Pontiac Pavement Pounders Shootout--Speed and Beauty

This shootout was simply a pavement-pounding free-for-all with no easy-to-phrase theme except that each machine is very quick in its own right. Engine choices included a trio of factory-block 455s, a stroked LS1, and an Indian Adventures 510-cid motor. Their wrappings vary from classic to modern and e.t.'s range from 9s to 12s.

Troy Tribby of Leesburg, Virginia, brought his 455 dual-quad clone of the black '60 Ventura race car known as "Arapaho." Dennis Kincaid arrived with his Sunset Orange '66 LeMans sporting many fiberglass body panels and a bored and stroked 455. Stacey and Roy Fender of F-Body Motorsport came all the way from Charlotte, North Carolina, to compete with their gorgeous black '00 Ram Air Trans Am. Pasadena, Maryland's own Wayne Garrison proudly represented T-37s with a built 455 in a bright red '71 model. The lone GTO of the group belongs fellow Pasadena resident Jack C. Pumphrey, III who awed everyone with an incredible on-the-bumper launch, thanks to his intense red '65's juice-induced big Indian Adventures Pontiac motor.

All could have taken home a First Place doing duty as show cars if there had been a show that day. But alas, this event was all about racing and in racing, low e.t.'s and high trap speeds are all that count. So these brave Pontiac warriors, some members of the Gaithersburg-based Outlaw Drag Racers Association (www.OutlawPontiacDragSeries.com) and others from the Royal GTOs club (www.royalgtos.com) trekked from south of the Mason/Dixon to run some numbers.

Each Pontiac contender was a strong runner but had its Achilles heel. Troy's mighty Ventura weighed in at a portly 4,280 pounds. The F-body Motorsport's technologically-advanced Trans Am wasn't too far behind at 3,868 pounds. Dennis' LeMans, while having a weight and engine advantage had a small, factory 10-bolt 8.2 rear axle. Even though Wayne's T-37 had 462 cubic reasons to be fast, the universal leveler was that each car had to run mufflers, as mandated by Raceway Park officials.

Would these high-powered high-compression engines be brought to their knees? Will these Pontiacs stay together? Which models will perform up to par? And which won't? Read on!

Owner: Jack C. Pumphrey III
This '65 is the first GTO that Jack Pumphrey owned. He belongs to both the Outlaw Racers and the Royal GTO's club and believe us when we say he's a GTO nut! "My wife and I sang 'Lil GTO' at our wedding," he told us. But the fanaticism doesn't stop there.

Jack and his '65 became the first ever Outlaw Pontiac Drag Racer Champion in 1999. A 13-year racing vet, Pumphrey made his first sub-9-second run in the GTO at the Ames Performance Pontiac Nationals in 2003. Continuing on this streak, he easily became this shootout's honorary LaunchMaster with a crazy bumper dragging wheelstand (The photos here don't do it justice--you had to be there). Our only warning was, "I'm putting the nitrous on." Thankfully a near stock '70 GTO also resides in his garage for regular cruising duties and is all original--for now.

Owner: Dennis Kincaid
When Dennis Kincaid got the urge to go racing back in 2001, he didn't want to hack up his gorgeous '65 GTO. So, the search for a racer led him to an open field where her found this original 326 4-barrel LeMans for $1,500. A replaced quarter panel, fiberglass nose, and engine swap later and Dennis was pounding the pavement.

Army vet Kincaid is rightfully proud of his LeMans running an 11.33 at 117 at Cecil County Raceway subsequent to our shootout. Not only did this 2003 Outlaw Pontiac points champion achieve his all time best, but it also got both tires off the ground doing it. In addition to this gorgeous LeMans, Dennis has a '65 GTO, a '76 GP, an '00 T/A WS6, an '00 GTP, an '86 T/A, and an '86 Firebird.

Owner: Wayne Garrison
Wayne Garrison wanted to build a Pro Street something. As luck would have it, a fellow member of the Royal GTO club had built himself into a unfinished pickle with the half race/half street T-37 you see before you. Wayne got a sweet deal on it and the rest became part of his 20-year racing history.

The other household Pontiacs include his misses' '98 Grand Prix, his dad's '69 Judge and '72 455 H.O. GTO, and mom's '98 Bonneville.

Owner: Troy Tribby
Retired firefighter and Outlaw Pontiac racer, Troy Tribby, used to perform work on the original '60 Ventura "Arapaho" when he was a kid. At that time, Arapaho was raced in IHRA by Gene Calhoun out of Northern Virginia. Troy wanted to buy the Pontiac, but Gene sold it to someone else.

