Pontiac Pavement Pounders Shootout - Englishtown Homecoming

Jet-setting is great but it's always good to come back home. After three shootouts in the Dallas, Texas area, HPP's Pontiac Pavement Pounders Shootout returns to its home track of Raceway Park, Englishtown. What better way to start off a fresh season of shootouts than with the most diversified group of contenders that we have ever put together? In a single shootout, you will see a super low-buck entry in the form of a Ram Air III 400-powered 1968 Firebird that was built for less than $3,000. Next is a street sleeper 1978 Grand Prix that looks like a disco throwback but packs a potent 455, which generates mid-11 timeslips. A heavily breathed upon 383-powered 1987 Trans Am enjoys its underdog street status by beating up on Mustangs to the tune of mid-12s. For those who wonder what ever happened to the good running 389s that started the musclecar craze, we have a home-built 1965 LeMans so equipped, that is capable of mid 13s on the skinniest street tires that you've ever seen. And for the traditionalist, we've included a 455-powered '70 GTO that puts its power to the pavement using a recipe that was found in the pages of HPP. If your tastes run more toward late model techno-muscle, then you will be pleased to learn that a supercharged front-wheeler made the cut as well. SLP calls this GP a GTX.

From A to G (or A-special) to F and W, we have prepared a veritable alphabet soup of past and present Pontiac platforms on which to feast. Can these letters be unscrambled to spell F-A-S-T or will we have a misspelled mess on our hands? You won't find out unless you read on.

Shootout Stats

BIG POWER, SMALL PACKAGE
Owner Bio: Shawn Witkowski
1965 LeMans

"I have been a Pontiac man all my life," Shawn told us. The 33-year-old Akron, N.Y. resident's first car was a 1965 GTO, which was a constant companion through high school. Currently, Witkowski drives this 1965 LeMans, which the tool and die maker has fitted with a 389. With a best of 14.05 at 98.05, while running out of revs before the finish line and most likely a splitting headache after a few miles on the local interstate, Shawn swapped the 4.33 gears for a set of 3.55s. Check the Strip Tuning Log for proof that you can over gear even a 389 Pontiac. Note the lower ET and higher mph with the 3.55s installed.

RECIPE FOR SPEED
Owner Bio: David Sciarretta
1970 GTO

A faithful reader of HPP, 38-year-old Dave Sciarretta based his combination on the tech story Street Fighting Ponchos that ran in a 1993 issue of the magazine. With five years of racing under his belt, Sciarretta tells us that he feels that his GTO should still be a bit faster, given the combination, but he knows which changes are needed. He is quite pleased with the fact that at this shootout the Goat made its 600th pass on the 455 engine in just 2.5 years--a milestone that is not easily reached by many without a major mechanical incident. The UPS driver who hails from Honey Brook, Pa. says that his best time behind the wheel so far came at Maple Grove this past year when he won the Heavy class.