[67GP428]

Who's going to Pontiac Heaven this weekend? Scott

[Squidward]

I will be there. Trying to decide Sat or Sun, or both.

[gtofreek]

I'm planning on going Sunday. I'll be the tall, skinny guy, with the big ol' belly! But not as tall as Squidward!

[69GP428HO4SP]

I will be there on Sunday...

[gtofreek]

In the 69 GP, with the 428/4spd? What color?

[69GP428HO4SP]

Limelight Green with white vinyl top..

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 69GP428HO4SP

Limelight Green with white vinyl top..

Great looking GP. Not many restored to that level. Very classy color combo.

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Great looking GP. Not many restored to that level. Very classy color combo.

That was a great looking car, wasn't it.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

That was a great looking car, wasn't it.

Yes it was, very nicely done. My 69 Z28 is the same colors but chevy calls that Frost Green (code 59), so I was a little partial to it

Sorry I didn't catch up to you guys a little later on. Wasn't too hard to find you in the stands when you called my name, haha.

[twooldgoats]

I missed Sunday, though I planned to be there. I puked a quart or so of ATF on the starting line and caused a big clean-up trying to make my first pass Saturday. I'm not sure what caused it yet, but I'm guessing a front seal let go on the burnout. There's a slight chance it's an invisible split in one of the flex lines that connect the trans to the cooler lines. I just had the tranny re-done and the case re-certified for another five years. I'm going out of town for Christmas, so I'll sort it out after that.

It's too bad about the turnout Sunday. The weather was just about perfect for racing and spectating. Sadly, though, it seems the pure Pontiac racers are a dying breed.

Jim

[gtofreek]

69 is my favorite year for the GP. 428, 4 speed is just the sh*t!

[67GP428]

Hope to see you all on Sunday. Scott

[johnta1]

Well?!

Waiting on updates.

[Formulajones]

Guess I'll be the first to speak up at the risk of getting the party started in the wrong direction.

You didn't miss anything John. For the Sunday Pontiac only engine event, only about 10 cars participated in the racing part of the event, and maybe 20-25 show cars. The place was virtually a ghost town, 3 individuals selling parts at the swap meet, no big name vendors that I saw, and the pits were just....well.....empty.

Hardly worth the 2 hour drive for me. But I was happy to see Mike and Paul whom I haven't seen for quite a while.

Even talk of cancelling the event after we had gotten through the gates, and they momentarily stopped other entrants at the gate and were talking refunds to those already in. I don't think the track officials liked how things were being ran, and took over the event at the last minute. Something about a poor car count, and I heard mention of complaints that Pontiac engines haven't been made in 35 years and changes needed to be made to increase the car count., etc etc....

On a brighter note, I did hear that Saturday was a nice turnout with all models of muscle cars participating at the Nostalgia Muscle Car event that filled the pit lanes.

I thought maybe the weekend before Christmas could have been to blame for Sundays poor turnout, but the turnout on Saturday squished that thought. The weather was absolutely beautiful as well. Low 60's and sunshine.

While I appreciate the Pontiac Heaven event and what Steve is trying to accomplish on Sunday, I have a feeling it's on the way out. I only hope things can be patched up, maybe some rules changed for the modern day we live in, and participation increases.

[69GP428HO4SP]

First, thanks for the kudos from gtofreak and Formulajones on my green GP it was fun bringing it back from the dead.

I have been attending PH for years and seeing the amount of work Steve and his small crew put in should be commended. Its really is a shame that more of the Pontiac owners don't make the effort to support and attend the event. The time of year might have contributed to the low turnout, Saturdays are better car show days.

I attend the BOP show at the Rock and Roll McDonalds-Pavillons every year and the turnout is always exceptional. Maybe the answer to Pontiac Heaven is to open it up the Buick, Olds and Pontiac. What ever happens I will always try and attend and support the Pontiac brand.

Would like to give a thumbs up to Scott, your 67 Grand Prix is an awesome ride can't be many 4 speed 428 still alive.

Cheers...

[68azbird]

Originally Posted by 69GP428HO4SP

I attend the BOP show at the Rock and Roll McDonalds-Pavillons every year and the turnout is always exceptional. Maybe the answer to Pontiac Heaven is to open it up the Buick, Olds and Pontiac.

