2025 Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race
 

It's just four short months away for some great pure stock racing action at the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Races at Mid-Michigan Motorplex near Stanton, Michigan! Please see the PSMCDR website (www.purestockdrags.com) if you need to see the rules if you are bringing a car to race and have a ton of fun. Open to spectators on Friday (qualifying) & Saturday (race day). Dan, Lyndon and I hope to see a lot of the Pontiac (and PY) faithful there!

Mid-Michigan Motorplex a little north and east of Stanton, MI. Address is 2589 N. Wyman Rd., Stanton, MI 48888

Sept. 11th, Thursday is early tech (no time trials)
Sept. 12th, Friday is tech & time trials
Sept. 13th, Saturday is the shoot-outs

Feel free to PM me with any questions...rules, cars allowable, schedule, etc.

This is an awesome event - and I plan to go again this year!!

Thanks for your support! We appreciate it!

Dennis

The weather report is looking pretty promising with a return to summer temps in the upper 70's/low 80's! What better way to spend the swan song of summer than coming to the Pure Stock Drags in beautiful mid-Michigan at the Mid-Michigan Motorplex. If you are considering bringing your Pontiac muscle car, be sure to read the rules on PSMCDR.org. The gates open for early tech on Thursday, continued tech and time trials on Friday, pairings and shoot-outs on Saturday. Spectators are welcome on Friday and Saturday.

Hope to see many of the PY family there! Introduce yourselves to Dan, Lyndon, and I at the tech table at the head of the staging lanes.

Dennis

By the way...I forgot to remind everyone that the race is open to spectators on Friday (Sept. 12) and Saturday (Sept. 13). The race flyer is broken into 2 parts since it was too big to make a single copy...

Dennis

We had another good year with great weather and a good car count. Saturday morning started with little scattered showers, but the racetrack saw it split and go north and south, so just a minor sprinkle that never got the ground wet. Morning dews were heavier! The skies cleared up and warm-up runs began at the scheduled time of 10:00 am. The total car count was down a little due to border issues for the Canadians, unfortunately, lots of aging-out in the Studebaker community, and the weather scaring some regulars from attending (their loss I guess). We had 118 cars teched by the end of Friday and by the time racing began on Saturday, we lost 10 cars to one malady, or another.

Here are the Pontiacs that brought the action. Firebirds first, then GTO’s, followed by some GP’s.

Dennis

Here are some 2nd Gen Firebirds and the A-bodies...

Dennis

More A & G bodies...

Dennis

More...

Dennis

...and a few more.

Dennis

Rick driving the T37 or Scott?

One more G body.

Scott drove the T-37 and Rick drove his '71 Hemi Super Bee.

Dennis

Thanks for adding Clark's '69 SJ GP that is loaded and managed 14.30's! I thought I posted a pic of it, but it appears I didn't. (It has the 370 hp 428, not the HO - AC, Auto, loaded.)

Dennis

Thanks for posting the pictures. Love this type of racing. Wish it was closer! Can you post some more times?

Gary, I will do that this weekend. My brother has all the printouts from the track, so I need to get them. We had 3 racers from Florida (all Chevy's).

Dennis

X2 with Gary! Great pics, Dennis

1965 GTO Bruce Hayes Tri-Power/M20/4.10 13.60’s

1967 GTO Lee Harms HO/TH400/3.73 13.40’s

1967 GTO Doug Messman HO/M20/3.90 13.30’s

1969 GTO Tony Rosenthall RAIII/M20/3.90 14.80’s

1970 GT-37 Chris Smetana 400/M20/4.33 13.20’s

1971 GTO Ron Hammer 455HO/TH400/3.31 13.20’s

1971 GTO New Guy 400/TH400/3.73 15.20’s

1971 GT-37 Kevin Ross 455HO/M22/4.10 13.40’s

1971 GT-37 Rick Mahoney 455HO/TH400/4.10 11.90’s

1972 GTO Anthony Herzog 455HO/M22/3.55 14.10’s

1969 GP-SJ Joe Zelinski 428HO/M20/3.90 14.40’s

1969 GP-SJ Clark Lumsden 428/TH400/3.23 14.30’s

1968 Firebird 400 Ryne Sanders RAII/TH400/4.10 12.50’s

1968 Firebird 400 Rick Watson RAII/M21/4.10 12.60’s

1968 Firebird 400 Lara Smetana 400HO/TH400/3.36 14.20’s

1969 Firebird 400 New Guy 400HO/M20/3.73 13.60’s

1969 Firebird 400 Adrian Beltrame RAIV/M21/4.33 12.20’s

1972 Trans Am Tyler Messman 455HO/M22/3.73 12.70’s

1974 Formula 455 Paul Aragona SD455/TH400/3.90 12.20’s

I need to confirm names and ET's yet...best guesses as I recall in the tower on race day.

