Pontiac Racing Championships - The Triple Crown

When Pontiac-GMC made the announcement on October 28, 2003, that it was withdrawing from NASCAR for the '04 season, it sent a stir through the racing community. The Wide Track Division, which had won two recent Winston Cup championships and had supplied pace cars to NASCAR since 1959, was removing itself from the most successful race series in the United States and letting Chevrolet represent GM exclusively.

Many Pontiac loyalists were outraged, claiming that once again, Chevrolet was using its corporate might to hold the smaller division down and prevent it from being as successful as it could be. Others cited the lack of success in 2003, with just five teams remaining and one victory for the season. Joe Gibbs Racing, which fielded the successful teams of '00 champion Bobby Labonte and '02 champion Tony Stewart, was already fielding Monte Carlos for 2003. Either way, one cannot escape the irony that Pontiac was leaving just as it was bringing to market a car similar in layout to the actual NASCAR racers, a V-8-powered, rear-drive coupe-the GTO.

The truth was, NASCAR stopped being a good deal for Pontiac. Rather than conduct business as usual and run another season as a redundant and less successful program to Chevy, Pontiac Racing showed some leadership and guts by moving its racing budgets into areas that would give a better return on its investment and translate to a more positive win record.

NASCAR's marketing strategy focused primarily on developing and promoting the personalities of racing, rather than the carmakers. As a result, few noticed or cared when the '04 season rolled around and the remaining Pontiac teams had become Chevy teams. The cars were painted the same, and the stir that came from the announcement the previous October had been largely forgotten.

OK, Pontiac's out of NASCAR-we get it. So where did its efforts go? Say what you will about GM's product marketing strategies, it knows how to put together and maintain its racing efforts. In addition to NHRA drag racing, which Pontiac has been a major player in since the '80s, the Wide Track Division has also entered drifting and road racing competition, and the results have been extremely successful.

How successful, you ask? Pontiac claimed manufacturer's championships in the Daytona Prototype class in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series and in the Pro Stock class of the NHRA POWERade Series, while drivers in Pontiac-powered vehicles walked away with driver's championships in the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype class, the NHRA Pro Stock class, and the Formula D Drifting series. Along the way, Pontiac and partner teams set a number of records in different race series.

"Everyone at GM is thrilled with the stellar results Pontiac has had this year," says Mark Kent, director of GM Racing. "The handling of the Pontiacs in road racing, the power of the GTO engine in drag racing, and the cutting-edge performance and styling of the GTO in drifting have collectively earned Pontiac three driver's championships and two manufacturer's championships in one season."

We reported last month of NHRA Pro Stock Pontiac GTO racer Greg Anderson's third-in-a-row championship and the decisive advantage that Pontiac has enjoyed since changing over to the GTO bodystyle this past July. Pontiac captured its third straight NHRA Manufacturers Cup and ninth NHRA crown since 1996. In 10 races, Pro Stock GTOs won six eliminator finals, advanced to nine final rounds, and captured the race-day pole seven times. Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac GTO also became the first NHRA Pro Stock driver since Bob Glidden's run in 1985-89 to win three consecutive titles, a feat shared only with the late Lee Shepard. Anderson's title marks Pontiac's first with the GTO and eighth NHRA Pro Stock driver's title since 1996. To say that Pontiac is firmly entrenched in drag racing is an understatement.

Pontiac's success in 2005 continued in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series where the manufacturer collected all three championship titles in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class and had extraordinary results in the GT class after the recent debut of the GTO.R.

In the face of fierce competition from European, Asian, and American brands, Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley won both the DP drivers and team titles, and a host of other Pontiac DP drivers helped the brand secure its second consecutive manufacturer's title. Pontiac concluded the race season with 10 wins in 14 races and never finished lower than Second to set a series record. Pontiac drivers swept the podium five times in 2005, an achievement no other brand has done in the Rolex Series.