Pontiac. Its name was derived from the famous indigenous war chieftain, known for his rebellious fighting spirit and willpower to oppose British troops operating in the modern-day Great Lakes region of Michigan. Chief Pontiac became the emblem for the General Motors performance brand in 1926. More than 80 years later, on April 27, 2009, GM announced it would discontinue the brand. The last Pontiac production vehicle rolled out of the Orion Assembly Plant in January 2010. Fanatics around the world carry on the legacy of Pontiac Motor Division (PMD) through the only way they know how—racing, and more specifically, through drag racing.

Dismantling The Misconceptions

The Butler family began its Pontiac relationship in the mid-1980s when Jim Butler restored his first 1965 GTO. "I was surprised by how much interest he had, and people wanted to buy it, so he sold it, restored another one—and had the same thing happen again," said Jim's son David of Butler Performance, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The company started as a car lot and scaled up to a performance shop circa 1988. Jim Butler also leased and ran the local track—US 43 Dragway—where David and his brother Rodney spent most of their time growing up.

"He got me a 1977 Trans Am when I was 12," reminisced David. "At the same time, he was buying and selling GTOs and Trans Ams, putting them out and restoring them. That was the business." Shortly after, popularity grew for Jim Butler Performance. The two brothers would eventually rebrand it Butler Performance years later.

"The number one thing we heard over and over was, 'Why are you trying to run a Pontiac? It's so much cheaper, and so much easier to put a small block or a big block Chevy in it,'" Butler chuckled and added, "Pontiac guys have been hearing this for a long time. But dad was a Pontiac guy.

"In the late 1990s, I went 7.60 [in the quarter mile], and in the early 2000s, I went 6.90 at 265 mph in a GTO," he said. Butler Performance, with a select few other businesses, demonstrated that Pontiac was still a force to be reckoned with, dismantling the misconceptions about building Pontiac engines. "When you start doing that [fast passes], and seeing that, you realize we're past those 'limitations.' That was just knowledge and parts availability. In general, there wasn't actually a problem with the engine designs."

Influenced by people like Jim Butler and drag racer Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick, Vic Edelbrock Jr. developed Performer RPM cylinder heads for their beloved Pontiacs in 1995—heads that contributed to Butler's success on track.

"Even though it probably didn't make financial sense for Edelbrock," he still loved Pontiacs, not just big block or small block Chevys or Fords, said Butler. "I was fortunate to work with him. When we got the first run, he called me from the foundry, and he was going over things, and he was excited about it."

Butler expressed how proud and honored he and his family are, having worked with Edelbrock personally on what he referred to as "our little project." He mentioned Edelbrock's excitement, "after all those years," as a token of regard that Edelbrock still had for the Pontiac racing community.

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