Dennis

Impressive times! I'm especially impressed by the 72' and 74' Fbody times as they are so heavy. Trying to get them off the starting line with stockish tires has got to be a trick.

Ian Ashton has a great video of this year's race, so check it out on YouTube. He did some drone coverage, all the rounds from Saturday and even a couple of in-car videos down the track. Very nicely done and you can see how the 2nd Gen Firebirds launch.

Dennis

Hey Clark! Thanks for the great pic of your SJ GP! I didn't see that it was you that made the post! Wow, 14.21 is a great pass...what gear and how much did it weigh?

Dennis

Any info on car/engine etc? (no headers?)
That nice for a 4000 lb or more vehicle probably?


:)

John, Paul's Formula weighs 3900 lbs. with him, the SD455 is built to the legal limits of the rules (9.90 compression, RA manifolds, cast iron intake, no porting of anything, Q-jet, closed shaker, cam that maintains 16" vacuum at 1200 rpm, X-pipe full exhaust (Pypes), stock convertor with max flash to 2200 rpm, etc.).

Dennis

That is awesome!


:)

Here is the revised list with the names I missed and some minor ET corrections:

1965 GTO Bruce Hayes Tri-Power/M20/4.10 13.60’s

1967 GTO Lee Harms HO/TH400/3.73 13.40’s

1967 GTO Doug Messman HO/M20/3.90 13.20’s

1969 GTO Tony Rosenthall RAIII/M20/3.90 14.80’s

1970 GT-37 Chris Smetana 400/M20/4.33 13.20’s

1971 GTO Ron Hammer 455HO/TH400/3.31 13.20’s

1971 GTO John Vass 400/TH400/3.73 15.10’s

1971 GT-37 Kevin Ross 455HO/M22/4.10 13.30’s

1971 GT-37 Rick Mahoney 455HO/TH400/4.10 11.90’s

1972 GTO Anthony Herzog 455HO/M22/3.55 14.00’s

1969 GP-SJ Joe Zelinski 428HO/M20/3.90 14.50’s

1969 GP-SJ Clark Lumsden 428/TH400/3.23 14.20’s

1968 Firebird 400 Ryne Sanders RAII/TH400/4.10 12.50’s

1968 Firebird 400 Rick Watson RAII/M21/4.10 12.60’s

1968 Firebird 400 Lara Smetana 400HO/TH400/3.36 14.20’s

1969 Firebird 400 Shawn Baird 400HO/M20/3.73 13.60’s

1969 Firebird 400 Adrian Beltrame RAIV/M21/4.33 12.20’s

1972 Trans Am Tyler Messman 455HO/M22/3.73 12.70’s

1974 Formula 455 Paul Aragona SD455/TH400/3.90 12.20’s

Hi Dennis, 3.23 gear and over 4400 lbs. I don’t remember the exact weight. I was hoping for 14.50 or better. First pass on Friday was 14.500! Tightened up the secondary air flapper, let the car cool down, and ran the 14.21. Never owned a 428 Pontiac before. It pulls hard like my 455 Buicks do!

I wish I had time to get a better look at your GP. I sure looked nice from a distance! Is the 428 rebuilt? Dang good running GP!

Denins

Repainted in 1986 with lower front fender and some rear quarter patches, it’s very solid underneath. Some primer shrinkage but very presentable. 428 had an old school overhaul in the 80’s. Rigid hone, knurled pistons, polished crank. All std. I disassembled and checked everything. Had the heads done with new Ferrea valves. Discovered a very mild Isky 262 cam. I added long branch manifolds, Pypes X pipe and Dynomax long case turbo mufflers. I ran it as a 390HO, but it’s a 370hp car. Not into that much green, I sold the car last week. I would love to find a Liberty Blue 69 SJ with black top.

