At The Track
Jim Semon
Jim's Catalina is heavy-over 4,000 pounds with him in the driver's seat-and that meant his mild engine combo might have a tough time breaking into the 13s. Not so, Jim proved, as his first pass was a 13.933 at 95.62 mph, on a 1.928 60-foot time. Could he get the big Cat down to the mid 13s by the end of the day? Knocking a tenth of a second off by the third pass, partially due to an improved 60-foot time (a 13.746 on a 1.84), a 13.60 didn't seem that far away. With four runs left in the day, Jim had his work cut out for him. His fourth pass was even better, a 13.686 on a 1.824 60-foot, but that was all the Catalina was willing to give up for the day. Even with a better 60-foot on Pass 6 (1.81), the e.t. crept back up 13.714.
Jim's tuning consisted of starting at 35-degrees timing and removing 1 degree of timing on each pass to 32 degrees, with his final run at 33 degrees. Of the event, Jim said: "I love getting time to test-and-tune and improve my e.t.'s. I had a great time and loved every second of it." Of his Catalina's reaction to the Summit track, Jim recalled: "It hooked up great and stayed straight the whole time."
Matthew Crise
Matt's GTO is setup for street/strip car duties with a moderately built 428. Its combo allows him to use the GTO as a weekend cruiser and still pull mid-11s at the track. His first pass was an impressive 11.53 at 113.60 mph on a 1.555 60-foot. Could he do better? By lowering the timing from 40 to 38 degrees and lowering his tire pressure, he was able to shave 0.05 second off his second pass, earning him an 11.48 at 113.64 mph.
With different jets for his third pass, the e.t.'s dropped even more, a 11.47 at 114.05 mph. While changing out the spark plugs for Pass 4 appeared to have a negative effect (an 11.57 at 113.07), removing the exhaust dropped the e.t. to 11.43 at 114.48, his best e.t. and mph of the day. One thing to note about Matt's performance at the track is that his 60-foots never varied more than 0.024 the entire day, ranging from 1.543 to 1.567. For a racer with only one year of experience, that's a proud accomplishment. Of the event, Matt said he liked the "good people, good time, and good hospitality." He felt the track was "good and sticky" and that his GTO "hooked well, with no issues at all."
Conclusion
Weight and power are two factors that will affect your Pontiac's dragstrip performance, regardless of what model and year you run. The two racers featured in this Shootout made this clear, as there was a 2 second e.t. difference between the mildly built and heavier Catalina and the bigger-cube and lighter GTO.
Although we paired these two Pontiacs for Part II of the Shootout, it was to demonstrate the effects of weight and power, not to put these two classic Pontiacs against each other in a heads-up competition.
What did both racers show us?
Jim demonstrated that Pontiac racing is always for the young-at-heart. It's great to see young-in-age racers with a passion for classic full-size Pontiacs and an appreciation for the racers who made Catalinas famous at tracks across America back in the day. He also showed us that classics are not all trailer queens. Jim drives his Catalina regularly, is well as to and from the track.
Matt showed us that talent can make up for experience, as he demonstrated in his GTO. He drove his Goat like a seasoned racer, yet he's only been in the drag racing hobby a short time. His track stats and willingness to experiment with tuning adjustments to lower his e.t.'s means that he's already mastered the fundamentals of racing.
The two drivers and Pontiacs featured in this Shootout showed us that racing '60s-era Pontiacs is more than a trip to the past, but rather a time-valued tradition that has been passed on since these Ponchos were new. Whether you plan on building an early-'60s full-size Pontiac with enough muscle to make your a winner or you're in love with one of the classic models of the late '60s, the cars and engine builds detailed in this Shootout will give you plenty of ideas for your project.
HPP would like to thank the management and crew at Summit Motorsports Park for making this Shootout possible and Duke Jefferson, John Labuda, and Arnie Brewer who helped make Norwalk so much easier for us with their assistance.