On April 1, 2006, HPP once again returned to Speedworld Motorplex just outside Phoenix, Arizona, to attend Pontiac Heaven Drags & More. As an added bonus, we hosted an HPP shootout featuring four potent street/strip Pontiacs from the Southwest and West Coast: Alan Monroe's '78 Trans Am, Mike Ciraolo's '66 GP, Les Iden's '68 GP, and Matthew Luster's '69 GTO. As you can see, this is shaping up to be a great Big Car versustraditional-muscle shootout.
Alan Monroe
Alan Monroe's Phoenix-based, 29,000-mile '78 T/A is stuffed with an aluminum-headed 455, a Turbo 400, and 3.73 gears. It's a T-top car with A/C and power everything, so it's no lightweight. Nevertheless, Alan is looking for 11s with this combo. Will it be possible in the Phoenix heat?
Mike Ciraolo
Mike Ciraolo made the 25-mile trip from Glendale, Arizona, in his '66 Grand Prix. This low-mileage, two-owner beauty is running its original 389 engine, a Turbo 400, and stiff 4.10 gears. Mike wants the behemoth in the high 12s on motor and in the very low 12s with a 100 shot of nitrous. See how he fares.
Les Iden
Les Iden traveled 450 miles from Hacienda Heights, California, to compete in our shootout in his '68 428 (bored and stroked to 455), Turbo 400-equipped GP. Comfortable cruising is enhanced by air conditioning and the lazy 2.93 rear keeping the revs low on the Interstate. With two people, luggage, and tools aboard, the land yacht netted 15 mpg at 80 mph. With all this pampering, would the Tri-Powered luxo-performer be capable of decent numbers at the track? More importantly, would it stay together for the long trip home?
Matthew Luster
Matthew Luster came in from Mesa, Arizona, about 50 miles away, with his 455, Turbo 400, 4.11-geared '69 GTO. Tucking away the factory-original drivetrain for safe-keeping, Matthew is looking for solid 12s out of his purpose-built street/strip combo. Is the GTO up to the task?
Weather Report
Thanks to racer Jim "Old Man" Taylor, a "Pavement Pounder's Shootout" alumni, we have detailed weather info for this shootout. The temperature at 10 a.m. was 68.7 degrees, humidity was 31 percent, the barometer was 28.37 hg, and relative altitude was 2,840 ft. By 3 p.m., the temp rose to 83.7 degrees, humidity dropped to 10 percent, the barometer to 28.36 hg, and relative altitude rose to 3,654 feet. At 6 p.m., the temp had dropped to 74.4 degrees, humidity was 7.1 percent, the barometer read 28.31 hg, and relative altitude was 3,086 feet.
A relative altitude figure of 3,400 feet is used to project these Pontiac's potential at sea level under perfect conditions. A factor of 0.9588 for e.t. and 1.0437 for trap speed is employed for the best pass only (based on e.t.) in the Strip Tuning Log. (Multiply the e.t. or mph by its factor to convert the other runs.)
Since there isn't a working scale at Speedworld Motorplex, car weights are based on weigh-ins at other tracks or are approximations.