By far the best show in AZ

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 69GP428HO4SP

I attend the BOP show at the Rock and Roll McDonalds-Pavillons every year and the turnout is always exceptional.
.

I go down there all the time for the cruise, but have never done the once a year BOP show on Sundays. Saturday nights are better for me considering the drive down and back. Drive my Formula down most of the time. Best cruise in Arizona. I'll be there again on the 14th for the usual BJ kick off cruise. Probably drive the Z down I'm thinking.

[67GP428]

Thanks for your compliments. I'm still new to the area. I've only be in Goodyear Az for 30 days. I like the vibe here and am looking forward to being a part a the Az car culture. Scott.

[lust4speed]

Maybe a little different perspective here. Our four California guys were Tim Rankin, Bill Baker, my son Mark Batson, and myself. Mark and I risked life and limb with our family by skipping the Christmas party scheduled at the same time. Only thing that saved our hides was we announced many months ago that we were going despite the event being the weekend before Christmas, and for the family to set a different date. They didn't and we loaded up our trailers almost guilt free.

Then there was the weather - raining cats and dogs when leaving Southern California, and saner people would have tossed in the towel. Fought the rain and wind until the far side of Palm Springs where we were finally rewarded with mostly clear skies. So now Pontiac Heaven had the time and the weather stacked against it.

Arrived at the Best Western Plus hotel right across the freeway from the track, and the place is spanking new, only $79 a night, and they didn't mind that we took a half dozen spaces with our rigs. There were a few sprinkles as we pulled in the hotel parking lot, so we cancelled going to the Friday night races. Heard the next day that they were able to run the complete night without rain. We had a very nice dinner at one of the local restaurants and back to the hotel early after the long day.

Saturday definitely was crowded. Quite a few Pontiac's that day racing that disappeared that night and were not seen on Sunday? We are used to racing with other brands since we run the local Summit Series, but many of these guys were squirrels. I apologize to Jim since he also had an oil down, but the only time we see as many oil downs at an event is at the street drags when all the ricers blow their stuff up. Many of the oil downs were at half track and the racers stayed in the groove really making a mess of things. Much of the day was spent waiting for the track to be cleaned up. Seemed like most of the people there with other brands had an attitude, and that was racers and spectators. All-in-all rather a strange day, but we were racing and that is always the silver lining. Tim Rankin in our group came in 2nd on Saturday.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We got to the gates a little after nine and found there was no line. Drove inside and found that only a handful of cars were there. Now for a racer this is truly a Pontiac Heaven - hot lapping and no Chevy's or ricers. Then the announcement came on the speaker that they might cancel the event. Not good news for our crew that was on the road 7 hours and had spent the money on fuel and rooms. I'm sure the lone racer from Indiana that made the trip solo across the country was wondering what was up with the situation. Shortly, the announcement came over the speaker that we would be racing, but all money classes would be combined. Not good news for us sheltered non-electronic cars, but at least we weren't being ushered out the gate. Grand total of all cars going down the track in all classes was closer to 42 cars. Think about this, you are in a first class facility and almost no one is there. It was like a turnstyle, and we suited up in the pits because there wasn't any stopping in the staging lanes - just waved right out on the track all day.

Our money class had 22 cars in the program. Half way through with six cars left, we had two electronic cars, two non-electronic, and our four guys from California -- Tim, Bill, Mark, and myself (we felt pretty good about that). The track finally posted a ladder for the next round and as luck would have it, I was against my son Mark and one of us was going on the trailer. He's good on the lights, so I tried to shave my start, and ended up with a -.048 red giving him the win. Mark ended up taking 2nd on our Sunday racing.

Was it fun - HELL YEAH! Will we be back - of course.

Next year should be at a better time of year. I know it's hard and expensive to get the optimum race dates, and Steve doesn't have an unlimited budget. Think he said next year he was booking the second week in November.

Only had my cell phone with me for photos, and just grabbed a shot when I thought about it.

[68azbird]

Few pics in the lanes.
Not going to get any better racing weather than Sunday was. DA was 0 - 1000 ft