05/31/2017
Month: May 2017
Rare Pontiacs in Cup
05/30/2017 – Australian Allan Grice is one of several foreign-born drivers who raced a Pontiac in Cup. A driver not lacking in success in his native Australia (1978 and 1979 Australian Sports Sedan Champion, 1984 Australian GT Champion, 1986 and 1990 Bathurst 1000 Winner, 12 Australian Supercar wins in just 86 starts) Grice dipped his toe in NASCAR Cup waters on 2 occasions –
- The 1987 Coca Cola 600 in John Sheppard’s Foster’s Lager Oldsmobile (started/finished 35th/36th, this was Sheppard’s only Cup start as a car owner).
- The 1989 Coca Cola 600 where he piloted his self-owned Pontiac Grand Prix sponsored by – again – Foster’s Lager and Bob Jane T Marts (started/finished 32nd/34th; FYI – Bob Jane T Mart is a large wheel/tire retail outlet in Australia).
1982 NASCAR-Pontiac-New Trans Am/Pace Car Promo
05/29/2017
Rare Pontiacs in Cup
05/28/2017 – Tommy Gale was a journeyman driver who accumulated 246 career Cup starts (and 4 top-10 finishes), most often behind the wheel of a Ford or Mercury owned by long-time Dearborn loyalist Elmo Langley.
For one race in 1983, Tommy was called upon by car owner Bud Reeder (who gave a young Arkansas driver named Mark Martin his first shot at Cup racing back in 1981, giving Martin and Pontiac 2 pole positions) to drive one of his Grand Prix’s for the Budweiser 500 at Dover. This would be Gale’s only career Pontiac start in Cup and it would mark the ending phase of Reeder’s presence in Cup as an owner (the car was self-sponsored under Reeder Racing, Reeder’s race cars would only make 5 more starts in 1983 after which he was then completely out as a Cup car owner) .
1996 RACER Magazine Cover – Pontiac
05/27/2017
NASCAR-Pontiac-Goodyear Ad, II
05/26/2017
Rare Pontiacs in Cup
05/25/2017 – Joe Ruttman is a prime example how racers used to make it to the big leagues – start young, work your way up the ladder rung by rung, and then maybe – just maybe – you might hit the big time when you…hit your…50’s?
That’s how everybody’s favorite racer from Upland, California, did it (why does everybody think Ruttman is from Minnesota or Wisconsin, eh?) Between starting his first Cup race in 1963 (at age 18) all the way through to his last Cup start in 2004 (at age 59), Joe’s racing resume is a whirling smorgasbord of activity and accomplishments. Those accomplishments include the 1980 USAC Stock Car Championship, an Xfinity Series win and an ARCA Daytona 200 win in 1982, and (here it is…in his 50’s) contending for the NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck Championship in 1995 (2nd), 1996 (4th), 1997 (3rd), 1998 (3rd), 2000 (6th), and 2001 (3rd) while racking up 13 wins, 17 pole positions, and leading 1200+ laps.
During that vast expanse of time Ruttman also accumulated 225 Cup starts over 22 seasons (only 5 of those seasons would be considered full-time), and of those 225 starts 30 would be in Pontiacs. Joe’s last 2 Pontiac Cup starts would be the only 2 Cup entries for owner Chuck Wellings who fielded cars for Joe in the 1989 and 1990 Daytona 500’s. Doing things in typical old-school/DIY manner, Ruttman and Wellings managed to field competitive cars and – thanks to the wily Ruttman behind the wheel – actually managed to outperform many of the well-heeled teams.
For the 1989 Daytona 500, Ruttman piloted Wellings’ ultimate blue collar sponsorship dreamboat Schaefer Beer/Machinists Union/VanderLey Engineering Grand Prix to a remarkable 13th place finish after starting 17th; Ruttman gave Pontiac its highest finish on the day. For the 1990 Daytona 500 Wellings secured sponsorship from Sears to highlight its Roadhandler Suspension and finished 26th (running at the finish); for a one-off race against the then-burgeoning superteams/superstars of the day, a noteworthy accomplishment.
Bobby Labonte-Pontiac 2000 Cup Champion Poster
05/24/2017
Jerry Nadeau and Pontiac
05/23/2017 – When speaking of ‘hard luck’ drivers in the later 1990’s to the early 2000’s, Jerry Nadeau certainly is one of the names that comes to mind. A talented and proven driver (1991 World Karting Association Champion, 1991 Skip Barber Pro Series Shootout Winner) and driving for some well known and top-flight owners (i.e. Bill Elliot and Rick Hendrick), providence always seemed to be lurking making sure Jerry got his 1 Cup win (Atlanta, 2000, driving a Chevrolet for Hendrick) and 19 top-10’s in 177 Cup starts, but nothing else.
Jerry’s first Cup start was in a Pontiac at Michigan in June of 1997 where he drove Richard Jackson’s R&L Carriers Grand Prix to a 36th place finish, finishing 14 laps down to eventual winner Ernie Irvan in a Yates Ford.
Over the 7 year Cup course of Jerry’s 177 starts, he had 30 Pontiac starts and – as many know – his career started as it ended, in a Pontiac, following a hard crash in Nelson Bowers’ US Army Grand Prix while practicing for the – ironically named – Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, May of 2003. Jerry suffered life-threatening injuries and following some anxious moments, survived, but never raced in Cup or any national series ever again.
Pontiac at the Coca Cola 600
05/22/2017 – Pontiac had some Cup success at Charlotte (a total of 8 wins), but only 2 of those were in the renowned 600 – David Pearson/1961 and Rusty Wallace/1990. Both wins were ones of domination with Pearson (starting 3rd in a Catalina) leading 225 of 400 laps and Wallace (starting 9th in a Grand Prix) leading 306 of 400 laps. While Pearson led fewer laps than Wallace, his win was emphatic as he finished as the only car on the lead lap (Fireball Roberts – also driving a Pontiac – finished 2nd, 2 laps down).
Pontiac’s 2 600 wins are well behind Chevrolet/23, Ford/12, Dodge/8, Mercury/4, Plymouth-Toyota/3, and (forever…probably) tied with Buick.
Pontiac Racing 