Norwalk Edition
This is the final installment of the 2009 Pavement Pounders Shootout, held at the Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, the day before the annual Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals, and we saved some great Pontiac race cars for this one. The first of our two racers has destroked the engine in his three-letter musclecar, while the other has converted a convertible into a stroked and ferocious track animal.
Joe Taylor of Donnelsville, Ohio, showed up for the Shootout in his '66 GTO. Originally it came with a 335hp 389, but these days it's stuffed with a destroked 455/440ci engine, No. 62 heads, a Turbo 350 trans, and 4.10 gears. Will his combo give him the winning edge during the day's competition?
Mike Silver of Galveston, Indiana, came to the challenge with his '68 LeMans convertible's top down, but when he gets to the starting line, his LeMans is top up and it's all business. Equipped with a 400/455ci stroker engine, Edelbrock heads, a Turbo 400, and 3.42 rear gears, will it produce the results he's looking for?
Weather Report
The temperature at Summit Motorsports Park during our Shootout ranged from 73.9 to 78.1 degrees. Barometric pressure was measured at 30.06 hg, and the dew point was 53.1 degrees. This track is 853 feet above sea level and density altitude ranged from 2,022 to 2,296 feet, so we 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.