be heavy-hitters never came off their trailers. And, even if a Pontiac passed the stationary inspection, on-track decibel meter shots awaited them. This trailered at least one, if not the only remaining 9-second Pontiac, Buster Brashier's '01 Bird (featured elsewhere in this issue), which made two or three time-trial passes in the mid-9s before being given the cease-and-desist order from track officials.

What race fans were left with, was some good, close action from the 90-plus street-legal Indians that battled it out in the five bracket classes. Good fun and viewing for all, but the crowd-pleasing, grandstand-packing top-level class saw a quickest e.t. of 10.50. Michael Scalfo in his '67 GTO during his winning final run against Bob Gonier's mid-10-running '69 Bird. Not exactly slow, but still somewhat of a letdown for the fans, not to mention those who couldn't participate saw their time and effort of attending the race fade to naught like the echo of a 455 pounding off the trackside retaining walls.

To further dampen the spirits of those in attendance was the lack of any real swap meet. Though billed as a "Giant Pontiac Car Show and Swap Meet," there were only three or four cars for sale scattered amidst the pit parking area, and one vendor selling some basic race bits for the racers. Otherwise, this HPP Day saw the fewest ever piles of crusty old Pontiac gold to peruse--one truck bed's worth of spare Second-Gen parts was all the author spotted. The reason for this is likely the change in date of the event. Normally a mid-May deal, HPP Day now fell into the weekend in April that's squarely sandwiched between the Spring E-town and Spring Carlisle swap meets--and just before the Easter holiday. Not much of an incentive to attract vendors, to say the least.

Bear in mind that HPP magazine is a sponsor of this event but the staff and management of the magazine exert no control over the way the show is organized and run. That doesn't mean, however, that HPP does not care as to how the event is perceived by the attendees, racers, and spectators alike, for after all, it is the magazine's name on it.

On the bright side, the car show portion of the affair was definitely one of the best. A good turnout was present, with several notable Pontiacs to gawk at. A '62 Super Duty Catalina purported to be Mickey Thompson's dual-quad powered lightweight ride was there. As was at least half a dozen nearly all-original survivor Pontiacs ranging from a '68 GTO to an early-'60s Tempest with that famed half a 389 and rope drive to a big, bad bruiser in the form of a '69 Bonneville two-door hardtop coupe. (It did have a warmed over engine sporting a shiny aftermarket carb and intake, otherwise it was one clean, original dreamboat of a ride.)

We will keep you updated with changes made for next year's event to alleviate the problems that faced this year's. At least it didn't rain this year!

What Happened to Pontiac Day?
Jim Dietzler contacted the track for comment regarding the different obstacles regarding this year's HPP Day at E-town. Though he did not get a response prior to turning in this story, I did have better luck. Event coordinator, Paul Bailey, returned a call that I had in for Michael Napp, the track president, and we discussed the event. The main problems that I saw with this year's event were: 1) Bad scheduling: Placing HPP Day the day before Easter, and over 3 weeks earlier than it had been for years and right between the E-Town swap meet and the Carlisle swap meet surely hurt attendance. 2) Mandatory noise tests: These put a good many race cars back on their trailers after some had traveled great distances to attend the event.

I asked Paul what happened. He explained that the event was rescheduled in order to put a Spring Diesel Truck and Thrill show on HPP's usual first or second week of May date. Obviously, this type of event draws more people than Pontiac Day does, so April 19th is what we got.

When asked about the decibel meter testing Bailey replied, "I felt terrible about that. [He had to perform them.] The last thing I want to do is send racers home. It's not good for anyone. But what many don't realize is that our hands are tied. This is a law that we have to abide by because if any cop comes to the track and a car is running that tests louder, the track will get fined. This law went into effect after last year's event, that's why there was no testing then. The law now is that street muffled means 90 decibels or less at 5,500 rpm with the test meter 100 feet behind the car. It also states a limit of 98 decibels when going down the track. We tested from behind the starting line for those readings." Not only that but Bullet mufflers are not legal at all. Mufflers must have at least 2 baffles in them according to the law." Paul also added, "This is what happens when you build $500,000 houses close to a race track!"

Well, we have harped on and discussed enough about what went wrong this year. What could be done to make next year's event better? Both Paul and I agree that the HPP Day would be better served on Sunday so that all racers could run unmuffled if they want to without fear. Also, the date has to be moved back closer to mid May to avoid any conflicts with other events and poor Spring weather. Bailey also mentioned the possibly of a two-day event including Buick and Olds as well. Possibly those show and go's are having similar problems. However, my power in this situation only goes as far as making suggestions. Ultimately, the track runs the event so final decisions lie with Raceway Park. We will update you as next year's plans unfold. Most importantly, my apologies to all of the racers who had their Pontiac Day cut short. --Thomas A. DeMauro

Final Round Action