No Drag Racing at Wichita GTOAA Convention 2020
 

I just attended the Pontiac Uprising in Great Bend Kansas last weekend. By the way this is a great event and I encourage you all to attend.

While I was at the Uprising a little birdie informed me that the GTOAA does not want drag racing as part of the convention in Wichita in 2020. I guess the GTOAA is making a statement that drag racers are not wanted at their conventions. If you do not have a show car their won't be much for you. They have had conventions in 1988, 1998, and 2010. Drag Racing has always been part of their convention, and always had a great turn out for the Drag Racing whether in Ark City or Wichita. This part of the country has a lot of Pontiac racers, not to mention one of the fastest Pontiacs in the nation with Mike Coopers 6 second firebird. You would think the GTOAA would want to promote this!


Mike Cooper has a venue already lined up, sponsors to help pay for the race, and has volunteered to run the race program. As of right now the GTOAA is still saying no. This disappoints me that these conventions have just become a venue for the car show people. These cars were built for drag racing! I know if drag racing is cut from this convention there will be at least a dozen cars from my area that will not attend. Many of which already have hotel rooms booked.

Very disappointing to hear that as drag racing is a HUGE part of our Pontiac history. I participated at the GTOAA drag races in Denver back in 2012 and it was truly a wonderful time!!

Oh well.

Seems the show car folks need to get judged with high points to support apprasial retail resale value. Yet still the race croud is likely the aBuyer that can afford...huh.

They haven't had drag racing in several years. Don't know why. I'm with you guys; it seems like they are losing a lot of attendees by not having it. Some of their biggest conventions have had drag racing programs.

Sad to hear. For many years they had the races on a Wednesday...a Wednesday.
Which was a pretty clear message to the Pontiac racer.

Its GTOAA

They're more into waxing than racing. The only numbers they are interested in are date codes.

They didn't have drag racing there in 2010, either...I was there....the rain was nearly non stop...
Well, the POCI is scheduled for Tulsa next year. It's at the Hard Rock Cafe/ casino...Tulsa Raceway park is a hop and a skip away from there, surely it will have drag racing.

Blu, I was at Great Bend, also. Spectating...had a good time. It was a little hot to sit it the bleachers...Tom Wilhite's 4 cylinder Tempest was interesting... I wonder what his evaluation was of it, post race. It didn't perform well at all from my perspective. Might be OK as a driver...I didn't get to visit with Tom, LOL too many others to talk to...

The purists are more concerned about what shade of red their 65 GTO is, than they are how fast it is...

There's another 35 YO event that I call the lawn chair nationals. They used to have drag racing, considering that the cars were known for taking corners at speed and road racing you'd think they'd want an autocross course, but no. Drag racing has been gone for at least a decade, nothing has replaced it.

In my opinion, most of them didnt have a clue about making their cars go fast...The nationals came to my city in 1991, and I rolled into the show in my raggedy 69 Lemans...They acted like I had a chevy motor in it, due to it being so ugly...

I didnt care about looks at all, it had a round port headed 428 and it was no slouch...I drove it into the track on Saturday and was the third fastest car on the property even before I turned on the nitrous...A bad regulator is the only thing that saved the two super gas cars from being the 2nd and 3rd fastest cars there that day...

Most of the GTO club members here in town only cared about show, and none of them had any GO.

Friday night @ Great Bend a guy from the POCI chapter hosting the Tulsa deal said there would be racing.

Murf


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i enjoy the shows better when there is a variety of unrestored conditions. Great condition daily drivers with drive-ability improvements impress me the most. Someday i will try my 68 GTO at long-highway travel endurance.

The no racing seems ridiculous but not surprising. Never understood the mentality of making a car so perfect you won't drive it or in some cases not even start the car... No idea where the enjoyment is. Kinda seems like a lot of bother to me. JMO

This brought back a memory going back to the late 80's or early 90's the GTOAA hosted an event in my area with drag racing and wouldn't allow any other Pontiacs to race... Anyone know if that's standard procedure?

“a little birdie informed me that the GTOAA does not want drag racing as part of the convention in Wichita in 2020.”

Sir: The “little birdie” that informed you the GTOAA ‘does not want’ drag racing as part of the 2020 convention is INCORRECT. This is totally FALSE. The host chapter determines if there will be racing or not, NOT the GTOAA. The Wichita chapter will determine whether there will racing or not at the 2020 Convention NOT the GTOAA. If you have questions regarding their decision, I suggest you inquire with their co-chairmen. Their contacts can be found on the event flyer.

It’s incorrect assumptions like this that gets passed around that gives the GTOAA bad press. In the future it would be appreciated before posting rumors from little birdies or otherwise, the facts are presented.

Vic Schreck
President: GTOAA

:pound:

GTOAA is a bunch of Corvette clowns with Pontiacs from the day they started that group.

I was one of the Co-Chairs for the 2005 GTOAA National Convention held in St. Louis. It cost us $5000 to rent the track and $2500 for the liability insurance for one day. If it was not for the St. Louis Pontiac Dealers and Pontiac sponsoring us, we would not have been able to afford the $7500 cost. We ended up with about 50 racers who all raced and then left. None of them signed up for the convention nor did they come back to participate in the convention. We lost about $3000 but the major sponsorships made up for it. I suspect it would cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to host a Drag Racing event at the GTO Nationals today.

GTOAA recommends Drag Racing at its Convention but does not require it as stated on page 17 of the GTOAA Convention Guidelines:

Although GTOAA desires each of our National Conventions have a Drag Racing event, we know the costs associated with this can become astronomical in many cases. Therefore, it is not required to have drag racing, only desirable.

Hosting a GTOAA Convention is already a very expensive proposition for any Chapter to take on ($50,000 - $90,000) and in most cases is just break even financially. There is no margins for a large loss with Drag Racing so this is why many of the Chapters cannot afford it.

