Each October for the past 16 years, the Wichita GTO Club has hosted its annual "Indian Uprising" drag race and car show at Wichita International Raceway. And for the past 15 of those 16 years, it's never rained. So it was inevitable that the odds would catch up with them. This past October, instead of the usual blue skies, dark clouds moved in and the rains came. Being the hardy group that they are, the Wichita GTOers just hunkered down and made the best of it.
The event consists of a Friday evening reception, sponsored by Ames Performance, that brings racers and car show participants together for a light dinner buffet and seminars. Ninety people enjoyed presentations: I shared stories from my new book, Pontiac's Greatest Decade: 1959-1969, and Kevin Cappshaw from Permatex held a tech session on sealants and lock tights. After that, it was time to give out the large array of door prizes. The Uprising is known for loads of great door prizes like DVD players, remote control cars, and cases of synthetic oil. It's also known for hefty payouts to drag racers. They were itching to get on the track the next morning, however, they would have to wait.
Saturday was a mix of clouds and rain. After each shower, it appeared things could clear up, and the track drying equipment would spring to action. Just as Wichita International Raceway's crew would get the track surface dry enough to begin time trials, it would begin to rain again after a few cars made passes. This went on through midafternoon, until the rain remained constant and the club announced racing would take place the following day.
While things were looking bleak trackside, the car show had gone on undaunted, and awards were handed out to the 38 participants. The Wichita GTO club has a different and refreshing perspective on shows. It doesn't place cars in classes and hand out First through Third Place trophies. Club members believe each car displayed is a winner all by itself. Consequently, each is voted to receive a Gold, Bronze, or Silver trophy, and all owners take home some form of recognition for their Pontiac.
For those racers who could stay the extra day, Sunday was clear and dry (for those who couldn't, rain checks were distributed for next year). Eliminations for four classes of racing began at 11 a.m.: Ram Air, AFX, AFX-Electronic, and Super Duty. A fifth class, Half-Breed, had just one car, Gilbert Brown's Pontiac-powered '61 Chevy Biscayne.
In the Ram Air class, which limits e.t.'s to 12.50 or slower and requires street tires and no electronics, James Kunkel in a '05 Grand Prix GTP knocked off Eric Jones' '67 LeMans with a 15.25 e.t. and a snappy 0.553 reaction time to take home $250 and a trophy.
The Super-Duty class also limits e.t.'s to 12.50 or slower but requires slicks and no electronics. There was some spirited racing in this class, with 10 cars entered. Dale Randall's '63 Catalina won over Pat Payne's '76 Grand Prix. Dale also pocketed $250.