At The Track
As stated in the introduction, it was hot and humid at the track for our shootout, with temps in the high 90s and humidity at 86 percent or better. Density altitude, as charted by one racer on a weatherstation, ranged from 3,550 to 3,950 from the start of the event through the late afternoon. As you may imagine, this would affect performances. To that end, we have provided conversion information to give you an idea of what these Pontiacs theoretically could have been capable of at sea level. We will use 3,800 feet as our density altitude figure since the numbers were toward the high side for the better part of the event. The correction factor for the e.t. is 0.9536, and 1.0493 is the factor for mph. We did the math for the best pass only (based on e.t.), for each of the participants. The information is contained in their Strip Tuning logs and below. If you want corrections done on any of the other passes, you have the factors here to plug into your calculator. Simply multiply the e.t. or mph by its respective factor to arrive at the corrected figures. As is always true, some of our participants hooked well and others didn't. Track personnel did prep the track and did their best to accommodate all of the participants.
Mike Davis
Mike describes his '66 GTO as "a true street car--all stock suspension that will run 10.80s on motor and 9s on spray, while looking 100 percent stock." At the shootout, the GTO ran four straight 11.0s despite Mike changing tire pressure, jets, and timing. The best was 11.01 at 121.06 (10.49 at 127.02 with correction factor) on a 1.55 60-foot. He described the track conditions as "poor" and said his GTO simply "didn't hook up." The next day at the POCI race, his '66 ran 10.70 at 124.8 at the same track on a 1.47 60-foot. Mike related that what he did like about the shootout was that he was, "able to run at my own pace," but he did feel that "we started too late and the track went away."
Kyle Vieira
Kyle was having a great time rowing through the gears at the shootout. Tuning was limited to a few tire-pressure changes and then varying launch rpm to get the car to hook up. He whittled away at his 60-foot times through the day and finally posted his best 60-foot at 1.84, and his best e.t. at 12.40 at 108.18 (11.82 at 113.51 with correction factor). Regarding the shootout, Kyle said, "There were friendly people, great cars, and it was first class all the way." He described the track as,"good," and his Bird "hooked up pretty good--the track got better toward the end of the day."
Tom Truluck
Built as a budget race car to win bracket races, Tom's '63 Tempest has a mild 428 engine with great big tires and a tall gear to make sure it doesn't spin at the line. Tom keeps the car slow enough so it doesn't require a rollcage and to maintain the consistency it takes to regularly win bracket races. Having run 12.90s with a Powerglide, a recent change to a Turbo 400 with a switch to manually set upshift rpm for each gear sounded promising to further dial in the combo. But Tom says the results were less than hoped for due to a shifter problem. With consistency no longer required, at least for the HPP shootout, Tom took advantage of the tuning opportunity. Juggling shift points and working to get more air into the carb, he ultimately made his best pass on his last attempt, posting a 13.19 at 102.43 (12.57 at 107.47 with correction factor). "It hooked great!" Tom said of his Tempest. "It runs 8.61 in the eighth at other tracks and did the same here." Tom said he liked the open format of the event and was pleased with the facility.
Doug and Nicole Cobb
Much like Mike Davis, Doug was fighting to get his '69 Judge to hook up on every pass. "The starting line was not the best," he said. "My car seemed to spin on each run. It always went straight, but never did hook--it just skated off the line." Tire pressure was adjusted slightly, as were timing and launch rpm. When all was said and done, it was the second pass of the day that provided the lowest e.t at 12.41 at 110.83 (11.83 at 116.29 with correction factor) and the lowest 60-foot at 1.88. Doug appreciated the overall atmosphere of the event and the easy pace saying, "I had plenty of time to tune the car."
Gene and Gail Scheer
Gene told HPP that he began making his passes launching a bit too tentatively, anticipating a bad starting line. He increased launch rpm for later runs, but it appears his more aggressive launches coincided perfectly with track conditions deteriorating in the afternoon. "The DOT lane went away in the afternoon," he said, "at least for pure street tires." But that wasn't his only concern. "The added rotational weight of a 12-inch rotor upgrade performed that past winter may have slowed the car down 1 mph and 0.1 second, but it certainly stops much better," he said. Gene ran a 3.4-inch pulley for the shootout, but has run a 3.25-inch pulley in the past. With the increased octane fuel mix, the smaller pulley has been worth 0.1 second in e.t. and 1 mph improvement in trap speed. Gene said the engine experienced some belt slippage during the shootout. All these things plus the weather conditions added up to a best pass of 14.10 at 96.38 (13.44 at 101.13 mph with correction factor) with a 2.14 60-foot time. Since the event, the GTX has posted a 13.61 at 101.6 with a 2.10 60-foot at another facility. He enjoyed "meeting fellow car lovers and exchanging tech info," though he would have liked "more time to make some more passes and tune."
Conclusion
One thing this shootout certainly offers is variety--in engine displacements, platforms, racing style, and performances. Most of these Pontiacs are street cars and range from projects that any reader could build on a moderate budget to finely tuned, double-duty, street/strip competitors, which seemingly extract every ounce of power from their respective combos. One is simply a killer bracket car built for consistency.
As you can see by the At the Track comments, there were also varying perceptions regarding many elements of the event. The mood of the shootout was positive, and it was very much a group effort, from the participants to the staffs of YearOne, Atlanta Dragway, and HPP. The magazine handled the planning and execution, with contributor Randy Allen taking care of all of the pre-event prep and both of us shooting the photos you see here. Atlanta Dragway provided the track, the personnel to run it, and starting line prep, while YearOne stepped up to handle the track rental fee, the announcements, and the free lunch for all via the track's concession's stand. All in all, a very good day at the races.
We have plenty more action to come from our Atlanta Dragway excursion, so check back next month.