1968 Pontiac GTO And 1980 Pontiac LeMans - Shootout - Pontiac Pavement Pounders

This month we're back with more excitement, as we conclude our series with two Pontiac racers who both utilize 428s and No. 16 heads in their engine combos. While one built up a relative's 7,994-original mile grocery getter into a somewhat-stock-appearing sleeper, replete with original paint and velour interior, the other began with a high-mileage classic, maintained a low-buck look, and put all of his budget into the drivetrain. Now, let's meet the racers.

Dan Albright of Frostburg, Maryland, told his wife's great aunt that he was going to get some groceries in her '80 LeMans station wagon, but not without first treating it to a stroked 428/467 engine, a Turbo 350 trans, and 4.10 gears.

Weather Report
The temperature at Virginia Motorsports Park during our Shootout started warm and got hotter, 82 to 87 degrees to be exact. Barometric pres-sure was measured at 29.69 hg and the dew point was 64.4 degrees. The track is 98 feet above sea level and density altitude ranged from 2,083 to 2,368 feet, so we'll use a factor of 0.9731 for e.t. and 1.0283 for mph for 2,300 feet to chart the theoretical best performance at sea level. This will be done on the best pass only based on e.t.

Owner Bio: Dan Albright
Dan Albright, a 36-year-old automotive technician for the Maryland State Police, has been racing for 20 years. He bought his '80 LeMans wagon in 2001 from his wife's great aunt because "its mileage was extremely low and I wanted something different." It's special to him because, "I've won a lot of races with this car and everybody knows my wagon," he said. His favorite moment in it is "beating the GeeTo Tiger at VMP and winning Tin Indian Stock Class at the Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals, both in 2006." Besides his go-fast grocery getter, Dan also owns a '66 GTO, an '06 Grand Prix, and '96 and '97 Bonnevilles.

Five most important passes are listed. Run Notes: 1) Good run, short-shifted Second; 3) Spun; 4) Good run, slight spin; 5) Spun; 6) Good run

Owner Bio: Bill Black
Bill, a 48-year-old contractor, has been racing for eight years. He says he bought his '68 GTO in 2003, "so I wouldn't beat up my '69 GTO on the track." It's special to him because, "it's a fun car for street driving." His most memorable experience in it was winning the Street class at VMP two days after our Shootout. Bill's first GTO was a '69 Expresso Brown four-speed with Parchment interior.

Bill's tuning consisted of lowering his tire pressure from 18 psi to 16 psi for his last five passes. Of the event, Bill said he enjoyed, "plenty of racing time and the friendly folks." He thought the track was "well-prepped, but a little slick, and my GTO hooked well with lower psi. I think my tires are getting old."

Conclusion
It's unusual to find a LeMans wagon and a GTO produced 12 years apart that both have the same-year iron block and heads. That gave this story a great comparison on how the same engine performs differently with two different builds.

Each of these race cars was similar in weight-the GTO weighed 3,810 pounds with driver and the LeMans wagon weighed 3,870 pounds. That's a difference of only 60 pounds. So why was Dan's wagon quicker than Bill's GTO? We find the answer in each man's powertrain combination. The wagon is running more cubes, carb, compression ratio, converter, and rear gear than the GTO.

Dan reminded us how much fun grocery-getters are to watch as they push their weight down the 1,320. With times that ranged from 11.82 to 11.88, this LeMans wagon is also a strong contender in bracket racing. With less than 8,000 miles on its odometer, and future mileage measured a quarter-mile at a time (and occasional street use and cruises), this is one LeMans wagon that won't see its odometer roll over for many years to come.

Bill showed us that you should not judge a Goat by its paint-job. His '68 looked like it had just come off a backwoods car lot, but, fortunately, the quarter-mile doesn't critique you on exterior finish. This GTO was built to run on the street and the strip, and it performed within 5/1000-second of its best time on two additional passes. When he wasn't racing, Bill treated his GTO to some street action. "Every morning at the event, I plugged the exhaust, went to breakfast, cruised the scenic backroads and came back in time for test and tune. I didn't see too many other race entries doing that," he said.

"How good is Bill's GTO for bracket racing?" Two days after our Shootout, on the same track, he took it to a First Place victory in Street class at Pontiacs in the Park, beating out dozens of envious competitors.

This Shootout showed that the same block and heads can yield different performance levels based on the parts chosen and the desires of their owners. Whether you plan on building a street/strip GTO, a wagon that surprises everybody with its power, or an iron-head combo for the Pontiac that's special to you, the information provided in this Shootout will give you some ideas for your project.

HPP would like to thank the management and crew at Virginia Motorsports Park for their assistance in making this Shootout possible.