Hi guys. New member here. I found the forum through the link to my site for the Dale Pulde story. I run a website called Draglist.com that lists best stats and info on over 50,000 drag racing teams going back to 1949. After reading this post, I scanned the site for info on Pintos and thought I'd add a little here.
The Al Hanna 6.48 nitro run is going to be hard to top unless you have a full out Pro Mod car. There are a few other guys running Pintos recently that are tough as nails, though, and will make your job very hard indeed.
One guy is Missouri's Rick Pope, who went 7.67 at 183 in a Pro Street Pinto in 2001. The other is Mark Walker and the Texas Ranger outlaw Pro Mod car. Mark runs on the eighth mile, but his 4.40 best translates to roughly a 6.77 quarter mile time.
The Ford Pintos had the most success in NHRA Pro Stock, with racers like Bob Glidden, Gapp and Roush (yes, JACK Roush), and Dyno Don Nicholson beating the Chevies and Mopars with Cleveland powered killers. Grumpy Jenkins never ran a Ford Pinto -- he was Chevy all the way (in Pro Stock at least). His Inferior Chevy Vega ushered in the era of small block, tube framed Pro Stock cars in 1972 and dominated. A year later, the Ford Pintos took over as the top dogs with the better breathing 351s. It was a neat time for Pro Stock.
The best Pro Stock times I know of for Ford Pintos were a pair of 8.35s recorded in match race trim (lighter weight than legal) by Gapp & Roush and Minnesota racer Jerry Hemmingson (who has moved to the Carolinas and makes transmissions now).
I don't show any listings for a jet or rocket powered Pinto, but I may just have missed that.
If you get a chance, come on over to draglist.com, enter "Pinto" in the on-site search engine, and kick back for some good reading. We have over 8,000 pages of info and Ford Pintos definitely have their place in drag racing history. bp