At The Track
Our five warriors rumbled at Kanawha Valley Dragway under cloudy skies. Thankfully the rain decided to hold off so we could get our shootout in, but high humidity readings in the mid-80 percent range kept the conditions far from perfect. The temperature peaked at 73o that Sunday afternoon, and a breeze of only 3 miles per hour barely registered. Kanawha Valley's crew was happy to prep the 1/8-mile track, but for whatever reason, the starting line wasn't able to stay sticky enough for the truly stellar 60-foot times that these powerful Pontiacs were capable of. And since we were running 1/8-miles as opposed to 1/4-miles, we have converted each participant's times to estimated 1/4-mile ones by using an averaged NHRA formula of 1.555.
Richard Barnhart
Richard's bright red '66 was having traction issues throughout the day--the stout 469 was sending power back to 10.5-inch Firestone slicks that had seen better days. Barnhart was leaving at the same rpm--1800--and shifting at 6500 each time, and his Goat was slipping to mediocre 1.50-1.60 60-foot times. "Well, it's safe to say that my tires were gone," he exclaimed. "But the track still seemed to be prepared well." It was only when he short-shifted into second gear at 5600 rpm on the third run that we saw what the GTO was capable of--a 1.38 short time and a blazing 6.34 ET. That was the quickest shot of this shootout, and it converts to an honest-to-goodness 9.86 in the quarter.
Pete Hanway
Hanway's Grand Prix was the luxo-cruiser of this gathering, but the Tri-Power-fed 462 made for more than two tons of fun when the pedal went down. Factor in a set of wide but less-than-sticky true radials, and you know that Pete had his work cut out for him on this day. The launch rpm was kept below 2000 for obvious reasons, but his best time was recorded on run five by heating the tires, launching the beast at 1200, and slowly pushing the throttle down. A 2.05 60-foot was the reward, and Hanway glided to a 9.06 ET. Converting that 1/8-mile time makes for a 14.08 and a happy Grand Prix owner. "Traction was definitely marginal, I need some slicks," Pete admitted. "I was getting spin in second gear and off the line, but it still ran well."
Bob Cobb
Bob's 400-inch Goat had the smallest displacement in this group, but that didn't stop Cobb from getting some good numbers out of this lightweight A-body. He was aggressive off the line with four grand launches, and shift points as high as 6200 really wound out the 400. Regardless of that abuse, however, it seemed as if the track took it quite well. "It appeared to hook okay," he quipped. "The only trouble was, the car slowed down every pass." His first run was the best, with a launch at 3500, shifts at 6000, a 1.65 60-foot time, and a resulting 7.86 (a 12.22 1/4 mile). He found out months after the shootout that a main bearing was about to spin. Still, low 12s are nothing to sneeze at, Bob.
P.J. Heck
P.J.'s evil '62 Catalina wanted to do one thing and one thing only: point its menacing nose skyward at every green light. Unfortunately, Heck found the line to be too slippery for the dual-quad, 500-inch monster under the hood--and the Goodyear slicks trying to harness it. "The car always overpowers those little tires--sometimes it hooks, sometimes it doesn't," Heck said. "The line was low traction, but down the track it was okay." P.J.'s best run was his first, which happened with a 4500-rpm launch, seven grand shift points, and a slower 1.54 60-foot time than he had hoped. Still, he was able to post a 7.04 ET, which translates into a 10.95 in the 1320.
John Hill
John had excellent luck with his '79 T/A on this day. He kept the 461-powered Pontiac as consistent as he could with identical launches at 1500 rpm and shift points at 5500, and several jet and timing changes were performed throughout the day. The 10.5-inch Mickey Thompsons were hooking for him, and he was another racer who recorded his best time on the first run. "At the beginning of the day, the track was sticky, the air was cool, and my car hooked and ran great." A 1.54 60-foot elapsed, followed by a 7.22 ET. Converting that to a quarter-mile estimate results in an 11.23 time--guess his engine-building skills are pretty good, huh?
Conclusion
All participants--from 9-second monsters to 14-second cruisers--struggled with two issues that Sunday: traction and weather. It seemed that the awful humidity was wreaking havoc on the line, which was prepped well and repeatedly. It didn't work, and the times weren't as good as each owner wanted, yet everyone seemed to be content with our closed track session in the West Virginia foothills. The Almost Heaven group paid for a tasty lunch, and Peggy Cowen cooked it up and served it with a smile. And Kanawha Valley Dragway Owners/Operators Tim Bell and Ray Lewis ran a first-rate program all day. Thanks to everyone, including Bill Muck, organizer of the shootout for the POCI chapter, who made this shootout another joy to attend. Tune in for Part III of Mountain State Mayhem for the skinny on another group of hard-charging Pontiacs.