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1985 Huffaker Pontiac

Owner: John F Watkins
Occupation: self-employed real estate owner
Age: 62
Location: Northern California
Number of years in the sport: 6
Other race cars owned: 1970 Boss 302 track car, 1970 IMSA Mustang, 2004 GrandAm Cup Mustang

Car: Huffaker Pontiac
Year: 1983 (rebuilt in 1985)
Make: Pontiac
Model: Firebird

Chassis Builder: Huffaker
Team: Peterson Tractor
Driver: Frank Leary/Bill Doyle
Sponsors: Peterson Tractor/Caterpillar
Series: SCCA TransAm
Championship Standing: 1983 - Fifth

Race Record: In 1983 Huffaker Engineering built a Pontiac Firebird for Bill Doyle of Peterson Tractor.  That year Frank Leary drove the car in 11 of 12 races.  His highest finish was a third at Sears Point, and he finished the year fifth overall.  In 1984 Bill Doyle took over the driving responsibilities.  Entering only the two events at Sears Point his highest finish that year was tenth.  Bill was at the SCCA National Runoffs at Road Atlanta at the end of 1984 and was caught up in a multi-car pile-up in the rain.  That winter Huffaker completely rebuilt the nearly totaled car.  Bill Doyle ran four events in 1985, and competed in 9 of the 13 events in 1986, finishing 15th overall.

History of car after first team: Keith Delaney of Corvalis, Oregon purchased the car from Bill Doyle at the end of 1986.  He raced in three TransAm events and one IMSA event.  His highest finish was an 8th at Portland in 1987.  Most of Keith’s time behind the wheel was spent competing in the SCCA GT1 class, where he was the West Coast Champion three years in a row (1987,1988, and 1989).

Condition when retired (or found): The car was in good condition when I purchased it from Keith Delaney in July, 2008.  It still had the original Huffaker motor, which needed rebuilding, and other than a paint job, needed only minor corrections.