03/31/2016
Month: March 2016
Rare Pontiacs in Cup Racing
03/30/2016 – In 1973 when Pontiac was practically non-existent in Cup, a long-time Pontiac aficionado named Herb Adams went south of the Mason-Dixon Line with his Grand Am to go racing. A great historical article courtesy of http://www.pontiacsonline.com recounts Adams’ NASCAR adventure with (in this author’s opinion) one of the greatest looking stock cars of all-time, not just Pontiac.
http://www.pontiacsonline.com/Herb%20Adams.htm
1995 Pontiac Racing NASCAR Poster
03/29/2016
Today in History
03/28/2004 – Food City 500 – Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN – The last presence of Pontiac in a Cup points race as Hermie Sadler wheels his self-owned East Tennessee Trailers Grand Prix to a 31st finish, finishing 10 laps down to winner Kurt Busch.
Screen shot at 2:39:30 of Sadler’s Pontiac, top left
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_Qd0nF7c4
Today in History
– Happy Easter –
03/27/1983 – Coca Cola 500 – Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, GA – Geoff Bodine starts from the pole in Cliff Stewart’s Gatorade Grand Prix and promptly leads the first 16 laps, but is forced to retire 2 laps later due to a dropped valve and finishes dead last in 41st.
Richard Petty was the highest finishing Pontiac that day, leading 76 laps and finishing 5th in the STP Grand Prix; Tim Richmond also scored a top-10, finishing 9th in Raymond Beadle’s Old Milwaukee Pontiac.
Today in History
03/26/1961 – Atlanta 500 – Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, GA – Bob Burdick takes the only win of his career in Roy Burdick’s 1961 Pontiac, leading 44 laps as Pontiacs sweep the first 3 races at Atlanta International Raceway (Bobby Johns won the 1960 Atlanta 500 in a 1960 Pontiac, Fireball Roberts won the 1960 Dixie 300 from the pole in a 1960 Pontiac). Marvin Panch won the pole in John Mason’s Daytona Kennel 1961 Pontiac and led the most laps (127) while finishing 6th. Burdick would only have 15 career Cup starts, 7 of which would be in a Pontiac.
Today in History
03/25/1924 – Birth-date for part-time Cup driver Russ Hepler who had 4 Pontiac starts out of 13 career Cup starts over 4 seasons. Hepler had his only career pole in a Pontiac for the 1957 Richmond 250, May 5, 1957, at the Richmond Exposition Fairgrounds’ .5 mile dirt track, Richmond, VA. Hepler wound up finishing 18th, retiring after the 49th lap due to a throttle malfunction.
Pontiac All-Time Winner: Dirt Tracks
03/24/2016 – Joe Weatherly – Cup Champion in 1962 and 1963 and the only 2-time Pontiac champion – was the Pontiac king of the dirt tracks, recording 11 of his 20 career Pontiac victories on the dirt tracks of the circuit.
Weatherly in his famous #8.
Pontiac Motorsports Pace Cars Promo
03/23/2016
All-Time Pontiac Leader in Wins
03/22/2016 – The number one all-time – for both the classic and modern eras – Pontiac winner on the NASCAR Cup circuit is Rusty Wallace. Wallace tallied 31 Pontiac wins over the course of his career (Wallace won more in Pontiacs than any other manufacturer he drove for):
- 13 Short Tracks
- 13 Speedways
- 5 Road Courses
Wallace won at least one race per year from 1986-1993 driving Pontiacs and was the 1989 Winston Cup Champion.
Wallace passing Darrell Waltrip for the lead in the season finale for 1993 at Atlanta; this would be Wallace’s last race and win in a Pontiac
Pontiac Racing 