up coming events - Desert Renegades Phoenix Pontiac Club

July 2015
July 2015
Monthly Newsletter
Desert Renegades
Chapter 65 of POCI
pontiacclubofphoenix.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PontiacClubOfPhoenix/
UP COMING EVENTS
Jul. 4 - Arizona Freedom Festival Car Show and Fireworks - Mesa **
Jul. 11 - Freedom Days - Thatcher **
Aug. 15 - Run to Copper Country - Silver City, NM **
Aug. 29 - Creek Days Festival & 5th Annual Car Show - Christopher Creek *
Sep. 12 - Cars Under the Stars - Tucson **
Sep. 18-19 - Apache County Motorsports Days - St. Johns **
Sep. 19 - 2015 VVA 106 Car Show for NamJam - Tucson **
Sep. 19-20 - Oktoberfest at Bison Ranch - Overgaard *
Sep. 25-27 - Prescott Vette Sette All Corvette Show - Prescott *
Sep. 26 - Blast from the Past - Dewey *
Oct. 3 - 4th Annual Tru-Steel Car Show & Pin Up Girl Contest - Prescott Valley **
Oct. 3 - Cars for Kids 2 - Willcox **
Oct. 10- Butterfield Days Car Show, Antique Tractors & Engines, and Tractor Pull - Benson **
Oct. 10 - Cars in the Park - Sierra Vista **
Oct. 10 - Buckeye Octoberfest Open Car Show - Buckeye *
Oct. 17 - Tucson Classics Car Show - Tucson **
Oct. 17 - Thunder in the Desert - Buckeye **
Oct. 31 - 1st Annual Cesar Chavez Car & Bike Show (And Trunk-or-Treat) - Laveen **
Oct. 31 - Gina's Team 3rd Annual Show - Mesa *
Nov. 7 - Corvettes on the Midway - Phoenix
For More Information Visit:
www.cruisinarizona.com/carshows.html or https://www.facebook.com/groups/383716135086292/
UP COMING EVENTS
Next Pontiac Night! July 11th
Pontiac Ads Thru the Years
Desert Renegades
Pontiac’s in the Movies / TV
Next Pontiac Night! July 11th
Page 4
Pontiac Groups on Facebook
For those of you on Facebook there are several very active Pontiac Groups that are worth taking a look at.
Facebook Groups
Everything Trans Am (ETA)
1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
The Real Trans Am Lovers
Broken Arrow
Pontiac Pickers Classifieds
Pontiac Lovers The Whole Tribe
Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Club
Pontiac Cars and Parts For Sale and Wanted
GTO Owners
1967 Pontiac GTO
Performance Years / Pontiac People
Pontiac Club of Phoenix
FBODY Metal Visions
Pontiac Owners Club
Pontiac GTO
Pontiac Drag Racers
Pontiac Bonneville Club
Pontiac Fiero
Gulf Coast Trans Am Club
Trans Am Town
Pontiac Solstice Owners and Admirers
Scottsdale Pavilions Saturdays
Pontiac Nation
1971-1976 Pontiac B-Series
70-72 GTO Lemans Tempest T37 GT37
Bandit Run 2015
Trans Am Anonymous
Arizona Car Clubs and Events
Arizona F-Body Association
Pontiac Wide - Tracking
Pontiac Firehawk
Next Pontiac Night! July 11th
Pontiac Heaven
By: Steve Groce
The 18th Pontiac Heaven weekend on Saturday and Sunday April 18th & 19th was an amazing three part event!
It started with Pontiac Heaven for Pontiac powered cars only on Saturday with the gates opening at 6 AM
and racing starting at around 10 AM. The car show awards were given at around 1 PM with racing eliminations for trophies after that. This is a golden opportunity for anyone with a Pontiac powered car to be in a
nice show on the grass by the lake and or run their cars down a NHRA track for fun or trophies and cash.
Pontiac people are so much fun we are like a group of friends who welcome and get to know anyone new
and bring them into it like we are all one big family. So if you are at the show or waiting in the drag lanes, you
are getting to know other Pontiac folks, meeting new ones and seeing your Pontiac friends too.
