09/28/2017 – As the still-new premier stock car racing series deals with growing pains and a jumbled schedule, Pontiac managed to wrap up the 1951 season in fine fashion (while there were 41 races for the 1951 Grand National season, no Pontiacs participated in Race #41). Original Pontiac stock car racing hero Erick Erickson takes advantage of another race in his home state as the circuit again visited the .5-mile dirt track of Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California.
Erickson started 20th in his self-owned and Packer-sponsored 1951 Pontiac and proceeded to rack up a fine 3rd place finish (records are incomplete as to drivers finishing on the lead lap with winner Bill Norton in Larry Bettinger’s 1950 Mercury).. Following the 1951 season Erickson would race a Pontiac once more in his Cup career, this was his final career top-5 and final top-5/top-10 Pontiac finish.
09/26/2017 – Pontiacs skipped Race 36 on the 1951 Grand National circuit, but found themselves on the starting grid once again for Race 37 on October 28, 1951, at the .5-mile dirt track of Marchbanks Speedway, in Hanford, California.
Les Bomar lined up his self-owned, V-Gap Spark Plug sponsored 1949 Pontiac and eventually finished 18th (records are sparse regarding starting position and laps completed for all for a few drivers). Bomar’s Pontiac was one of 3 1949 models that raced that happened to be the oldest models on the racetrack (the others being Fred Bince and his 1949 Plymouth and Jim Byrd in his 1949 Buick).
09/25/2017 – No Pontiacs participated in Grand National races 26-thru-34 of the 1951 season, it was only when the circuit came back to the west coast that California natives Erick Erickson and Les Bomar – once again – brought the Tin Indian back on the track.
On October 14, 1951, the first of 3 Cup races was held at the .625-mile dirt track of Oakland Stadium, Oakland, California, and its infamous banking (60+ degrees, very steep but also narrow). Erickson brought out his favorite 1948 Pontiac sponsored by Advanced Electric and Bomar trotted out his 1949 Pontiac sponsored by V-Gap Spark Plugs. Both Pontiac drivers had less than ideal days with Erickson and Bomar finishing 22nd and 16th respectively (out of a 35 car field).
09/24/2017 – It’s not often that one sees a close promotional connection between sponsor and manufacturer unless it’s something automotive related (i.e. Goodwrench-Chevrolet, Motorcraft-Ford, etc.), so this was indicative of the support that Rusty Wallace had from both during his immediate post-championship era. Of course, this could be a bootleg shirt…
09/23/2017 – With the Cup Series visiting New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the second race of the Chase on 09/24/2017, long-time Pontiac fans can fondly look back when Cup racing visited Loudon for the first time on July 11, 1993, for the Slick 50 300.
Rusty Wallace had been on an absolute tear for the first half of the 1993 season, rebounding from a sub-par stretch in 1991-1992 and once again displaying the dominating form of 1988 and his Championship year of 1989. By the time the Cup circuit arrived at Loudon for Race #16 (out of 30 races on the calendar), Wallace had already wheeled the Penske Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac Grand Prix into victory lane on 4 occasions (and with Kyle Petty winning at Pocono, Pontiac had 5 victories as the season hit its midpoint).
Following the second Daytona race where Wallace was not a factor (plate races were never a strong suit for Wallace during his time in a Pontiac), the team was eager to get back to a track where their driver could put his demonstrated strengths to good use and not have to contend with the Russian roulette style of plate racing.
Despite qualifying a distant 33rd, Wallace worked his way to the front by lap 168 and proceeded to lead 106 of the final 132 laps, taking the win by 1.3 seconds over pole sitter Mark Martin in the Valvoline Ford Thunderbird (Kyle Petty finished 8th in the Sabates Mello Yello Grand Prix to place 2 Pontiacs in the top-10).
Despite Pontiac’s exist from NASCAR and its eventual demise as an automotive manufacturer, a Pontiac will always be listed in NASCAR’s history books as the first winning car at New Hampshire International Speedway/New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
09/20/2017 – The legendary Buddy Baker needs no introduction to NASCAR fans, the son of NASCAR pioneer Buck Baker, a giant of a man in stature, kindness, and accomplishments he left his mark in the sport as a competitor, mentor, and a much beloved ambassador of stock car racing that he dedicated himself to over the course of 4 decades.
As Baker’s career was winding down in the 1990’s, the rides – let alone the wins, poles, and even top-10’s – were getting harder and harder to find as the sport was experiencing the growth and change in attitude and character that was deemed necessary as the former regional attraction starting garnering nationwide attention.
After sitting out 1989 and teaming up legacy owner Junie Donlavey in 1990 for 7 unspectacular races, Baker teamed up for a 1-off race with Rod Osterlund in one of his Pontiacs in the 1991 Daytona 500 with sponsorship by the US Marines. Osterlund managed to corral the Marines sponsorship as the Department of Defense was keen to build on the groundswell of public support for the military at the time when Operation Desert Storm was in full swing.
Qualifying a more than respectable 16th, the Osterlund Grand Prix’s engine gave up the ghost after 35 laps relegating Baker to a 37th place finish. Baker would start 8 more Cup races, calling it quits in 1994 after DNQ’ing for 3 races in 1993-1994 as he moved on to a more lucrative career in the broadcast booth where a new generation of NASCAR fans experienced Baker’s racing wit, wisdom, and insight.
Buddy Baker at speed in the Osterlund US Marines Pontiac Grand Prix at the 1991 Daytona 500. The absence of any manufacturer markings indicates that Osterlund probably wasn’t getting any factory support as his effort wasn’t a recognized Pontiac effort/entry unlike other Pontiac competitors such as Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty, Michael Waltrip, and others at the time.
09/19/2017 – Pontiac wheelman Erick Erickson puts on the travelling miles as he follows the circuit for the next race at the small confines of Columbia Speedway’s .5-mile dirt track in South Carolina on September 7, 1951.
After dealing with a field of 82 at Darlington, a mere 29 entrants lined up for the green flag at Columbia with Erickson starting a surprising 11th in his Packer-sponsored self-owned 1951 Pontiac. However, the race was not kind to Erickson and his Tin Indian as he finished toward the back of the field in 24th. Erickson headed back to his home state of California, and busied himself prepping one of his favorite racecars for the Grand National circuit’s next visit to his side of the country in October.
Pontiac Racing 