Never forgetting it, Tribby came across the original 12 years ago, but sadly it was too far gone to jump into. So rather than restore it, he stored the badly rusted body and cloned a new one. The original was equipped with a 389 Tri-Power and a 4-speed and used to run low 13s. Troy's clone, while originally equipped with a 389 Tri-Power and a 4-speed manual, was converted to a 455 engine/Turbo 400 combo and became a 47,000-mile show car/race car. "Every time I go to the races or shows somebody says, 'I remember that car.' It simply amazes me," Tribby said.

Owner: Stacey Fender
Roy and Stacey Fender are the owners of F-Body Motorsports--a Third- and Fourth-Gen-owners' mecca. While Roy sports in a Brand X Third-Gen LS1 converted convertible, Stacy chose a sweet '00 LS1 Ram Air Trans Am because she "wanted a fast street car that would be respectable at the track."

This daily driven T/A still has all of its fully functioning factory options including A/C. Beyond the Lunati 383 stroker kit lurks an NX Express nitrous system, however wiring issues kept it purely aesthetic on track day. Now before you take Stacey as just another pretty face, you should know she helped with the rebuild including doing her own programing using LS1 Edit and the port and polish job on the MAF sensor. The fruits of her efforts were 425 rwhp. You can rest assured she's not afraid to bang those 6 gears and stomp on the loud pedal--and we do mean loud.

At The Track
Race day greeted us with a 51-degree average temperature, clear skies and a hardly-noticeable 2.99 mph median wind speed. No one said racing was easy. You do one thing and you have to address 2 others. It takes careful research to pick your parts. Even so, you get it all together and you have to become concerned about keeping it together. But you gotta go faster. So you're constantly tuning. The mix we had here goes to show that there is no one way to build speed and no one chassis or engine to use as a foundation. The awesome Raceway Park track conditions surprised everyone.

Jack C. Pumphrey III
While Jack's GTO clearly had all kinds of advantages from having the biggest aftermarket engine to digital ignition to sneaky mini-tubbed rear wheelwells, the Goat turned out to be its own stiffest competition. Jack replays the wild bumper bashing launch, "As soon as I hit the nitrous, the car went up in the air. I pulled second gear thinking it would bring it down, but it kept on going higher until the on/off switch [under the rear bumper] hit the track shutting the car off which made it just slam down on the ground. Apparently, I hit third gear as it was in third when I got back in the car..." Broken front shocks, crushed header tubes (see photo) and exhaust pipes, ejected radiator fan (see photo), dented oil pan, bent radiator tabs, shifted passenger side front fender, and paint chips later, Jack was rebuilt, running 9.57, and looking good as new.

Dennis Kincaid
Dennis had no problem putting his foot to the floor at our track session, not only because he had purposely sought, bought, and built this baby for racing, but because he's got an extra built 455 sitting at home in his garage itchin' for some action. Even so, his current powerplant had enough grunt to lift a tire at the line with Dennis proudly updating, "I've since got both tires off the ground."

Wayne Garrison
Track conditions were okay for Wayne, but his frustration extended to tuning. Mysterious fuel issues kept the T-37 at just under 11 seconds. "I kept adding jets to it, thinking it need it, but it needed fuel," Garrison recalled. Once getting back home, Wayne realized his fuel pump was toast. "My fuel pump must have been gradually getting worse as it never made the engine detonate until that day." He swapped out his clapped out fuel pump for a Barry Grant 280-gph unit and square-jetted the carb with #99s. Immediately he clocked off an easy 10.74 at 128. That was so impressive to Wayne he had to share, "I'm going to put that motor in my '69 Judge race car and I'm building a 6-71 blower motor for the Tempest soon." We look forward to seeing that monster.

Troy Tribby
Troy's vintage Ventura didn't have traction problems with all that tonnage and great weight transfer that planted the rear but unfortunately the period style tri-Y headers run better open so his top end speed was compromised when he was forced to run with mufflers. Even so Troy says, "I hooked well and would do it again."

Stacey Fender
On street tires, Stacey had traction problems halfway down the track, as many LS1 owners know. Swapping to her drags, she obliterated the quarter-mile, with high-rpm launches and very quick powershifts. Pleased but not thoroughly impressed with their results at our shootout, the Fenders went home in search of more power. Currently the car is going back under the wrench because the Roy and Stacey have realized a superior head and cam package for stock LS1s that has delivered the same power that they are making in their non-stroked LS1s. Stacey did warn us, "I love to race."

Conclusion
Muffler and tuning issues aside, we had a great day at Raceway Park Englishtown with this group of Pontiac racers. The weather and the track surface cooperated and the results were well worth the efforts of these racers. Besides, it's not everyday that a '65 GTO gets airborne.

What interesting recipes, excitement, and drag strip antics will the next batch of Pavement Pounders bring to the table? Stay tuned to find out.

Special thanks to Paul Bailey and Jim Taylor for their help.