[PONTIAC DUDE]

Steve....Good Luck.
However, I did notice that all your references are with the Nostalgia form of racing against other relics of the past. Which is fine, but if you feel that your a Competitive type of guy. Try the Butler, Neal Owens, Johnsons form of racing against "Current" technology. As many of the Northen central section of the country are doing also.
It's rough out there. Trust me. I try all the time.
I'm probably the only person that went from Chevies back to Pontiac after 30 years.

Turbo's are faster, period. More bang for the buck. NHRA dictates what you can run in each class.
Pure Pontias in Pro MOd...... great....Constantly Competitive, Nah.
Your doing the same as the rest of us Pure Pontiac racers......Picking a CLASS that we feel we can be competitive in.
Guees I need to cut and paste this topic and then in a year see how ya do dude.

Good luck and when are you going to offer a Heads-up Pure Pontiac class to show the World what Pontiac can really do......Flat out and heads up!!!
Then you can compare your Flat out class and ET's against what the real of the Automotive Race world is doing.
Heads up and certain rules might bring the Dude West.

Build it fast, build it right, build a Pontiac.
http://PontiacDude.cc

[Tom Vaught]

Steve, Good Luck with your project.

Have admired your handi-work from the first time
I saw your site.

The junkyard statement was a cheap shot. Normally
not known for cheap shots. Have been notified to such by misus. He is right, naturally.

Hope someday you win your class and have not broken too many parts by then. Tom V.

[Marty Palbykin]

(Same old ****), If you fokes want to step up, you gotta think outside the box. I think you have to try something different. Arney was great 40 years ago.
Many have done well. But if you want a break through, you must try something different.
If you want to run as good as your friends (run the same combination).But if you want to run better you need to try something different.
Marty P. Good luck

[Goatman]

gee, I guess Marty didn't take it as a compliment either...........I wonder why??

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Even as a Kid, Marty would color outside the lines.

Build it fast, build it right, build a Pontiac.
http://PontiacDude.cc

[Tom Vaught]

If Marty did not have Mary to help him, Marty still couldn't color "worth a Dam*" Much better
at numbers!

735 hp
1600 hp
2500 hp
3270 hp

At least he keeps going up! Marty pretty much gave up on posting on this board for a long time because people like the 350 engine expert were
giving him ***** about his knowledge so like he
says "Same old *****". The comment about Arnie
being Fast "40 YEARS AGO" has a lot of truth in
it though if you really think about the words.

Tom V.

[Brian Baker]

Hmmmmmmmmm. Marty's comment is giving me a headache thinking about it (LOL). In all seriousness, I think FED's are cool. They're alot more fun to watch than the current RED's out there. Steve has his work cut out for him, and I wish him luck. Competitive Nostalgia fuelers are in the 5.80's range, which if you think about, using the technology they have to use is pretty amazing.

Pro Mod type cars will all eventually go the turbo route. Some introduced one late in 2002 (a 57 Chevy that resembled Dennis Rodman). I forget his name (Reiger?), but he was trying. I just read where he is retiring, but someone else will step up.

[Goatman]

Bob Reiger. Used to run NMCA. Gave Tony Christian and Pat Musi fits for years as he had more money and was faster than they were. Tony Christian and Bob were both going to run Pro Mod, but Tony crashed real bad and Bob is moving on, possibly back to NMCA??????

Turbo's and EFI have been outlawed in everything from Super Stock to Top Fuel for one reason. They help make big power and make it more controllable.

Only a matter of time..........

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[Tom Vaught]

Reiger was not liked because he bought his way into the Pro Street ranks. He had money like Gene
Deputy did years ago and was a decent driver.

Tony on the other hand was a former Pro Stock
driver and has always used spray in the Pro Street
class. When Reiger was running 7.0s Tony asked me
at Grebeck's shop how fast Reiger could go with
the turbos. I told him 6.70s and he was playing
with Tony. Tony said "no way" two weeks later he (reiger) put a 6.70 on the board.

