HPP was invited by Summit Motor-sports Park to hold a Pavement Pounders Shootout during the '07 Ames Tri-Power Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Five Pontiacs participated: Four Pure-Stockers that you will read about next month and this Pure Pontiac-powered and modified '75 Ventura.
This unique race car was originally intended to be a daily driver in the days of $.60 per gallon gasoline. Thanks to its ambitious owner, however, it now runs a traditional Pontiac drivetrain producing track times in the low 12s with the potential for the 11s. Let's meet our participant.
Darryl Sotera of Mantua, Ohio, brought his '75 Ventura that features a 0.030-over 455 powerplant with iron No. 96 heads, a Turbo 350 trans and 3.73 gears. His goal was to prove that you don't need a GTO or a Firebird to go fast.
Weather Report
The temperature at Summit Motorsports Park rose from 64 to 79 degrees throughout the day. The humidity ranged from 77 to 96 percent and barometric pressure was 29.86 hg. Density altitude was 1,675 feet, so we'll use a factor of 0.9809 for e.t. and 1.0199 for mph for 1,700 feet to chart the theoretical best performance at sea level. This will be done on the best pass only, based on e.t.