DALLAS AUTORAMA 2011 at Dallas Market Hall (February 18, 19 & 20)
by Frank & Brenda Moren

AutoRama photos are below

What a show, whether you like cool cars, monster trucks, toys, parts or even just people watching, it was all there.  Setting up the display was easy with all the support we had; and the new rope worked well.  We all enjoyed “Lenny’s” subs as a lunch snack on Thursday, along with the camaraderie.  The display was perfect with Huelyn’s 66 GTO next to Steve’s 79 Trans Am, Frank & Brenda’s 58 Chieftain next to Brian’s 98 Formula, John & Colleen’s 55 Star Chief next to Shawn’s 76 Trans Am and Tom & Judy’s 39 Sedan next to Brenda’s 02 Formula.  Spectacular !!!

Following are words from some of the participants in this year’s AutoRama:

Brian James – hey this is Brian I had a great time at my 1st one and I even got Best in Class !

John & Colleen Darling – Hi ! Well this was our sixth consecutive Autorama (fourth in the DAPA group) , and we received another “Outstanding in Class” award (2nd place). We had a great time the entire weekend at the show, meeting many new people, visiting with friends, our stay at the hotel, ($10.00 for a HAMBURGER ??????????) and snacking on Brenda’s spicy pretzels. Gad ! How can you top that ? – Just do it again next year. John & Colleen D.

Huelyn Duvall – Nice to meet all the DAPA entries at Autorama.  This was a good time for me as I don’t get out to shows with the car very often.  Autorama was a very nice experience.  Well organized by both Autorama and DAPA.  I needed the help and everyone provided it. The sandwiches hit the spot.  I felt right at home each day.  My plaque was for “outstanding in class” which was very unexpected but very much appreciated. Other than the last minute “flu bug” that left me without a place to stay, the experience was good.  I was going to stay in Trophy Club until my grandchildren came down with type A flu.  Thanks to Frank for watching after me and thanks to you (Brenda M.) for helping with my “ZIPPER”.  We will just leave it at that!!!!! Hope to see you again down the road,

Brenda Neyra – 2002 Formula Firebird – Best in Class – Well…it was my first time at AutoRama and I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with our DAPA members who also joined us displaying their wonderful cars, and I wish to thank the other DAPA members who stopped by and helped us by talking to people and promoting the Southern Nationals. We had a tremendous amount of visitors who appreciated our Pontiacs and stopped to chat. I think we all had great eye catching displays, and we had the privilege of having Elvis with us for the weekend – he was quite the eye candy!  I heard a few horror stories about past happenings at AutoRama, and we did not see any of that (at least I didn’t). The event was well organized, the weather was excellent, and there was a fantastic turnout. The cars all had their recommended fuel allowance, drip pans/pads, tape for the fuel caps & ability to disconnect the batteries so we were good to go!  The only negative were the unruly children that unfortunately seem to show up with neglectful parents at most car events, who were evidentially blind, because they could not seem to go anywhere without following with their hands along the rope, but there was always someone with our display to make sure no one bothered our cars.

Shawn Pergande – Ellen & I had a great time as usual spending it with our fellow DAPA Pontiac Lovers at the Autorama. Got to spend time with fellow enthusiasts and my brother was able to come up from Houston in his newly acquired 2001 WS6. He enjoyed the event as well. The outcome with our entry (1976 LE 50th Anniversary TA) was such a surprise as it took “Best In Class” beating our fellow Bandit Runners (David Hersey’s 77 SE TA & Anthony Rusing’s 78 SE TA) and another entry was a 75 1/2 Cosworth. Needless to say we were very greatful. Thanks for the great times and we’ll keep on Pontyaking!!!

Frank & Brenda Moren – This was our third time showing “Ilene” in the AutoRama with only one year being skipped out of the last four years.  She took “Outstanding” in her class; we are oh so proud !!!  The experience we have each and every time gets better and better.  We love spending time with other DAPA members and talking “car” with the spectators.  Most people are in awe of seeing our beloved 58 and many say they “remember seeing these types of cars when they were young”.  It is a wonderful feeling seeing the expressions on their faces as they reminisce back in time.  Overall the show is very well organized, both entering and leaving, and it never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful cars they can get into the building each year, along with the multitude of various vendors.

On behalf of Tommy & Judy Rivers – after speaking with them on the phone they informed us that their car took “Best in Class” for their class and they said they enjoyed themselves very much especially getting to spend time with the other DAPA members.  They look forward to seeing everyone at the Pontiac Nationals coming up soon.

On behalf of Steve Kahn – We didn’t get a chance to speak with Steve, but we believe his car took either Outstanding or Best in his class for his beautiful 1979 Black Trans Am.

Well, before we run out of room we’ll end this write up with a praise to all of the participants for a job well done and thank them for their time.

Oct. 16, 2010 – American Performance & Classic Car Show A Major Success By Don Fenton DAPA and Sewell really know how to throw a party.  Well in this case it was a car show that had a party feel.  On top of all of the fantastic weather, burgers and brats hot off the grill, and a wide array of fantastic American iron we were able to generate a little something for the effort. I would normally start to thank each and every person who was involved, both in the planning and then execution of the event, but just like last year we had so many people step up to help I would be afraid of missing someone.  We did manage to raise over $2200.00 for the American Cancer Society.  Much of the money raised was from a rather large donation from the Dutton family.  The other person who deserves a little shout out is Mark Waterman for donating the air compressor for the raffle from his NAPA Auto Parts store in McKinney.  We took in almost $600 for the raffle alone. The kids band Black Jack came out again to provide the live entertainment.  They were even better this year than last.  If there was one negative it would be that the representative from the American Cancer Society did not arrive until right before the awards.  I am pretty sure they would have pulled in another $400 in donations with just an hour of effort.  Something to remember for next year I guess. Thanks again for all who attended and made this show another glowing example of why we are simply the best.