There is nothing more fun that knowing the car and people in the lane next to you while racing. Since it is
only us Pontiac powered folks it makes it much more intimate and with fewer cars on the track we have
more freedom to run against friends and make more passes with our cars! Can you believe a guy actually
made 25 passes on Saturday? (I know ‘cause I’m that guy!)
Costs are reasonable and just as cheap as bringing your car out to the track on a “run what you brung” event
but without the big numbers of competitors. I know I have been to those events and only made 3 passes in
an entire night. Usually cars in the show only have a slight charge to race too. If you have ever even considered running your car down the track, whether you make one pass just to see what your car can do or racing for money and trophies come join us and race with friends!
About the show: Any Pontiac powered car is welcome to the show and since there are trophies for all kinds
of cars, yours does not have to be a perfect car to win. Also with trophies for Favorite classes these are
voted on by the other entrants to the show so anyone can win!
Have you ever considered running your car down the drag strip? Wondered what it will do on the track?
Where else can you drive over 100 mph legally? If you have never taken your car down the drag strip before
then you are in for a fun ride! You will have to pass tech which in most street cars is not usually difficult. To
see what the rules are just Google NHRA rules to know all the details. Basically it is divided into how fast
your car goes, if you go slower than 14 seconds you don’t even need a helmet unless you have a convertible
or open car. If you don’t know, try it and find out, you get one run and then if you are faster than 14 seconds
you will need to get a helmet. You need to have a coolant catch system, a battery that is tied down or bolted
in (mine is the factory bolt in bracket) and the factory seat belts are fine. If you are running street tires then
they usually recommend that you don’t do the water in the burn out box so just drive around it when you
pull up to race. Once you do a burn out or not, pull forward till the top yellow lights turn on, then slowly a
few inches more to get the second set of yellow lights on and then when the green light turns on (or slightly
before) you get to GO and you are on your way to high speed fun! Once you cross the finish line, slow down
and if you are in the right lane, do not turn in front of the other car in the left lane, take one of the two exit
lanes left, go to the small shack on the left and get your time slip and see how you did! Also there is a scale
where you can weigh your car just to the right past the time slip shack and you can see what your car
weighs. Just pull onto it and read the red digital readout to see how heavy your Pontiac is.
Continued on Page 7
The next part was the All Muscle Shoot out and Diesel drag event Saturday night starting around 6 PM or so.
This is for all American cars 1981 and older and any Diesel powered vehicle.
If you stay Saturday night and race there is no additional charge unless you enter the money racing brackets
and that is just to put your money into the money pool that the winners get. This is where you can show
your stuff racing more Pontiacs and other brand Muscle cars to defend the honor of our beloved Pontiacs.
There is nothing more fun than beating some of the other branded cars after a day of racing Pontiacs!
The next day Sunday was another car show and race day for the Phoenix Drag Race and Hot Rod Reunion
event. This is open to any American car or hot rod 1981 and older with special guests of historic dragsters
and funny cars that show and race too. There was even a replica of the Bee Line Drag way tower where the
winners of the car show and drag races got their photos taken!
Come help us make this next year the most successful Pontiac Heaven event ever and join us at the show
and or the races at what used to be Firebird Raceway and is now called Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.
Come and have fun with us!
Fall Club Events
Well looks like the summer has finally arrived. I thought now would be a good time to start working on
some events and meet ups for the fall. There has been some interest in doing some club cruise-ins on the
weekends to meet up for breakfast from both the Renegades and the Cactus GTO folks. It looks like
Sunday’s work best for everyone I have spoken too. I would like to get some input on places everyone might
like to visit. We have talked about Black Canyon City as one possible location. I picked some dates (listed
below). I thought we could alternate East Valley and West Valley so nobody has to drive too far all the time.
Please let me know your thoughts. Feel free to call or email.
Matt
480-695-8468
[email protected]
2015 Sunday breakfast Cruise-Ins
August 30th September 27th October 18th November 29th December 13th -
Next Pontiac Night! July 11th