If they paid the GTOAA and the GTOAA talking heads less money, or no money at all, their would be more than enough to go around. Why should GTOAA or the GTOAA talking heads get any money at all? They are not the ones putting on the convention, the chapter is. GTOAA is nothing more than a money grab. Maybe they should start a museum too.

When events like this don't have drag racing, I don't attend.

Went through this many moons ago at the TA Nats. Used to have a cruise on Friday, drag racing and show on Saturday, and show on Sunday. I attended all events all weekend every year, flogged the car, then showed it on Sunday. Unfortunately different people start making decisions and the drag racing was X'd. I never attended another TA Nat since.

Shows are okay but I can attend any cruise around here for free and see 1,000 cars on a good night. But I just can't stand to sit in a lawn chair all day. I have to be either driving the car or racing it.

I won the 2005 GTOAA race and received a whopping $300 cash.
Car count was pitiful !

Consider yourself lucky. We can't seem to get more than 10 cars at a Pontiac race event here. They all want to sit and polish on their cars. I entered the money class and ended up getting a refund because their weren't enough cars to make the minimum requirement. So got tossed in trophy class.

I talked to one of the Tulsa track leasee's a couple of years ago. The price for an event at Tulsa was like $3000.00 then....not sure on Wichita. Tulsa is a way better facility than Wichita. The Wichita track looks to be in about the same state of being that it was, when opened in 1965...it SHOULD rent or less than even Tulsa...

BOP races ups the car count. IF GTOAA wanted to mix it up a little ?

Again....can someone tell me if all Pontiacs are allowed to race at the GTOAA events?

I think there were 12 cars in Pro class. 5 rounds including buybacks.

Apparently you haven't noticed. ALL Pontiacs can belong to the GTOAA.
Therefore............

In other words there are TWO (2) Pontiac clubs.

I will send a PM to a Wichita GTO club member....

LOL! When their convention was held here there was a guy that was a member of both the GTOAA national and local club. He did not own a GTO but did own a top-notch '68 LeMans convertible that won many bigtime shows including the POCI convention.

When that GTOAA convention was held here they had a parade of the cars. They made him the very last car. :rolleyes:

So, to answer your question.... What do you think?

Read post above.

By the way, there are 3 now. ;)

I better not guess. What is the third (3rd) club ?

Larry Crider said there will be racing in Tulsa...

Cruisin' Pontiac or whatever the former GTOAA Cruisin' Tigers are called now.

Reliable sources tell me that members from the other 2 clubs are jumping ship in a mad exodus to join the "new" club.

Its Cruisin' Tigers Pontiac Club - https://www.cruisintigers.com/index.html

Yeah, heard about them. Can't have enough Pontiac clubs, right ?

Meh.... I'm just about done with "clubs" and their political B.S. I have been a member of POCI since 1983. I have seen as well as dealt with more than my fair share. Unless people at the top are gone by the time my membership runs out, I will be. I have been considering this Cruisin' Tigers club but thinking of just hanging the "No Club" plate on my cars.

I walked away from GTOAA in 1986 when "they" let the GT37 in. It was no longer the "GTO" club.
Never looked back.

Sweeeeeeet! Larry is a good guy.

Ive attended a couple of GTOAA conventions years ago including the 2005 in St. Louis....

Always had a good time and especially enjoyed the track day.

Trying to put together one of these events has got to be tough. My Hats off to those that take the time and effort to do so.

Just getting a few friends together for a TNT at the track is tough these days.

...old muscle at the tracks are disappearing, let alone seeing a bunch of brand specific old muscle.

Better get some fun in while it lasts!

You would not say that if you went to Norwalk for the Tri-Power Nats.

Well technically, Norwalk lets GMC in there too ;) And they aren't against Pontiacs having the corporate engines in them either, so that helps.

But yeah, Norwalk is a great event and it's at a top notch facility, always a good time.

I think Mchell is talking about the brand specific events that are pretty strict, such as the one we have in Arizona. Only Pontiac powered allowed. That really puts a dent in the turnout. The day before is all brands and the place is pretty well packed, that's saying something. These days you really need some diversity in these events, especially the smaller ones, with all brands allowed if you want to get a car count up enough to make the effort worth while, especially if you're concentrating on classic cars that are say.....pre 81 for instance.

That's basically what we did at the Muscle Car drags our club put on every year and that got so big we ended up having it twice a year.

Right.....but that’s one race, once a year...unfortunately, you’re not going to see that at back yard tracks around the country by any stretch ....not the ones I frequent these days, a few here and there but definitely dwindling.

I hear ya. I really only prefer to run our classic cars at events that are structured around the classics, not only to race against them, but to see them run as well and be around like minded people. I'm not interested in watching a sea of new Camaros and Mustangs racing, or even ricers for that matter and not interested in racing against them either. Just doesn't do anything for me. But to get these classic car counts up you need some diversity. And if one doesn't like other brands, then hang with your own kind in the pits :shrug:

It's why I don't do clubs these days. We have several brand cars here, I like them all, race them all, so joining a brand specific club and listening to a bunch of babbling fools talk about how they are superior over other brands is a waste of my time. Just enjoy the hobby for what it is ;)

When Steve started the Tri-Power Nats it was strictly Pontiac. Being that my chassis Fiero has a BBC, it was the only time me and Steve didn't see eye to eye and I have known Steve since about 1981. That has since changed. Arnie on the other hand will not leave me be. LOL

I didn't read through all this nonsense but the official word is that the host chapter, GR-RRR 8'R Wichita GTO and Pontiac Club, will be discussing the possibility of Drag Racing being held at the 2020 GTOAA Nationals. Stay tuned or keep BSing whatever gets your goat! ;-)