Driver’s First Win Pontiacs, Part IV – Bobby Labonte

04/19/2017 – As a Cup Champion and a driver who was at the forefront of Pontiac’s late 1990’s performance revival and final blaze of glory, Bobby Labonte is well-known among Pontiac NASCAR enthusiasts.  Before starting his well-known and historical time with Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby spent 2 full-time seasons (1993 and 1994) with Bill Davis Racing, which included his first stint with Pontiac (the lamentable 1994 season) before switching to Joe Gibbs in 1995 who was fielding Chevrolets before they changed over to Pontiac for the 1997 Cup season.

Bobby started the 1997 season off in great form with 3 top-5’s in the first 6 races, reaching as high as 3rd in the point standings before bouts of inconsistency crept in.  There were flashes of brilliance, including poles at Dover and Darlington and a 2nd place finish at the Brickyard, but it was at the last race of the year, the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Bobby showed the form that would make him and the Interstate Batteries Grand Prix a genuine Championship contender for the next 4 years.

Looking to repeat his dominating NAPA 500 performance from 1996 where he won from the pole, Labonte started 21st and slowly and methodically worked his way to the front by lap 107.  Once up front, Labonte led 168 of the final 218 laps to take the win by almost 4 seconds over the Fords of Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin (at one point Labonte had a 20 second lead).  This win was Labonte’s and Gibbs’ first for Pontiac and the final win for the 1996-1997 Pontiac model before the ‘Wide Track’ Grand Prix which was ran in 1998-1999.

Mark Martin’s Early Career Pole Record in a Pontiac

04/18/2017 – Mark Martin is one of 5 drivers in NASCAR Cup history (and the first driver of the modern Cup era) to win 2 pole positions in his first 5 career Cup starts, he accomplished this feat behind the wheel of a Pontiac.

The complete list is as follows –

Kahne, Kasey – 3/5/04 Las Vegas; 3/19/04 Darlington
Martin, Mark – 7/11/81 Nashville Speedway; 9/13/81 Richmond Fairgrounds
Hutcherson, Dick – 3/28/64 Greenville-Pickens; 4/14/64 Piedmont Fairgrounds
Burdick, Bob – 5/17/59 Trenton Speedway; 6/18/59 Columbia Speedway
Kieper, John – 5/27/56 Portland Speedway; 5/30/56 Eureka Speedway

Martin actually scored these 2 pole positions in his first 3 Cup starts, behind the wheel of Bud Wheeler’s Ams Oil/Prototype Grand Prix’s.  While Martin is primarily known for his many wins and accomplishments behind wheel of a Roush Ford (and later on a Hendrick Chevrolet), for this very unique deed Martin drove a Pontiac.

Mark Martin at Nashville Speedway on the pole position in the #02 Pontiac; starting 2nd is Ricky Rudd in the #88 Chevrolet, 3rd is Benny Parsons in the #15 Ford, and 4th is eventual winner Darrell Waltrip in the #11 Buick; distinctly different makes/bodystyles are a hallmark of this great era of Cup Racing.

 

 

NASCAR Champions Moog Poster

04/17/2017 – A promotional poster from Moog Chassis Parts highlighting the cars of past NASCAR champions; in the last row there are more Pontiacs than Chevrolets or Fords!

Happy Easter

04/16/2017 – Happy Easter from Pontiac Racing.

2002 Richmond Pontiac Excitement 400

04/15/2017

Driver’s First Win Pontiacs, Part III – Ward Burton

04/14/2017 –  In just his 7th race behind the wheel of Bill Davis Racing’s MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix, Ward Burton wins his first career Cup race and gives Pontiac its 2nd victory of the 1995 season following a winless 1994 for the Red Dart (Kyle Petty won earlier in the year at Dover).

Following a relatively unspectacular 1994 rookie season in Alan Dillard’s Hardee’s Chevrolets (he did win 1 pole at Charlotte and collected a 2nd place finish at Pocono), Ward and Dillard started off 1995 with renewed hope and enthusiasm, but with only a 9th place at Rockingham (2nd race of the season) and a DNQ at Atlanta (4th race), Ward then hit a  17-race streak with no top-10’s and 3 crash-outs to show for his efforts.  Following a redemptive 6th place finish at Michigan, Ward was out with Dillard and found himself with Davis for the second Bristol race of the season without skipping a beat where he promptly proceeded to crash out.   For the next 5 races, things settled down and Ward developed some consistency as he finished all 5 races; highlights were a top-5 (Darlington) and a top-10 (Charlotte).  It all came together for Ward and crew chief Chris Hussey at Rockingham as Ward had an outstanding day, starting 3rd and leading 87 laps, to take home his first career Cup victory and giving Davis Racing their first Cup trophy (Davis Racing had multiple wins in the Xfinity Series starting back in 1988).

The race itself had an interesting flow, with Ward clearly being the fastest car on restarts with fresh tires, the rest of the field then gradually closing in as the race went on.  When the caution flew with 25 laps remaining, the outcome – short of a disaster or miscue – was obvious.

 

1994 – Pontiac’s Great Decline in Cup

04/13/2017 – The 1994 Cup season for Pontiac is one of the great stories of manufacturer performance decline in modern day Cup, especially for a program that was still receiving full-fledged OEM support.

