As stated in previous installments, the starting-line prep by the Norwalk Raceway Park staff was top-notch despite the weather. Once again, none of our competitors cited traction problems due to the starting line. In fact, one tuned his way to his best pass ever.
"I work with sponsored racers in developing and improving our product line through extensive track testing," says Brett. "Generally, this is a fun process, however, in the case of the GTO, it was only fun up until the car reached the 10s. From that point forward, every trip to the track claimed another part. Prior to our 10.97 pass, the only major mods were a torque converter, driveshaft, tires, and a nitrous kit. From then on, we spent over $40,000 developing driveline components and bringing the rest of the car up to par for a 9-second e.t."
At the HPP shootout, Brett dialed in the Goat with shock adjustments and nitrous activation timing. Battling wheelhop, the best pass was his fourth, posting a 1.57 60-foot and a 10.38 e.t. at 133.45 mph.
Brett recalls, "The starting line was so good, we were getting wheelhop for the first time. Up until then, the GTO would just go or spin, but after our experience at the shootout, we had to address dampening the spring movement. We haven't bested our e.t. since then due to recurring traction issues." Brett says despite the wheelhop, "the shootout was a blast!"
Brian was able to take full advantage of the opportunity to tune and made eight passes during the event. He adjusted tire pressure, launch rpm, and shift points. He even opened up the exhaust and then the air bleeds in the carb. The net result was a final pass of 11.73 at 114.58 on a 1.69 60-foot during the hottest part of the day. The open exhaust was good for nearly 1.5 mph in trap speed and the air bleeds another mph. He says the starting line was "perfect, very sticky, probably the best I've been on, but the car was a little sluggish due to the weather." Regarding the overall experience? "It was a lot of fun!"
Pat's Grand Am GT was hampered by belt slippage throughout the day, which kept him away from his usual mid-13-second performances. Regardless, he chipped away at his e.t. with timing and tire pressure changes, resulting in a best pass of 13.89 at 99.72 on a 2.12 60-foot time. Pat tells HPP, "After resolving some issues, including the belt slippage, too much timing (I pulled out four more degrees using DHP ICCU controller), and too little traction (I swapped on Hoosier Quicktime Pros), my Grand Am went 13.3 at 100 mph later that weekend at the Ames Performance Pontiac Nationals on a 1.98 60-foot."
Pat says the line conditions at the shootout were "pretty good," and even though weather was "real hot," he had a great time.
Edward ran his best e.t. and mph ever at 11.14 at 119.80 on his seventh pass on a 1.53 60-foot at the HPP shootout. By richening the mixture and adjusting launch rpm and shift points over eight passes, all the work finally paid off. Edward explains: "I thought the track conditions were great! The car was posting the same 60-foots it does at Milan. It was leaving very well and ran fine. I did a lot of tuning, which was a great opportunity. Of course, I was hoping for a 10-second timeslip, but there is always next time. I thought the shootout was awesome. It was the most fun I've had with a bunch of racers in a long time."
All Pontiacs have the potential to be quick, be they late-model, early-model, front-drive, or rear-drive. It just takes the desire to make it happen as these four contestants did in this installment of the Pavement Pounders Shootout from Norwalk Raceway Park.
Of course, it took more than willing participants and the magazine staff to make this event happen. To that end, the HPP staff would like to thank Bill Bader Jr. from Norwalk Raceway Park and Pete and Andrea Woodruff of Super Duty Promotions for their help in coordinating this shootout.