most recently when Gary Hinkle locat-ed the car in Austin , Texas , and brought it out of retirement . He commissioned a talented young driver named Bradley Ferguson whose father , David , ironically owned and raced this same car 40 years ago .
Originally , this vintage piece of history was painted tan in color , with then-owner Zunk installing brown panels down the side , which resulted in his friends telling him the car was ugly . So , in an effort to improve the car ’ s appearance , Zunk removed the panels and painted the car with a psychedelic acid rock paint job .
“ Larry was certain his friends would think it was beautiful , but instead they told him the car was now ‘ double ugly ’ and the name just stuck !” laughs Hinkle , who bought the car a decade ago .
December 2021
The treasured Double Ugly Pontiac is among the most popular cars in the area , and was even voted “# 1 car at Ardmore Dragway ” in a contest held a while back .
Another well-known car in attendance at the Cowpasture Nationals is an ex-Pro Stocker that ’ s steeped in legend . Eighty-year-old Gene Levy is the proud owner of a 1989 Pontiac Firebird built by Don Ness , and according to Levy , this car is the former Bill Orndorff-owned Pennzoil Pontiac that was driven by Jerry Eckman . Levy bought the car a decade ago , and he and driver Glenn Coker race it a couple times a month . They both dream of winning the Cowpasture Na-tionals with the car , and although it didn ’ t happen this year , they gave a solid showing and vow to give it another shot next year .
Meanwhile , another accomplished racer , Clark Mundt , has raced in just about every big bracket event in this part of the country over the last 53 years , but he had never so much as entered the Cowpasture Nationals until 2021 . Eight rounds of stiff competition later , the Texas native emerged victorious in his Cowpastures debut on Friday night in the Super Pro category , with Kevin Grider going the distance in No Electronics .
Saturday ’ s big winners include Bryson Parks in Super Pro , Michael Graves in No Electronics and Rusty Renfroe in Sportsman . Dennis Lithgow was victorious on Sunday in Super Pro , with Jere-my Falkenbach and Don Avondet winning No Electronics and Sportsman , respectively . DI
DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 67