Pavement Pounders Florida Edition - Shootout

This month, HPP returns to Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, for the second part of our very first Pavement Pounders Shootout Florida Edition. Last month, we brought you an NHRA record-holder who raced Pontiacs back in the day. For this installment, we focus on an up-and-coming Pontiac drag racer who pulled the "corporate" motor out of an '80s G-body and replaced it with Pure-Pontiac V-8 power.

Let's meet him.

Anthony Truzzolino of Cape Coral, Florida, bought an '81 Grand Prix for his first car 13 years ago, and it's been a dedicated street/strip car for the last eight years. It's equipped with a 455 block, Edelbrock heads, a Turbo 400 trans, and 4.10 rear gears.

It won the NMCA True Street 10-second class in Bradenton, Florida, but what will it do on the NHRA-sanctioned Gainesville track when he decides to ramp it up with a 300-shot of nitrous?

Weather Report
Typically Pavement Pounders Shootouts are run in summer months, presenting less-than-ideal air conditions for the racers. Accordingly, we often use a correction factor to publish a "Best Pass Corrected" to chart each vehicle's theoretical performance at sea level. For this Shootout, the air conditions at Gainesville Raceway during our Shootout were perfect.

The temperature ranged from 53.1 to 60.1 degrees. Barometric pressure was measured at 29.92 hg and the dew point was 46 degrees. The track is 167 feet above sea level and density altitude ranged from 83 feet below sea level to 415 above sea level, so no correction factor is needed this time.

Strip Tuning Log

Run Notes: 1) Initial shake-down run; 2) Good all-motor run; 3) Suspension needs adjustment; 4) Broke loose at start, but good run; 6) Best time ever!