This month, HPP's Pavement Pounders Shootout travels to Wittmann, Arizona, a normally quiet community outside of Phoenix that comes alive once a year with the sound of fast-running Pontiacs at the annual Pontiac Heaven, held at Speedworld Dragstrip.
Mike Broadbooks of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, headed west to the event with his street/strip '64 Tempest, which he originally found in a vacant lot in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. It started life as a Cameo Ivory two-door post sedan with a straight 215 six-cylinder backed by an air-cooled two-speed Super Turbine 300. Now it's equipped with a 0.060-over 455, Kauffman D-Port heads, a Turbo 400, and 3.55 gears.
Weather Report
The temperature at Speedworld Dragstrip during our Shootout ranged from 68.2 to 77.6 degrees. Barometric pressure was measured at 30.07 hg and the dew point was 30.7 degrees. The track is 1,265 feet above sea level and density altitude ranged from 2,090 to 2,678 feet, so we'll use a factor of 0.9705 for e.t.'s and 1.0311 for mph for 2,500 feet to chart the theoretical best performance at sea level. This will be done on the best pass only, based on e.t's.
| Strip Tuning Log |
| Run/Tuning |
Launch RPM |
Shift Pt. |
60-ft. |
1/8-mile |
1/4-mile |
| 1. 36-deg timing |
2,000 |
5,700 |
1.80 |
7.97/88.65 |
12.46/109.38 |
| 2. Same |
2,000 |
5,800 |
1.75 |
7.91/86.99 |
12.43/108.95 |
| 3. 34-deg timing |
2,000 |
5,700 |
1.71 |
7.78/89.75 |
12.24/110.60 |
| Best Time Corrected |
11.87/114.03 |
| 4. 32-deg timing |
2,000 |
5,800 |
1.75 |
7.97/87.53 |
12.35/109.76 |
| 5. 34-deg timing |
2,000 |
5,800 |
1.78 |
7.92/87.62 |
12.39/109.94 |
Run Notes: 1) Engine and trans not warm enough (165-deg), hesitated off the line; 2) Car warmed up (180-deg), still acclimating it to the track; 3) Timing change worked, improved 60-foot and 1/8-mile; 4) Timing change retarded too far, hurt times; 5) Reaction time was off, tried too hard at launch.
Owner Bio: Mike Broadbooks
Mike, a 65-year-old regional service manager, has been racing for 40 years. He bought his '64 Tempest in 2004. "My sons, ages 35, 35, and 33 (at that time), wanted to build another Pontiac the same as my youngest son's first car," he says. It's special to him because it's the first Pontiac he's been able to build without a major restriction on his budget, and he and his sons built it in his garage. His favorite moment in it was the first time off the trailer at the 10th Annual Pontiac Southern Nationals in Dallas, where it ran 12.70. Mike enjoys building cars for his sons and teaching them to drive at the dragstrip. Though he currently doesn't own any other Pontiacs, he previously owned a '53 Chieftain, a '60 Star Chief with a T425 engine, a '67 GTO, a '70 LeMans, and a '91 Bonneville SSE.