[GTO TEX]

Memorial weekend I made a 250 mile road trip to Amarillo Dragway for a little TNT and a street car shootout. Cruised @ 75-80 mph on the interstate with the a/c blowing getting 18 mpg. Pretty pleased about that! Get there and get in line to get tech done. Guy ask "did you trailer it here?" I tell him hell no, drove it here, gonna run the piss out of it and drive it back home hopefully without breaking it. Bunch of old school racer guys standing around say "F*** an A, that's what it's about!" Cool bunch of guys.

Shootout is a 11.49 index or slower class, no full slicks, stock chassis and must be registered for road. Pretty much anything else goes. What the heck, I got a chance at this. Make a couple of practice passes and developed fuel delivery issue(RobbMc pump was hurt) with the car nosing over about 150ft from the stripe. I need more seat time for sure(like watching my shift light & quit short shifting). I make it 3 rounds and to the semi-final with 3 of us left. One guy draws a bye and I get paired up with a C6 Z06 Vette with methanol injection. Still with fuel issues, I run 12.35 @ 102 with a 1.7 60ft. Wasn't enough for the Vette, but he doesn't catch me till half track. He breaks out in the final. Air my drag radials back up and head home. I'll be back for sure, next time very close to the index for sure. This is what it's about, owning and enjoying a classic like we all have. What a fun day...

1ST round
https://youtu.be/ixQQYrK8lbE
Semi round
https://youtu.be/JLcNs8pFhCY

[johnta1]

That's very nice!

Good job on it.
Congrats on the runs.

[6t7goat]

Nice job. car sounds great. Get the fuel issue sorted and it should be a super consistent car. Not many people willing to drive a car a few hours and then have at it on the track. Sounds like the car is well built and you have a lot of confidence in it. Great job!!

[72projectbird]

Sweet! That's how it should be!

Congratulations!

[SRR]

Nicely done!

[mgarblik]

Beautiful car, being used the way Pontiac intended. There are fewer and fewer guys like you every year. Enjoy.

[MDGOAT69]

That is so cool! Thank you for sharing, it's awesome to see someone not afraid to use their car!

[pancho400cid]

Nice story!

Reminds me of my 20's driving the Mach 1 to the track (Penwell!) and back... usually after being put out in the first round... and never as quick as your car.... but FUN!

[Ben M.]

Very nice! Driving it like it's supposed to be driven! I drove my '72 tens of thousands of miles when I lived in Lubbock a few years back.

[flyingn]

nice job!!

[400 4spd.]

Very cool, GTO Tex! You did well! It's very satisfying to show up, abuse it, and drive home.
20 years ago I drove my Hurst/Olds down to Road Atlanta. I think it was a 10 hour drive. During the Walter Mitty Challenge I got to beat on it mercilessly on Sunday morning, then I drove it home.

[lust4speed]

Proves that the old apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Was the Carter booster pump doing its job? Your dad had problems with the RobMc not being able to supply enough fuel until we put on the pusher pump to help out.

[Lee]

I've had good luck running my drag radials around 24psi at the track. Bunch of 1.5x 60' times between my old 67 Firebird and '69 Falcon wagon. At that pressure, I didn't even have to add pressure to drive home.

I remember running against an open-header trailered car with slicks at the Houston (Baytown) track in my Firebird. He took me off the line, but I drove around him by half-track and eliminated him. I looked over as I passed him, and remember him having a shocked look on his face that a street car was outrunning him.

About an hour later I'm driving home, and drive past him again with his car on the trailer. I look over, and he again had the same shocked look on his face :-)

[OCMDGTO]

Awesome! Don't see many people pull slicks out of the trunk like me at my track which is 45 mins away.

[Larry Navarro]

That's a funny story Lee!

[Larry Navarro]

I remember Les "wheelspin" drove his grand prix from California to Ennis for a Southern Nat's event.

[GTO TEX]

Originally Posted by lust4speed

Proves that the old apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Was the Carter booster pump doing its job? Your dad had problems with the RobMc not being able to supply enough fuel until we put on the pusher pump to help out.

With the Carter running it was nosing over about 150ft from the stripe and coasting through. Not sure what happened to the RobbMc because a couple of test runs went good. Thinking too that fuel level possibly was getting lower than the car liked. Got home & tested pressure and was only getting 3psi max from the mechanical pump & 6psi with the carter. RobbMc possibly returning too much fuel.

[GTO TEX]

Originally Posted by Larry Navarro

I remember Les "wheelspin" drove his grand prix from California to Ennis for a Southern Nat's event.

He also drove this GTO to Tulsa for a POCI national and then to Texas Motorplex for a HPP magazine performance shootout the car was featured in. That was in 2005 and the car was running 13's with tri-power installed. Don't know how many John Force burnouts he did to get the magazine pics. Goes to show how well he built the car. It's been driven from LA to St. Louis, displayed in show, raced and driven home. Same type of trips to CO, OK, TX, OR that I know of. Wheelspin & I are planning on doing the the big one next year, making the journey to Norwalk with this old girl.

[johnta1]

That would be cool.

[george kujanski]

I've seen Les with 3 of his cars at Pontiac heaven. Drives there in A/C comfort, races, drives home.

George