Pontiac Pavement Pounders Shootout: Lone Star Pt. III

Take 5 automotive hobbyists with 5 hot Pontiacs, give them a track on which to run freely and you have the perfect recipe for gearhead heaven. That's what the "Pontiac Pavement Pounders Shootouts" are all about and since we can't invite all our readers to 1 event, we continue to hold multiple events per year so that everyone gets a chance for fun in the sun.

This month, we bring you an awesome group of Pontiacs that features a little bit of everything. From traditional iron to supercharged front-wheel drive fury, we've got fast times for you starting with Baton Rouge resident Martin Templet. His beautiful 455-powered '68 Bird is a father-and-son project that posts quick e.t.'s with style. Steve Goss of Joplin, Missouri brought out his '69 Goat, which wields 406 ci of Pontiac power and brings judgment to those who fall in its wake. Cruising in luxury was Austin, Texas, native Richard McDonell, whose 3800 supercharged GTP was knocking down low-13-second times with ease. Steve Tinsman drove up from Austin with his '70 Firebird and proceeded to tear up the asphalt with a 434-cube engine and Susan Murry was hitting the gears in her nitrous sniffing '01 LS1 Trans Am.

Like we said there was a little bit of everything at the shootout, so check out the Pontiac Pavement Pounders as they make quick work of the Texas Motorplex quarter-mile.

OWNER: MARTY TEMPLET
Marty Templet has been racing for some 20 years now, and this '68 Firebird has brought his son Chad into the life. The Poncho has been a father/son project from the beginning, and Chad has quite a bit of time invested in it as he assembled the engine and painted the car himself. Marty told HPP that nice Pontiacs are rather hard to find in Louisiana, so were guessing he's the envy of all his neighbors.

OWNER: SUSAN AND MIKE MURRY
Susan has been a fan of the Trans Am since she was little, and as the marketing campaign of the LS1 Birds caught her eye, it took General Motors ceasing their production to convince her that she needed one.

Still in its infancy, the '01 WS6 T/A has already been stuffed with a hot camshaft and squirted with a generous helping of nitrous oxide, not to mention putting it on a serious weight-reduction plan. This has enabled Susan to maintain Second Place in the East Texas Street Kings Fastest Radial standings. Did we mention that she lives and works at Hallsville Raceway in Texas?

OWNER: STEVE GOSS
A '66 Tempest occupies the garage of this Joplin, Missouri, resident along with his '69 GTO that he picked up for a shameful $350. "A kid I know down the street had the car sitting in his yard for a while, and when he needed money, I made him an offer," noted Steve. One reason for the low price was the lack of a title, which didn't bother Steve as the Poncho is primarily a drag strip warrior.

OWNER: RICHARD McDONELL
Although the F-body's had plenty of power, Richard McDonell was looking for a bit more luxury and found it in this GTP. With nothing more than a written job offer, Richard was able to procure the Pontiac prior to his graduation from Texas A&M University and since then, has been modifying it to suit his leadfoot fancy.

OWNER: STEVE TINSMAN
Steve Tinsman of Austin, Texas picked up this Firebird for a mere $600 after he had been involved in an accident with his '79 T/A. The Bird has undergone a full restification and a serious lightening, but visits the track more than the car show. Steve's favoritism toward F-bodies is obvious, considering his stable of cars has always included an early Trans Am or Firebird.

AT THE TRACK

Marty Templet
The beautiful blue '68 Bird of Marty Templet has posted a best elapsed time of 11.25 at 118 mph, but he was not able to match that on this day. "Traction was very, very bad," said Templet, whose normal short times are in the 1.52-1.53 range. The Firebird proceeded to overpower the Motorplex with 60-foot times of 1.69-1.97, which limited his performance at the top end.

Susan Murry
The '01 LS1 Trans Am of Susan Murry struggled with traction issues, but managed a best naturally aspirated run of 12.09. Her first pass on the squeeze resulted in her best 60-foot time of the day at a 1.78, and followed with an 11.41 elapsed time. "I really enjoyed the unlimited track passes," said Susan.

Steve Goss
For Steve Goss, traction didn't seem to be an issue as his '69 Goat posted consistent short times. "If the air was better and not so hot, the car would have run better," noted Goss. "It usually runs 12.20-12.30, but I tried a new converter and I think I'm going back to the other one." At our shootout, Steve seemed to make the most progress by cooling his car down and whittling away at the 60-foot times.

Richard McDonell
"The car performed great considering the warm and muggy air," reported Richard. "The final run was my best time ever and was due in large part to the cool can." Richard is referring to the Igloo cooler, which he fabricated to circulate ice water through his GTP's intercooler. Small advancements in the timing were possible since the intercooler got the boost, and enabled the Pontiac to chop a couple of tenths off its best time.

Steve Tinsman
The bad in black Firebird of Steve Tinsman regularly visits the 10-second elapsed time zone, but a loss of electrical power at the end of each pass limited his final time. "The Bird was shutting off around the 1,000-foot mark, and we traced it back to a faulty battery cable," said Steve. Even though it was brand new, the cable was only delivering 2 volts of power.

Conclusion
Texas provided us with your average 80-degree day along with 50-60 percent humidity. While some cars had traction problems, others had their tire and chassis so dialed in that the mildly greasy track condition didn't affect them. As in years passed, DAPA provided lunch and this year, Arriba Salsa helped out with funding and salsa. Kadin Betts and Thom Reaves handled grilling burgers and hotdogs for everyone. HPP would like to thank Randy Allen and Bob Cook of DAPA for organizing the event, and Saadallah El Jundi of Sewell Pontiac, who provided the HPP staff with a '04 Grand Prix GTP so that they wouldn't have to be subjected to driving some other brand of car.

Arriba Fire-Roasted Mexican Salsas and its parent company Riba Foods chipped in big time when it came to feeding our group at the track. David Dudley is a representative for Riba foods, as well as a DAPA member, and was able to swing a sponsorship deal that really spiced up our lunch break.

Sewell Pontiac of Dallas hooked us up this '04 Grand Prix GTP, which gave us a preliminary look at the new model. The GTP's supercharged engine has plenty of punch, and of course you know it rides like a dream.