Pontiac Car Show - PY Pontiacs In The Park 2005

It's a great thing when an event survives its first year and comes back for a repeat performance. All too often, the troubles that can arise for even a promising inaugural event end up being the end of the road. The problems can be exacerbated by inexperienced promoters, facility management impatient with the process of growth, and the endless setbacks that can happen behind the scenes.

Nevertheless, Jim Zeek of Chief Pontiac Productions was able to weather the storms of a successful new event to return in 2005 with the Second Annual PY Pontiacs in the Park, at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond. This time around, Zeek said, the event grew by an impressive 35 percent, with more than 150 race cars and 60 show cars. "There's a good deal of growth so far and the potential for more is certainly there," Zeek says. "Many people who were not able to make it in 2004 made it a point to be here this time around."

Indeed, with the first-year jitters past them, sponsors and personalities-such as AllPontiac.com, Pypes Division of Performance Years, and of course, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick, who was displaying his nearly finished "Tameless Tiger II" '64 GTO race car-were attracted to the sophomore edition of the event. Swap meet and midway spaces quickly filled up, and an impressive level of activity was seen there.

Another interesting addition was the Outlaw Pontiac Racers Association program that was held at VMP on Saturday in lieu of the Gamblers Race. OPRA's races are normally held at Mason-Dixon Raceway, though this time around they scheduled a floating race to help boost the Pontiacs in the Park race program.

Of course, the Outlaws' program wasn't the only race going on that weekend. In addition to the Butler Performance Fast Four was the Ken's Speed & Machine Quick 16, the Allpontiac.com Top ET, Kauffman Racing Equipment Modified, Tin Indian Performance Street, and the Intense Racing FWD classes, ensuring there was a place for anyone who wanted to race their Pontiac.

As mentioned in last month's Tribal News, some spectacular runs were seen at VMP that weekend, including Scott Rex with his tube-framed '97 Firebird running 7.68 at 179.06 and Iowa native (we erroneously stated in Tribal News he was from Kansas) John Welter with his turbocharged Butler-built Pontiac V-8-powered '02 Trans Am. He ran a best of 6.82 at 204 mph.

The show cars that appeared at VMP were also of high quality, including Bill Bolin's wild, supercharged '70 Pro-Street GTO and Mike Holleman's amazing Pro-Touring '64 Tempest convertible. For the factory-original survivor fans, Brian Baker's '77 Can Am was a rare and unusually optioned example of the breed.

Though PY Pontiacs in the Park 2005 was blessed with beautiful weather for most of the weekend, Sunday's race program was cut short by a fierce storm that ripped through the Richmond area in the afternoon. The Fast 4 and Quick-16 were already finished, and at the time event was called, the eliminations were down to the last three cars in Top, last seven in Modified, and the finals in Street.

Perhaps the one element that made PY Pontiacs in the Park a recurring success was the family aspect, both from the participants and the organizers. Zeek credits his mom and dad, Virginia and James, and his daughter Jamie for providing organization and support events such as this need so much of. "I'd also like to thank Bryan Pierce, the general manager at VMP, and his staff for their help putting PY Pontiacs in the Park together," Zeek added. "It really wouldn't have come off as nicely as it did without them."

Chief Pontiac Productions will present two events in 2006-Pontiacs in the Park 2006, which will be May 20-21, and another event in Cecil County, Maryland. Details are still being ironed out for that one, so check www.pontiacsinthepark.com for further information. We hope to see you there!