Summary
Buick's 1986 and 1987 Grand Nationals and T-Types took turbocharged performance to another level with an intercooler and other improvements.
Buddy Ingersoll's Buick V6 Pro Stock effort challenged the conventional wisdom that bigger V8 engines were unbeatable.
By the early '90s, Buick's turbocharged performance was on full display at the GS Nationals at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky.
Seeing a single-turbo Grand National run in the sevens and a T-Type lift its front end at the track showed just how much potential these cars had.
Drag racing eventually embraced turbochargers and other power adders, proving that displacement wasn't everything.
It was back in 1986 when Buick started to master the turbocharger game. Turbochargers had been around for quite a while before the first 1984 and '85 Buick Grand National and T-Type turbo models came out. However, the '84 and '85 Buick turbos lacked the power of the 1986 and '87 models due to the absence of an intercooler and other differences.
Even with the success of these two-door sedans, which were faster than all of the American sports cars at the time, no one expected to see one compete in a professional Pro Stock class.
Read All About the '86 and '87 Grand National's Success Here
700+ Cu.-In. Pro Stock Engines Racing Against a 286 Cu.-In. Buick Engine
Buddy Ingersoll's Buick V6 Pro Stock
Buddy Ingersoll's Buick V6 Pro Stock
This was when the drag racing world started realizing that it wasn't always all about big blocks and displacement. This race took place in 1986, but the Buick setup would later be deemed illegal in Pro Stock competition. Of course, in my opinion, the reasons for outlawing it were a bunch of smokescreen excuses to hide the absolute truth: the old-timers didn't understand it and didn't want to believe a V6 could beat a V8.
To me, it sounds a lot like when nitrous oxide exploded onto the drag racing scene. If you didn't understand it or couldn't figure it out, it was easier to just say that using NOS was cheating.
Early '90s GS Nationals in Kentucky
It was in the early '90s when I attended my first Buick GS Nationals at Beech Bend Raceway for a week. A week off school—a week at the drag strip! That's when I saw the first single-turbocharged Grand National break into the sevens in the quarter-mile. It's also when I saw a T-Type in stock trim ride on its bumper halfway down the track while still turning in a time in the 10-second range.
That was when my cousin and I, who were best friends, knew we were watching something the drag racing world wasn't ready for yet.
Slowly but surely, the drag racing world caught up. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a drag car competing in a highly regulated class that doesn't have at least one turbo under the hood or some other kind of power adder.
The lineup to get into the GS Nationals—all Buicks—and the track entrance is quite a ways away.
