[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by poison heart

Was Mickey Thompson a Pontiac guy of just involved in this SD program? Seems like someone like Mickey Thompson would have made Pontiacs more popular if he was racing them.

Are you kidding me? How old are you? 17? Mickey Thompson was racing Pontiacs before anybody had ever heard of Arnie Beswick. He did not work for Pontiac, he was a privateer. He had two cars he raced early on at Bonneville, the Challenger I (which is currently on display at Don Garlits' museum in Ocala, FL) and the Challenger II streamliner (which was powered by 4 supercharged Pontiac engines and the first to record a speed of over 400 MPH on the salt flats). He also raced many a dragster in the 1/4 mile. He and Chrisman beat Don Garlits at Indy in '62 with a blown Hemi-head Pontiac (Hemi heads that were of his own design, "borrowed" from the 392 Hemi). Later on he had a series of different funny cars, but by then they were either Ford SOHC or Chrysler Hemi powered. Starting in 1973 he campaigned 3 seperate '73 Grand Am bodied funny cars, one of them driven by none other than Dale Pulde. He developed one of the largest aftermarket companies of its time that supplied "dress-up" parts. Ever heard of Mickey Thompson tires? They've been used on many a winning off road baja racers and drag racers. I could go on and on.