Tony despite his rough manner is a very good man and helped the Keens learn their clutch set-up
He also sold then a lot of chassis parts at cost.

I was really sad when he crashed! Looks ok now
though. Tom V.

[JKGTO]

HOPE TO MAKE IT OUT TO YOUR RACE SOMEDAY STEVE. IT ALWAYS PISSED ME OFF THAT BESWICK WAS THIS BIG PONTIAC GUY AND HE WAS RUNNING THIS 63 PRO STOCK TEMPEST WITH A BIG BLOCK CHEVY ENGINE IN IT. NOTHING PONTIAC ABOUT THAT. ALSO THE ONLY REASON PONTIAC ENTHUSIAST CAME INTO BEING WAS BECAUSE PETE GOT BROOMED FROM HIGH PERFORMANCE PONTIAC MAGAZINE FOR WRITING ARTICLES THAT CLEARLY SHOWED HIS IGNORANCE ON SEVERAL SUBJECTS. I POINTED THAT OUT TO THE EDITOR AT THAT TIME AND WAS TOLD HE HAD ALREADY BEEN LET GO. THEY HAD BEEN FOOLED INTO THINKING HE HAD KNOWLEDGE THAT HE DID NOT HAVE. I WASNT THE ONLY ONE THAT CALLED THE MAGAZINE ABOUT HIM. SO NO I DONT HAVE ANY USE FOR PONTIAC ENTHUSIAST.

[Goatman]

Wait a minute. Let's get a couple of things straight here.

1. Arnie Beswick is one hell of a driver and I hope when I'm his age that I can still walk, never mind pilot that car.

2. Arnie was breaking records and putting a hurting on EVERYONE when no one cared about Pontiacs. Not even Pontiac. He stuck with it!

3. Yeah, he's gone Chevy, because its too expensive to go back. When he was putting together this car, there was no IA block, so he made the SMART move.

4. He should be recognized for his accomplishments, plain and simple.

5. If you have issues with anything, it should be the car's performance since he's gone Chevy and the new chassis, as the car isn't much faster now as it was back then. Not that that is the intention, but still, its been 30 years and the car is now lighter, and stronger than it was.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[Tom Vaught]

Not too many 75 year old men can hang with the 20
and 30 years old drivers, period. Have seen him stand a car on its bumper at Butler's, realize
that the wheelie bars were not installed by a crew man, gently bring the car down to the pavement over a hundred yard distance, and barely
knock the crank trigger sensor out of adjustment.
(no other damage to the car). Impressed the He**
out of me. Course Arnie probably ***** his pants
but you would not have known it by his driving.

You just don't like Chebby motors, If Arnie was
driving a 2000 hp IA motor (like Butlers) with spray you would be bragging him up instead of running him down.

Same deal for Marty. EVERYBODY LOVED Marty when he was running Traditional Pontiac. He goes to
a Chebby Blower motor and suddenly he lost all
of his "brownie points" with the fans. Amazing.

Tom V.

ps, I am a lot like Ken (PDude) in that I admire all fast pieces of iron or aluminum. The metal
doesn't know whose name is on it. A good driver is a good driver and can drive ANYTHING.

[Steve Barcak]