Pontiac had a lot to cheer about in 1993 – a down-to-the-wire run for the Championship thanks to Rusty Wallace, a series-leading 11 manufacturer wins (Wallace/10, Kyle Petty/1), 2 drivers in the top-5 (Wallace/2nd, Petty/5th), 3000+ laps led, and – more often than not – consistently seeing a Pontiac in contention for a win.  Following Wallace/Penske’s defection to Ford for the 1994 season, it was understood at the time that losing a top driver/team like Wallace/Penske would certainly have an effect, how negatively impactful that would be, time would certainly tell.

The lamentable 1994 Cup season for Pontiac –

Race 1 – Daytona 500, Daytona Beach – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Hamilton/12th

Race 2 – Goodwrench 500, Rockingham – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/2 – Laps Led/6 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/8th

Race 3 – Pontiac Excitement 400, Richmond – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/5th

Race 4 – Purolator 500, Atlanta – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/13th

Race 5 – TranSouth Financial 400, Darlington – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/11th

Race 6 – Food City 500, Bristol – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/3 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/5th

Race 7 – First Union 400, North Wilkesboro – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/4th

Race 8 – Hanes 500, Martinsville – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Hamilton/13th

Race 9 – Winston Select 500, Talladega – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/1 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/3rd

Race 10 – Save Mart Supermarkets 300, Sonoma – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Wally Dallenbach Jr/4th

Race 11 – Coca Cola 600, Charlotte – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/10th

Race 12 – Budweiser 500, Dover – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/2 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/7th

Race 13 – UAW-GM Teamwork 500, Long Pond – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/1 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/11th

Race 14 – Miller Genuine Draft 400, Brooklyn – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/8th

Race 15 – Pepsi 400, Daytona Beach – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/13th

Race 16 – Slick 50 300, Loudon – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/8th

Race 17 – Miller Genuine Draft 500, Long Pond – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Labonte/13th

Race 18 – DieHard 500, Talladega – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Wally Dallenbach Jr/8th

Race 19 – Brickyard 400, Speedway – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/8th

Race 20 – The Bud at the Glen, Watkins Glen – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Wally Dallenbach Jr/14th

Race 21 – GM Goodwrench Dealer 400, Brooklyn – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/1 – Top-10/2 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Labonte/5th

Race 22 – Goody’s 500, Bristol – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/7th

Race 23 – Mountain Dew Southern 500, Darlington – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/12th

Race 24 – Miller Genuine Draft 400, Richmond – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/19 – Highest Finisher – John Andretti/11th

Race 25 – SplitFire Spark Plug 500, Dover – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/1 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/6th

Race 26 – Goody’s 500, Martinsville – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/1 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Hamilton/13th

Race 27 – Tyson Holly Farms 400, North Wilkesboro – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – Bobby Hamilton/12th

Race 28 – Mello Yello 500, Concord – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/31 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/10th

Race 29 – AC-Delco 500, Rockingham – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/0 – Laps Led/0 – Highest Finisher – John Andretti/25th

Race 30 – Slick 50 500, Avondale – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/2 – Highest Finisher – Kyle Petty/6th

Race 31 – Hooters 500, Atlanta – Win/N – Pole/N – Top-5/0 – Top-10/1 – Laps Led/9 – Highest Finisher – Michael Waltrip/10th

For Pontiac, all this translated to – Wins – 0, Pole Positions – 0, Top-5 Finishes – 6, Top-10 Finishes – 23, Laps Led – 85; Highest finisher final Championship standings – Michael Waltrip/12th.  A couple of points that make all this even more difficult to digest –

• For 1993 ex-Pontiac driver Rusty Wallace himself had more wins, poles, Top-5’s, and just 2 fewer top-10’s than what the entire Pontiac stable accomplished for 1994 (not even mentioning laps led, of which Wallace had 2800+ for 1993).
• For 1994 Wallace had 8 wins, 2 poles, 17 Top-5’s, 20 Top’s, and 2100+ laps led (and a 3rd place finish in the Championship standings), practically exceeding the entire Pontiac stable for the season; the defection to arch-rival Ford was a bitter pill to swallow for Pontiac and GM Motorsports fans in general.

At least Pontiac fans could console themselves that the 1994 Trans Am pace car featured on Pontiac’s annual motorsports report had no trouble beating up on its rival 1994 Mustang when it came to factory stock performance bragging rights on the street.

 

 

 

Rusty Wallace-Michigan Program Cover

04/12/2017 – Rusty Wallace’s Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac Grand Prix takes center stage for the program promoting the 1992 Miller Genuine Draft 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 21, 1992.

Wallace was not able to make much of a splash in his sponsor’s race as he retired after only 69 laps due to engine failure.  Davey Allison dominated on the day in Yates Racing Havoline Thunderbird as he led 158 of 200 laps from the pole to take the win; Kyle Petty led the Pontiac brigade with a solid 4th place finish in Felix Sabates’ Mello Yello Grand Prix.

Pontiac-NASCAR Promo Poster

04/11/2017 – Truly the latter glory days of Pontiac Cup history with 9 teams representing on the Cup circuit for the 1999 season, including 2 future Cup Champions.

Driver’s First Win Pontiacs, Part II – Rusty Wallace

04/10/2017 – Driving a car that was specially designed for superspeedway prowess to help the Pontiacs keep up with the aero-slippery Ford Thunderbirds, Rusty Wallace takes Raymond Beadle’s Alugard Grand Prix 2+2 to Victory Lane for the first race of the 1986 season at historic short track Bristol Motor Speedway for his first of 31 career Pontiac Cup victories.