[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

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by twooldgoats

Sadly, though, it seems the pure Pontiac racers are a dying breed.

Jim

Funny, I heard that same thing from several people I talked to. Unfortunately that event is structured in such a way that it's mainly targeting 60+ year old people. While there are some of us that are younger than that and appreciate Pontiac engines (like myself), these people are a minority and don't make up the majority of the crowd. The structure of the event would eventually have to change to bring the car count up in a way that targets the middle age group. Most people born in the last 40-45 years don't really care about Pontiac engines, they were already out of production before these people had a drivers license.

I know Steve has had this talk before when he asked for opinions. As much as Pontiac purists hate to admit it, the reality is that in order to increase the numbers, corporate Pontiac stuff will probably need to be allowed, and just run a separate class. Maybe at the end of the day have a top eliminator format between the groups and get a friendly rivalry going. Look at how the Tri-Power Nats, or now called Pontiac Nats, are doing it. They have no lack of participation there. They even incorporate GMC. At a big venue like Wild Horse Pass, they could easily support such an event. Hopefully Steve chimes in and can shed some light.

Sounds like Saturday was the day to be there with the mixed brands and muscle car theme. Everyone I talked to said it was a nice turn out. On a bright note, Sunday has been the only time I've been to that track where you could make as many hot laps down the track as you desired. That sure was nice for those that were racing.

[Squidward]

I went both days, which was the first time in a while I have done both days. Saturday was a busy event day, but Sunday was dried up.

I got 2 passes in during time trials/TnT, and found out I blew out a water pump gasket as I was hot lapping around for a 3rd pass. That was the end of my racing day.

By the end of the event, there was still a small core group who were tearing it up over on the autocross course. This included mostly 1st gen Firebirds, and, no kidding, a real 69 T/A running the course. The best part of that was it still had imprints in the back upholstery of the kid car seats he had in it. Now THAT's the way to enjoy a sweet ass ride! There was a lot of fun being had over there.

I tend to agree with Formulajones. I have attended PH since the 2nd one way back in the day. I've seen most every car, and typically see the same ones every year. The show had a couple of cars that I remember from a decade ago when they were purchased as a cheap POS street beater, and were now all shiny and restored. The crowd is aging. Most of the Cali guys didn't attend. It requires fresh younger blood, and I say that as someone who is a few years shy of 50.

The Saturday event is what the Sunday event should have been. It will have to be opened up to other brands, or at least Pontiacs with other engine makes, to stay alive. I would say don't sell out to imports or any fox body mustang with a 5.0, but something was wrong. Split some race classes if need be, but the exclusivity has to go unless we want to find ourselves on an exclusive island with nothing but the sound of crashing waves, falling coconuts, and crickets.

But nothing can ever take away from all of the years where I've had an amazing time, and PH was the highlight of my entire year calendar. But that's life: We must come to expect change, and we must adapt or be forgotten.

[67GP428]

We overall had a good time. I think it would be best to make it a one day event. Swap meet, car show and the drags. I've always liked Saturday shows the best. Scott

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by 67GP428

We overall had a good time. I think it would be best to make it a one day event. Swap meet, car show and the drags. I've always liked Saturday shows the best. Scott

Liked your 4 speed car also. It's really cool seeing the big cars with 4 speeds in them. When I first met twooldgoats, he had a 2 door HT, 66 Bonneville with a 421, 4 speed. I really liked that car too. You guys put a lot of hard work into them. Great job!

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Squidward

I went both days, which was the first time in a while I have done both days. Saturday was a busy event day, but Sunday was dried up.

I got 2 passes in during time trials/TnT, and found out I blew out a water pump gasket as I was hot lapping around for a 3rd pass. That was the end of my racing day.

By the end of the event, there was still a small core group who were tearing it up over on the autocross course. This included mostly 1st gen Firebirds, and, no kidding, a real 69 T/A running the course. The best part of that was it still had imprints in the back upholstery of the kid car seats he had in it. Now THAT's the way to enjoy a sweet ass ride! There was a lot of fun being had over there.

I tend to agree with Formulajones. I have attended PH since the 2nd one way back in the day. I've seen most every car, and typically see the same ones every year. The show had a couple of cars that I remember from a decade ago when they were purchased as a cheap POS street beater, and were now all shiny and restored. The crowd is aging. Most of the Cali guys didn't attend. It requires fresh younger blood, and I say that as someone who is a few years shy of 50.

The Saturday event is what the Sunday event should have been. It will have to be opened up to other brands, or at least Pontiacs with other engine makes, to stay alive. I would say don't sell out to imports or any fox body mustang with a 5.0, but something was wrong. Split some race classes if need be, but the exclusivity has to go unless we want to find ourselves on an exclusive island with nothing but the sound of crashing waves, falling coconuts, and crickets.

But nothing can ever take away from all of the years where I've had an amazing time, and PH was the highlight of my entire year calendar. But that's life: We must come to expect change, and we must adapt or be forgotten.

Sean right? I think I have the right person, lol.

I think this idea is starting to be the general consensus. My father used to be a member of a tri-5 chevy club. I participated in this through my teen years and early 20's. They used to put on a drag race every year. Being a tri-5 club, they knew right off the bat it wouldn't be successful limiting the racing to just 3 years of chevys, so they called it the Eastgate Classics Muscle Car race. What we ended up doing is having a few different classes, and we also let in what we called "modern muscle" which back then was fox body mustangs and grand nationals that were still new to the scene but quickly becoming hugely popular. This was a separate class that ran their brackets during the day. There was also a class for old sling shot dragsters, dedicated race cars, street cars, etc... Each class ran their elimination segments throughout the day which also gave the audience a nice selection of what they wanted to watch. At the end of the day we would have top eliminator races from all the classes to crown a top eliminator king. It made for excellent racing but most of all, crowded. It quickly got overwhelming to try and run it. It got so popular that we ended up having a second event the same year. From then on twice a year.
Something similar to this with maybe a Pontiac specific class to keep the Pontiac vibe going is probably what it will take to draw in the people. But that's just my thoughts.
I think another issue might be the track itself. I noticed they don't really put on events like this throughout the year from what I can find. I've never seen the PSCA advertise anything there, Super Chevy has been hit and miss, there are no Ford events that I know of etc... Just seems the track is catering more to big time NHRA stuff and us little guys don't have much but test and tune nights and that's just Friday night only.
I guess that's why I miss the little mom and pop tracks like Speedworld. They had PSCA, Nostalgia Muscle car days, and other things that attracted people like myself that didn't cost an arm and a leg to get in to, and more like minded people to mingle with. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places at WildHorse?? But would be nice to see more events for the street car scene that doesn't have the pits full of ricers.

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

.......
I guess that's why I miss the little mom and pop tracks like Speedworld. They had PSCA, Nostalgia Muscle car days, and other things that attracted people like myself that didn't cost an arm and a leg to get in to, and more like minded people to mingle with......

Speedworld=my all-time favorite track. Even had trees for a little shade when needed. I have many pleasant memories of Pontiac Heaven events there.

Jim

[Squidward]

Agreed on Speedworld. I miss it. It was better suited to classic events. And I also think WHP is a little more biased toward big national events, as well as being pricey. The PH swap meets back in the day were awesome!

If I saw a 71 Nova running a turbo sbc, I can appreciate it. 70's truck doing 12's on the track? Yup. I can get down with that event. LS powered classic? I have a soft spot for that too. I would like some variety and excitement.

I wish somebody would open up a 1/8 mile track around here. At least we could have some options track-wise.