The legendary Arnie "The Farmer"...
The legendary Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick made one of his signature exhibition passes at Summit Motorsports Park with a smokey burnout, a high-speed backup to the line, and a flawless run down the track. He runs consistent 7-second e.t.'s at over 190 mph. This time out, his pass was a bye run, as the The Bag Boys had mechanical trouble at the line with their '63 "Grocery Getter" Tempest wagon.
Wet and Wild Ponti-Action!
To say that 2009 has been a rough year for Pontiac lovers is an understatement. GM's April 27 announcement that it was dropping the brand, an institution since 1926, would have seemed like a devastating hit, but it was more of a disappointment than anything and became a call to the Pontiac faithful to band together even tighter than before. Many have stepped up to help promote the hobby in new and innovative ways.
Fortunately, most Pontiac hobbyists have already made the connection that their love of the brand is not dependent on whether GM is still cranking out G6 rental cars. True, the loss of the G8 GT and GXP, and the Solstice is a blow, but their limited overall production numbers will help ensure future collectibility.
Even when it rained at the GTOAA/POCI Co-Vention on the Popular Vote show day this past July, it didn't put everybody off. They just went inside and looked at the cars on display in the Nutter Center. They also bought a lot of stuff when they were indoors. No problem. Pontiac fans are tougher than rain.
The rain came back for a second round at the 2009 Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals and the deluge ended up canceling most of Saturday's program. The general consensus was that it was still a better time than a sunny day at work. Pete and Andrea Woodruff of Super Duty Promotions soldiered on and even managed to get the Editor's Choice and Dealer's Choice Award ceremonies completed under the grandstands.
"Despite the rain on Saturday, people just kept coming," said Pete Woodruff, president of Super Duty Promotions. "It really didn't hurt attendance that much, which is a true testament to the dedication of Pontiac hobbyists."
Richard Killian's '62 Catalina...
Richard Killian's '62 Catalina Nostalgia Super Stocker gets a huge bite of the track and yanked the wheels up about 2 feet. Richard runs a 535 IA II; The combo is good for 9.70s at 138 mph.
Our fearless leader, Tom DeMauro...
Our fearless leader, Tom DeMauro (not shown), presented the HPP Editor's Choice Award to Layna Gunderson of Springfield, Nebraska. Layna and husband James' '71 Formula 400 is a beautiful example of the breed. DeMauro couldn't resist the Lucerne Blue paint, twin scoops, and Rally IIs. Congratulations!
The Firehawk Owners Association...
The Firehawk Owners Association has been a significant part of the Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals and even holds its own event there. This is the largest gathering of SLP Engineering's specialty Firebirds.
Indeed, the numbers didn't fall off nearly as much as predicted. The car show count stood at 468, which was only 5 cars short of the 2008 numbers. A total of 484 cars were registered for racing, and 311 swap meet spaces were sold to 169 vendors, a record number. Additionally, there were 56 registrations for the car corral area, 31 midway vendors, and 11,124 spectators. Like we said, tougher than rain.
Woodruff added, "The fact that there wasn't any racing going on allowed the racers, who are normally tied to their cars, to come over to the other side [of the show] to see the swap meet, the manufacturer's midway, and the show cars."
On the bright side, things cleared up on Sunday, going from cold and wet to sunny, hot, and humid. The temperatures soared to over 95 degrees, and while it wasn't exactly comfortable, the race was back on, the show was back on, and the air was filled with the roar of unmuffled engines. Things returned to the Norwalk event that spectators had come to expect.
The loss of an entire day meant that some changes had to be made-Saturday's and Sunday's programs were run together on Sunday. The plan actually came from Bill Bader Jr., who had devised this strategy for a Ford event held at Summit Motorsports Park.
It worked like this: All racers received a time trial. The first round ended up becoming a qualifier in which program racers would run. First round winners went into the Sunday and runners-up went into the Saturday program. So in effect, the first round was a freebie; The second round actually began eliminations.
The system worked very nicely and most racers considered it a fair and equitable way to handle the situation. While in the past it was technically possible for a racer to win his or her class for both the Saturday and Sunday programs, it has only happened once in 18 years, so that was the only concession made to the rain.
Some notable performances were seen at the track this year, including the "Dirty Bird" '97 Firebird funny car. Though it is normally piloted by Dave Wilcox, he was ill, so Rob "Zombie" Bruce took the wheel and ran a very impressive 6.635 at 211.46 mph. The alky burner uses an IA II block, Tiger heads, a 14-71 blower, and fuel injection.
Our old friend and colleague,...
Our old friend and colleague, Nunzi Romano, brought his spectacular '63 Ram Air V LeMans racer to Norwalk with his son, Tony. Nunzi is enjoying his retirement, and we hope to see him at more shows in the future.
Cruising in style times two!...
Cruising in style times two! Fred Mazzoni from Sturgis, Michigan, has a Burgundy golf cart to match his gorgeous and tastefully-modified '67 GTO hardtop. Fred definitely enjoyed himself all weekend
Our fearless leader, Tom DeMauro...
Our fearless leader, Tom DeMauro (not shown), presented the HPP Editor's Choice Award to Layna Gunderson of Springfield, Nebraska. Layna and husband James' '71 Formula 400 is a beautiful example of the breed. DeMauro couldn't resist the Lucerne Blue paint, twin scoops, and Rally IIs. Congratulations!