This month, we return to Los Angeles County Raceway for the final installment of the HPP SoCal Pavement Pounders Shootout. As mentioned in our previous editions, the racers who participated have been a fairly diverse bunch, and this month is no exception. Even within the realm of street/strip machines we have an interesting group, everything from mild-to-wild A-bodies to a 403-powered Firebird to a stunning '63 Pro-Street Tempest that actually lives up to the look.
Also as mentioned in previous installments, we were fortunate to get the best possible weather and track conditions that January in California could offer. While our families back home were snowed in with a blizzard that dropped nearly two feet of the white stuff, we were basking in the cloud-free, sunny, 70-degree weather and some of the tastiest air that LACR had floating around it in many moons. It's probably strange to hear anyone complimenting Los Angeles-area air quality, but it wouldn't be as unusual as say, a 70-degree January day in Erie, Pennsylvania.
This month, our "last but not least" group of racers include Bill Bauer Jr. and his white '71 LeMans Sport, racing veteran Jerry "The Judge" Young with his '64 GTO, David McGarry and his exquisite Pro-Street '63 Tempest, Michael R. Smith and his 403-powered '81 Firebird, Otto Tharp and his '68 GTO, and Ed Brown with his '65 GTO convertible. Now let's get to the action.
AT THE TRACK
We have reported that in the last three months of the So Cal Shootout, we had the benefit of optimal weather and track conditions. With LACR being in the California high desert, we were actually about 4,400 feet above sea level. With the track conditions being so good, we were blessed with an effective elevation of 2,700 feet, a great number for LACR. The correction factors were 0.9679 for e.t. and 1.0337 for trap speed. The track surface at LACR was favorable for most of the day, though some racers were noting that the track was going away later on.
Bill Bauer Jr.
Bill's '71 LeMans was running well and with a great deal of consistency, and he actually used the shootout as a means to fine tune his engine and driving style. He was able to drop a tenth in his e.t. and 1 mph with a metering rod change and little else. His best run, a corrected 12.37 at 110.05, came after a cooldown and with 38 degrees of timing. This was even with his softest 60-foot of the day. His best 60-foot came late in the day with a 1.80 on a corrected 12.34 at 109.27.
Jerry "The Judge" Young
Jerry said in his tuning log, "Sorry we couldn't give much info, but the car is so consistent that change is not necessary--if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That really sums up Jerry's philosophy on building a solid bracket racer. He went on to say, "Everything was chosen to be durable, with low maintenance. The power is smooth and reliable. At low-altitude tracks, it's an 11-flat car at 3,400 pounds. What more could you ask for?" We agree, Jerry's car was consistent, and he really didn't do anything but alter the tire pressure to compensate for the track getting slicker late in the day. He ran the best e.t. on his first run, a corrected 11.06 at 121.19. The next run gave the best trap speed 121.59. The increase in e.t. and drop in trap speed was indicative of diminishing traction, losing a tenth in the 60-foot times, 1.59 to 1.69. Still, his performances were only 0.19 second off throughout the day, proving he has a solid bracket machine. Mission accomplished.
David McGarry
Dave's '63 Tempest proved that Pro Street cars can be made to run and run hard and with a great deal of consistency. His 455 was making a lot of power for a street car, and the Tempest was not a lightweight by any means. Even so, he was deep into the 11s, running a corrected best e.t. of 11.45 and a best trap speed of 118.32. The best e.t. came with a 5,600-rpm shift point, and the best trap speed came with a shift point of 6,000. Aside from bogging on run No. 3, the Tempest was consistent, varying by only 0.15 second and 0.662 mph. Without a doubt, Dave was looking good and running hard.
Michael R. Smith
Michael's 403-powered '81 Firebird was running both on the motor and on the bottle at Palmdale during the shootout, and he was experimenting to see how well the car would run with and without a 50-horse shot of nitrous. The results were impressive, as he picked up 0.57 second in the quarter with a fairly mild shot. Michael kept his tune pretty much the same, whether the 403 was on the bottle or not. Activating the nitrous at 2,600 meant his 60-foot times were not affected one way or the other. Launching off the line with the squeeze would most likely have had it go up in smoke. With a corrected best of 11.78, it was obvious he got more than his money's worth out of his nitrous system. After all, his low 12-second Bird can become a high 11-second ride with the flick of a switch.
Otto Tharp
Otto's '68 GTO is a true, dual-purpose ride, one that can provide comfortable street and highway cruising with the handling you'd expect from a late-model machine. It will also run strongly at the track, as its low-revving 455 provides enough torque to move the 4,200-pound Goat well into the 13s with a 3.08 gear. The secret is the Switch-Pitch torque converter, which provides additional stall speed for improved acceleration when called upon. Most of Otto's runs were made in the normal stall mode. He made some minor changes, putting in some larger metering rods, advancing the timing 2 degrees, and dropping the tire pressure. His best corrected run was a 13.55 at 99.92 mph. For his last run, he dropped the tire pressure to 20.5 psi, loosened the accessory belts, and used the high-stall setting on the converter, which was a simple flick of a switch. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a corrected 13.38 at 100.36 mph, an improvement of 0.17 second and 0.44 mph. Otto mentioned that with over 500 runs and 75,000 miles, the 455 is probably going to get a freshening up soon.
Ed Brown
Ed's '65 GTO convertible was not able to run to its potential due to NHRA rules that state that a convertible without a rollbar can run no quicker than a 13.55. The car is capable of quite a bit more than that, but the safety regulations prevented him from going any quicker. Ed used a throttle stop in order to slow the car in his first two runs, running a best of 13.60. In subsequent runs, he let off halfway down the track. His best run was a 13.57, just under the maximum. With a rollbar installed, we would expect Ed's GTO would be well into the 12s.
Conclusion
From the first group of Shootout participants to the last, our SoCal shootout proved to be a great bunch of racers who have worked out a wide range of combinations that all run really well. They have proven there is no one way to reach a performance goal. We have seen strong runs made by front-drive GTPs, LS1 Firebirds, a turbo V-6 Trans Am, a 403-powered Firebird, and, of course, many mild-to-wild traditional Pontiac V-8s. The best part about it was a great deal of camaraderie between all racers, regardless of what model of car or engine they ran. The good will and hospitality that this group extended to us was much appreciated, and we hope to be back in 2006.
Once again, a big "thank you" to Dave Anderson and Pontiac Drag Days, as well as LACR owner Bernie Longjohn for their help organizing our first West Coast shootout. We hope to be back next year!