Agree. Beswick was the man and ran Pontiacs competitively ‘til about 1967. After that, he was overwhelmed by the other brands but, his driving has always been the best. An autographed photo of his Ram Air V Boss Bird, with his 6.95 @ 215 he signed for me hangs in my shop as a goal to beat. Still to this day, his driving skills are to envy. He is an outstanding person as well. I welcome Arnie to my events and we enjoy having him. He is cool about the cheb issue and leaves his cheb cars home as corporate cars are not allowed. Last year he debuted a new team car with 455 e head power that ran in the 8s on its shake down runs. I am glad to know one of my my childhood heros. If you haven’t met Arnie, make an effort to do so.
Also, I was hoping this topic would be more of a way of Pontiac people comparing notes of progress, ideas, parts, ETs, etc. Not meant to be a “kma, head in the sand, sos” type of situation. I have yet to go real fast. I want to. I’ve done a lot of work and spent a lot of time and money to acquire what I have. I have no problem sharing a lot of what I’ve done. My site is not an “in your face, I’m better than you” site. It is a site that is open to show what I’m working on. I’m curious what others have done and what others are doing. I won’t ever piss back unless attacked, and even then rarely. It is not my nature. Whether you are a rocket scientist or a garbage man you are capable of high goals if you try hard enough.
The amount of money you show on your 1040 doesn’t mean everything, it’s the amount of play money you have left after your expenses, etc and how much time you have to work with your ideas.
Hot rodding is where it’s at for me. Making things better, stronger and faster. It’s fun to follow stuff here to a point but, it’s better for all of us to spend more time in the garage to make our goals.
I like all kinds of Pontiacs as long as they are Pontiac powered. I like dragsters, both kinds, front or rear engine. I prefer front engine but, it is just that, a preference. I like GTOs; I drive a ’72 and have tucked away ever other year for a future Pontiac museum that I would like to build when I retire (still looking for a 64, need 1 more only). Firebirds are way bitchen too. Big cars? They are great, I’ve become very attached to ’61 and ’62s but I like ’em all. And, what about boats? roadsters? trucks? They are all special to see when Pontiac powered. It’s the same with turbos, the bottle and roots blowers. If it makes it faster, it is a good thing. My preference is blowers, the sight and sounds are so impressive. The most powerful engines in drag racing are roots driven. As a spectator and gear head , if you watch a blown car run against a n2o car or a turbo car, the blown car (with its smoke and noise and exciting burnout) steals the show, whether or not it wins. N2O is neat because it can fit under a stock hood and be stealthy. Someone who wants to have a very fast sleeper looking street car should always use it. Turbos are something I don’t have a lot of interest in. In the 70’s, my brother built a triple turbo nitrous injected 429 Ford that was bored and stroked to 514 and put it in his boat, just for kicks! He also designed and patented an intake manifold design that he used in that combination. Neat stuff. It was an absolute animal! A scary ride on the water if there ever was! Just a personal feeling but, there is no question that they can run and still, many things can be compared with them (bottom end parts, etc). Nitromethane has its own obsession and following. It is rarely used in a Pontiac, and never mentioned in Pontiac talks. It makes BIG power. It is even more interesting when using it in a blown application. It’s the same with different kinds of racing that is popular in different parts of the country. IHRA is big in the south, Midwest and the east. NHRA is popular too. The Super Street deal is cool too. The term “Nostalgia Racing” racing can be misleading and I may have been a little misleading too when I referred to the “55-6 iron head with 10 head bolts” as being competitive. I made that comment to compare that to the Pontiac 10 bolt arrangement and not to give the idea that all the stuff that runs in nostalgia racing is old, obsolete relics. Far from it, this is not flat head stuff, these are highly developed sb/bb chevs and Hemis and a handful of Fords. They are no slouches as others have mentioned here. It will take more horsepower than anyone has made so far with a Pontiac to run with them. That should be of interest to everyone that is into Pontiacs. Again, if you don’t like nostalgia racing, that is fine but, you can still learn something from another combination.
I almost got to make licensing runs yesterday. We worked on my fueler all Friday night to get it to the track Sat but, got there late. I Still got my cockpit orientation test signed off and got the car through tech without a problem. By the time we got the chutes packed and the “brew” mixed and the motor fired and checked out, they had closed the staging lanes for the day. We’ll try again in the next few weeks.
One of Pontiac Dudes comments made me think about something about my upcoming event. I am open to ideas as to different classes. If someone wants to attend and has input as to class structure, please contact me.
Steve Barcak www.pontiacheaven.org