The Pontiac Southern Nationals 2010! Hosted by DAPA!

The Car Show was held at the Hampton Inn & Suites Mesquite on Saturday, June 5th, 8:00am-3:00pm while the drag racing portion took place Sunday, June 6th at Dallas Raceway in Crandall, TX.

The Pontiac Southern Nationals 2010; We’re Glad to be Back in Dallas, TX  (it was last held in San Antonio, TX)

It’s been several years since the Pontiac Southern Nationals has been held in the Dallas, TX area. Two years earlier in 2008, the Dallas Area Pontiac Association held the PSN in San Antonio, TX.  It worked out quite well, considering the new location, with reasonable attendance for both the car show and the races, however, not quite as well as this June with nearly 100 Pontiacs in the car show field in Mesquite, TX and the 55 cars that registered for the drag races in Crandall, TX.

The car show was at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Mesquite, TX, adjacent to the Mesquite Rodeo, on Saturday, June 5^th.  It was a warm, June day without a cloud in the sky.  Registration began at 8:00am and the Pontiacs began to arrive.  They were trickling in at first and we were hoping to hit at least 70 cars to fill the primary show lot.  Shortly after, we surpassed the 70 cars and totaled 85 Pontiacs registered.  Nevertheless, they kept on coming, even after we went passed the registration time limit, eventually filling a secondary section of the hotel parking lot.

We had a similar pleasant surprise at the race track the following day.  The drag race event was at the Dallas Raceway in Crandall, TX.  This is a new quarter mile track only a few miles southeast of Dallas that opened a few months earlier.  Cars were arriving at the track slowly at first on Sunday morning, June 6^th, but the pace picked up and we were happy to see 55 Pontiacs register for a great day of racing.

For the two day event we saw a number of familiar Pontiacs and faces and quite a few new ones as well.  And this is what makes it all worthwhile for us, the PSN Staff that puts several months into arranging this event.  We would like to give a sincere Thank You to all those that attended, with and without a car entry.  We did some things right, and will improve on others.  So, keep your eye right here on the Dallas Area Pontiac Association web site: www.dapa.org for upcoming Pontiac events… Still Building Excitement.

Further Information on the PSN will be added to this site, so check back often!

Technical Articles.

These articles can give you a quick education on both, increasing the performance of your Pontiac, and understanding how to apply that performance at the track.

The titles of each of the series speak for themselves:

• Jim Hand on Building a Strong Street Machine

• Jim Hand on Drag Racing

Click on each of the titles and get educated!

This complete series of articles was prepared in the time period 1995-1996, and there are various references to my wagon and it’s performance. Please note that the wagon serves as a sort of test bed, and we occasionally change parts, rpm, shift points, converters, cams, etc, so driving styles, engine rpm, and especially performance may be different today. Please read these articles in that context, and if there are questions, contact me directly through E-mail. Read more

Auto racing has transpired almost since the first two auto owners encountered each other. Racing has taken many forms: Hill climbs, cross country races, top speed contests, closed course races, endurance races, and standing start racing. The latter is what we know today as drag racing. Two vehicles line up side by side and race to some given point, usually 1/8 or 1/4 mile. In the purest form, the winner of the race is the vehicle that crosses the finish line first. Read more

In the early days of drag racing, an unused open stretch of road, or an unused airstrip was marked with a starting line and a finish line. An observer would be positioned at the finish line to determine the winner. A starter would stand in front of and between the cars and motion them to race with his arms, a flag, or a flashlight. Gradually, forms of communication systems were incorporated to provide winner information back to the starting areas, and PA systems were installed to relay the results to the fans/racers. Crude timing systems, such as stop watches, were used to obtain some performance data. Later, mechanical timers were adapted for Elapsed Time (ET) measurements, and speed measuring equipment was installed at the finish line to report terminal speed as well as elapsed time. In 1962, the automated starting system was introduced. Read more

What could be simpler than taking you GTO, GP, FB, TA, 2+2, etc. out to the strip and shutting down that mouthy guy down the street with the Brand C. pile?

Maybe, if you have been there before, and your vehicle is running as well as it is capable of. However, if you are just getting started, there are some basic steps you should take before heading to the strip, and especially before you challenge anyone! Read more

You will recall that pure drag racing consists of racing two cars from a dead stop to some given distance, typically 1/ 4 or 1/8 mile. The car that crosses the finish line first is the winner. Bracket racing consists of the same type of track and starting systems, but racing vehicles are grouped by their elapsed time (ET) potential, and raced against each other using a pre-selected dial-in. Two competing cars from the same bracket are paired, and the starting lights are staggered such that the slower car’s starting lights begin the sequence first by the difference of the two dial-ins. The winner is the car that reaches the finish line first, providing it did not run quicker than it’s dial. If both cars ran quicker than their respective dials, the car that ran the closest to its dial is the winner. Note that MPH has not been mentioned as a direct factor in winning or losing, and we will discuss that later. Read more

We concluded part 5 of this series by mentioning that there are many good drivers in Bracket Racing. Drivers that practice regularly become “good” drivers. However, knowing how to practice, and knowing the relationship of reaction time/elapsed time/winning/ losing can help you progress faster. Read more