Clark, now you got me wondering about the '68 HO GTO you have listed...2-tone paint? Very cool...we need to know more and see some pictures!

Dennis

Well Dennis, every car has a story. I’ll try to keep it short. A local farm boy from our small town of 3k worked at 2 different local GM dealerships from 1967-1973 as a mechanic. He bought the car new off the lot the spring of 68. Opened his own shop in 1973. I went to work for him at 16 as a floor sweep, went on to automotive school and stayed with him for over 8 years. I helped him take it off of the frame in 2002 for restoration at about 80k. A local body shop did the work. He showed it for several year with great success. A couple of magazine articles too. Unfortunately he passed away in 2019 at age 75 from cancer. I bought it in 2020.

Thanks for the background story on the '68! Any pictures you can Share?

Dennis

A few pics. Can someone tell me how to rotate these?

Clark, I've heard that cropping the image a little will keep them upright for some reason...I've never tried that myself...so?

Your '68 is simply gorgeous! What a great 2-tone color selection...it's got to be the only one like that! Thanks for posting the pics too!

Dennis

It's a beauty Clark!! Great history, too

That color combination kinda grows on ya! I haven’t seen many 68 GTO’s with painted tops.

Thanks Chris. Liberty Blue is a great color too.

Clark
Good to see you on this board, love Nightshade green on a 68 GTO, very interesting color indeed.

Your 69 GP is a real runner, nice job on that car, I hope you keep it around.

Hi Rich, I visit the board off and on, but I do more reading than posting. Good seeing you and Steve again at Stanton. The GP left tonight on a trailer headed for Maryland. Had fun working on and driving it for the last year but unfortunately it was too much green for me! I’d love to find a 4 speed 69 SJ in Liberty blue, but that might be impossible.

Hey Clark - it was nice to meet you and it sure was fun to race against you in your GP! (To others 0 we ran the EXACT same MPH on one race and were only .01 mph different on a second race!) As we discussed, the Limelight Green of your car was growing on me.

A correction on my car - I run 3.55 gears, not 3.90s - and I need a new POSI unit.
Still shooting for 13.99 and 100 MPH.

There is a 69 SJ 428 HO 4spd out there in Liberty Blue. I don't think my fellow GP friend (Scott Mancini) wants to sell it though!

Hey Joe, I think that was pretty cool running against another 69. If your traction would have been better you would have had the faster car. I wonder what mine would have run if it had a 3.55 gear?

Revised Results with Weights and Best ET/MPH
 

2025 Pontiacs

1965 GTO Bruce Hayes Tri-Power/M20/4.10/3750 13.648/102.76

1967 GTO Lee Harms HO/TH400/3.73/3820 13.516/102.27

1967 GTO Doug Messman HO/M20/3.90/3800 13.184/106.60

1969 GTO Tony Rosenthall RAIII/M20/3.90/4090 14.941/92.65

1970 GT-37 Chris Smetana 400/M20/4.33/3730 13.442/110.53

1971 GTO Ron Hammer 455HO/TH400/3.31/4030 13.056/106.45

1971 GTO John Vass 400/TH400/3.73/4240 15.057/92.23

1971 GT-37 Kevin Ross 455HO/M22/4.10/3730 13.267/107.21

1971 T-37 Rick Mahoney 455HO/TH400/4.10/3740 11.945/115.03

1972 GTO Anthony Herzog 455HO/M22/3.55/3980 14.073/98.78

1969 GP-SJ Joe Zelinski 428HO/M20/3.55/4360 14.551/98.19

1969 GP-SJ Clark Lumsden 428HO/TH400/3.23/4460 14.211/97.53

1968 Firebird 400 Ryne Sanders RAII/TH400/4.10/3590 12.433/110.94

1968 Firebird 400 Rick Watson RAII/M21/4.10/3630 12.660/114.14

1968 Firebird 400 Lara Smetana 400HO/TH400/3.36/3590 14.254/98.46

1969 Firebird 400 Shawn Baird 400HO/M21/3.73/3725 13.644/102.29

1969 Firebird 400 Adrian Beltrame RAIV/M21/3.90/3550 12.193/115.04

1972 Trans Am Tyler Messman 455HO/M22/3.73/3740 12.809/109.95

1974 Formula 455 Paul Aragona SD455/TH400/3.90/3825 12.158/113.00

Just met Kevin Ross last week, what a nice guy!