[JKGTO]

RUNNING FAST WITH BIG BLOCK CHEVY POWER IS NOT A BIG DEAL. ITS DONE EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. YEAH ARNIE IS A GREAT DRIVER. BUT IF YOU ARE MAKING EXHIBITION RUNS AT PONTIAC EVENTS YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING PONTIAC POWER. A FAST PONTIAC POWERED CAR IS IMPRESSIVE. NO REASON BESWICK HAD TO GO TO CHEVY POWER. HE RAN FAST IN THE OLD DAYS. WITH ALL THE NEW ENGINE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY OUT THERE IT SHOULD BE WAY EASIER TO GO FAST NOW. I JUST THINK IF PEOPLE ARE PAID TO MAKE RUNS AT PONTIAC EVENTS THEY SHOULD BE RUNNING PONTIAC POWER. THATS MY OPINION. I JUST CRINGE AT THE SIGHT OF A BIG BLOCK CHEVY IN A PONTIAC. I APPLAUD YOU STEVE FOR WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. CANT BAD MOUTH SOMEONE WHEN THEY PUT UP THEIR OWN MONEY TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING.

[Ron]

Arnie does not run a big block chevy!!!!

Ron

[Goatman]

JK, you've got alot to learn......

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[Tom Vaught]

JKGTO,

Arnie ran fast many years ago because PONTIAC was
giving him a car each year and MONEY, and PARTS,
and engineering knowledge like Tom Nell. Pontiac
was competing against the other GM branches and
the other auto companys.

Pontiac has not made a Traditional Pontiac engine
since the early 80s.

Arnie has always wanted to race, period. He ran a
FORD when he could not get parts from Pontiac for a while in 1965.

I remember when Arnie had been out of racing for a few years and one of his friends offered his
63 tempest as a car to drive. It was built with
a traditional Pontiac engine and ran at Union Grove at one of the GTOAA conventions. Ran in the
10s. (Sometimes he had a Playboy Bunny drive it
to get money for his operation). This was about
1987.

A few years later Don Nicholson, Ronnie Sox, and
other "legends" decided to have a heads up type
of exibition type race series. No traditional
pontiac pieces so Arnie used Chevy. It went from
there.

If you feel that Arnie should run a traditional engine like an IA engine, buy one from Dick and give it to Arnie, (also supply all of the rest of
the parts, and traveling money, and food money,
etc and Arnie might run a pontiac again).

Warren Johnson gets Millions of dollors each year. Pontiac gives Arnie a block or a crank if
an "insider" can get it for him. Big Difference.

I admire Arnie for all he has done over the many years given his limited resources but intense desire to continue to race. Tom V.

[Steve C.]

Ron- Arnie's switch to Pontiac must have been recent, at the last (Oct '02) Pontiac Uprising in Arkansas City he was still with a BBC.
But I did here 'rumors' about an I.A. block.

'Damn right it's a street car'

[tempest455]

I believe Arnie's white '63 Tempest that he ran in the late 80's was Pontiac powered. However, I've never seen anything in the tube chassis '64 other than a BBC. As Steve C. pointed out, I also saw it run a few months ago and it still had a BBC. In fact, one of the local shops here in town works on it/maintains it for Arnie.

tempest455

[JKGTO]

SO WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT PEOPLE THAT DONT HAVE A REAL JOB. THATS WHY ALL THOSE DRAG MAGAZINES WENT UNDER. NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WITH REAL JOBS TO SUPPORT PEOPLE THAT DONT HAVE REAL JOBS. I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A PONTIAC RACE CAR ALSO BUT CANT AFFORD TO. SO I SHOULD GO BUY A CHEVY? NOT GONNA HAPPEN. MY CHEVY WILL BE MY TOW VEHICLE. I WILL WAIT IT OUT TILL I CAN AFFORD THE REAL DEAL.