One last lap with Pontiac

With a solid history at its back and a cult-like following, Pontiac made its NASCAR debut in 1950 with Will Albright on the beach at Daytona. Pontiac's first win came seven years later on the Daytona road/beach course when Cotton Owens wheeled his Pontiac to victory. The win had played an integral part in the development of the brand's place in the history of NASCAR.

Pontiac bowed out of racing after the 2003 Cup season with 155 wins; but not before giving fans one last memory. During the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven beat and banged on each other for the final ten laps. When it was all said and done Craven had beaten Busch to line by .002 seconds in the closest finish in Cup history.

Although few in numbers, the Pontiac fraternity includes some of the sport's biggest names. Not many people know Dale Earnhardt, Sr raced Pontiacs from 1982-1986 in what was then called the Busch Grand National Series. On the Cup side Richard and Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart were just a few of the drivers to carry the Arrow Head logo and the Pontiac name into victory lane.

With 31 wins and a championship in 1989, Rusty Wallace is Pontiac's winningest driver. Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart hold the distinction of winning Pontiac's last two championships with Stewart winning the last one in 2002.

But perhaps the brand's most famous win came in the 1984 Firecracker 400. With President Reagan on hand, Richard Petty beat Cale Yarborough by inches to win his 200th and final win of his illustrious career.

When the news came down earlier in the week that GM's production of the Pontiac would cease after 2010 it hit home with many in the auto-making industry and those in the world of racing. With all of its history and influence in the automobile industry, Pontiac had managed to make an even bigger stamp on the history of NASCAR.