General Motors has announced it will stop producing the Pontiac, but the brand has left its legacy at the Darlington Raceway.
Buck Baker won the 1960 Southern 500 in a Pontiac. It was the first win for a Pontiac at the historic track.
Baker grabbed the lead on lap 315, only to see the flagman erroneously signal Rex White the winner at the end. But when the dust cleared, the chief NASCAR scorer declared Baker the winner. He finished a lap and 22 seconds ahead of White, who was driving a Chevrolet.
SOUTHERN 500
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But Baker almost didn’t make it. He blew a tire on the third turn of the final lap and his Pontiac went into a spin. He regained control to cross the finish line. He then lapped the track on three tires for good measure.
“By the hair on his chin, Baker proved that Pontiacs could survive the tortures of a 500-mile grind,” Morning News reporter Walt Copeland wrote. “No one questioned the fact that they were faster than any other Detroit products.”
Baker said he only needed six tire changes, adding, “We never even lifted her hood.”
Meanwhile, Cotton Owens broke the Southern 500 qualifying record at the time in a Pontiac with a speed of 126.146 mph. He had a single lap speed of 126.630 mph.
Other Pontiac wins were Weatherly in 1963 (spring race) and Ward Burton (spring race) and Bobby Labonte (Southern 500) in 2000 and Ricky Craven (spring race) in 2003.
Gone with the Pontiacs is the GTO, a muscle car of the 1960s. The GTO spawned the 1964 pop classic by Ronny and The Daytonas, “GTO.” The words still resonate: “Little GTO, you’re really looking’ fine. Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389. Listen to her tachin’ up now, listen to her whine. Come on and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO.”
Pontiac joins the venerable Oldsmobile in the GM graveyard. Pontiac was first produced in 1926. It was introduced as a companion to the Oakland. It is named for the town, Pontiac, Mich., while Pontiac is located in Oakland County, Mich.
— Staff writer Dwight Dana can be reached at (843) 317-7259. Comment on this story at scnow.com.
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