2011 Pontiac Fall Nats

Although it was bit brisk in the morning, the Pontiac Fall Nationals at Atco Raceway on November 5, 2011, benefitted from sunny skies and comfortable temperatures, and drew about 140 show cars and 65 race cars. The show was chiefly funded by the Old Goat club and Performance Years also was a sponsor, while Atco sponsored the race.

Quality and diversity best describe the offerings in the show. Of course we counted numerous GTOs, Firebirds, Judges, and Trans Ams—some concours restored, others heavily modified, and even more clean street cars. But that wasn’t all—we saw ’30s street rods, ’50s cruisers, Pro-Touring cars, and a solid turnout of ’69-’77 Grand Prixs and early Tempests.

There was plenty of wheel-standing race action on the track (as evidenced by the lead photo for this article) across two classes—Super Pro and Pro Street. Racers running bumper-scraping 8s and 9s all the way to quick and consistent street/strip cars competed for payouts and bravado, putting on a great show in the process.

Amongst the fray was Pontiac engine builder and racer Nunzi Romano, making shakedown runs with a personal project that he has been working on for the past few years—a ’63 Tempest with a Pontiac four-cylinder engine that he has built and tweaked to run as quick as some very healthy V-8s. See how well he did in the caption under the photo of his Tempest.

“Once every four years, the show is Popular Vote as it was in 2011. Host club members may enter their cars in Popular Vote but they do not receive a ballot. Old Goat Club members only choose the ‘Best Of’ winners (for which they are not eligible). GTOAA’s Choice was picked by me and GTOAA Chapter Coordinator Bill Vantuono. The Sawruk Family Award was chosen by John Sawruk’s brothers, Jim and Gary.”

For 2012, the Pontiac Fall Nationals will become the B.O.P. Nationals, hosting Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs. This was done back in 2006, and the track and club decided to try it again. The date for the race and show is November 3, 2012. For more information, contact Tom at (856) 524-2588 or email GoatGuyTom@aol.com.