|
2007 NHRA NATIONAL EVENT
SCHEDULE
Listen to Trackside Interviews
with Champions, Drivers and Crew Chiefs
Robert Hight
Hillary Will
Bob Vandergriff
Dave Connolly
Ed Iskenderian
Cory McClenathan
Robert Hight
Jim Yates
Tony Bartone
Hillary Will
Whit Bazemore
Byron Hines
2005 Interviews
| |
 |
|
|
| Team Chevy's Sport-Compact Drag Racers Look Toward Another
Exciting Year |
|
| Chevrolet's Formidable Lineup of Drivers and Champions Ready
for a Record-Breaking Season |
|
 DETROIT, March 6, 2007 - A formidable list of
teams, drivers, and current and former champions comprise Team Chevy's
sport-compact roster for 2007, promising to bring another exciting season
of race victories and record-setting performances to the red bowtie. With
the continued refinement and evolution of Ecotec horsepower, and the
aerodynamic and user-friendly sophistication of the race-prepared Cobalt,
Chevrolet looks to build on its already impressive sport-compact
legacy.
"It's going to be another great year for Team Chevy's
sport-compact program," said Carmen Smith, GM Racing program manager,
sport compact drag racing & drifting. "I expect that our pro-level
cars will, once-again, reset the benchmark for performance in the Pro FWD
class. Through good performance on and off the track, all of our teams
will continue to build a positive image for Chevy Cobalt, the Ecotec
engine, and Hydra-Matic transmission.
"We're continuing to make our
sport-compact racing platform more user-friendly and accessible, and this
spring, we will launch a new version of gmtunersource.com. We're moving to
a blog format so it will be easier to provide tech updates to fans and
racers. This will be a great source of information, as well as fun stuff
like photos and screen savers."
One of Team Chevy's shining
stars in 2006 was Jason Hunt who captured his second consecutive NDRA Pro
Outlaw FWD championship with a dominating performance that included seven
wins in seven final rounds. Hunt's Chevrolet was practically unstoppable
last season on the NDRA circuit despite the fact that he did not enter his
Ecotec-powered Chevy Cobalt at the series' first event at Phoenix and the
season finale in Norwalk, Ohio.
Hunt set a new (NDRA) Pro Outlaw
FWD national elapsed-time record of 7.461 seconds at Budds Creek (Md.) in
May, and a new top speed mark (NDRA) of 199.27 mph at Epping (N.H.) in
August. On the NHRA Pro FWD trail, Hunt's appearances were limited to a
handful of events, but even at those, his Ecotec-powered Chevy Cobalt was
a force to be reckoned with. The Maryland native earned three No. 1
qualifying awards, two national-event victories and advanced to four final
rounds. He set a national elapsed-time record of 7.519 seconds at
Englishtown (N.J.) in May and established a national speed mark of 196.44
mph at Las Vegas in July. Even with his limited NHRA appearances, Hunt
still made an impressive run at the 2006 Xplod title, but a back injury in
September sidelined him for the season's last two races and he finished
6th in the standings.
"We want to take the same methodical approach
to this season as last," said Hunt. "The competition is stepping up and we
plan on staying ahead of them. We will be trying to win the championships
in both NHRA and NDRA this year, which has not been done before. We had
some great results testing in the offseason and we're looking forward to
turning up the wick."
Marty Ladwig fielded his own sport-compact
team for the first time in 2006 and added to his extraordinary resume. The
Lucas Oil Chevy Cobalt driver captured a win in the NHRA Pro FWD category
at Denver, a runner-up at Richmond (Va.), and earned No. 1 qualifying
honors at Atco (N.J.) where he set a track-record e.t. of 7.706 seconds.
Ladwig ended the '06 campaign in second place in the NHRA Xplod standings
to record his fifth straight top-five finish. The Chevy Cobalt driver has
also won at least one event every year since 2002.
"I'm really
looking forward to this season," said Ladwig. "Lucas Oil has stepped up
our program with a new two-year contract and the funding to build a new
car. Unlike last year's unibody design, our new Chevy Cobalt will be a
full tube chassis car, purpose-built for the Pro FWD class and keeping in
line with GM Racing's goal of creating a more user-friendly platform. With
the support we're receiving from Lucas Oil, Chevrolet and GM Racing, I am
very confident that we will enjoy another successful season as well as a
better shot at the 2007 championship."
One of the most successful
sport-compact drivers to strap on a helmet Ladwig made drag racing history
in May 2005 at the NHRA Sport Compact Northeast Nationals in Atco.
Ladwig's Ecotec-powered Chevy Cobalt became the first front-wheel-drive
car to break the magical 200-mph barrier when he ran the unprecedented
speed of 202.02 mph in a final-round victory over Jason Hunt. That 200 mph
run is just one of several career highlights for the San Antonio, Tex.,
resident that includes two NHRA HOT ROD championships (2003-04), 13 NHRA
national-event victories, and notable achievements in NHRA HOT ROD and
NHRA Pro FWD/NOPI Pro Outlaw FWD. At the 2005 NDRA season finale in
Norwalk, Ohio, Ladwig's Chevy Cobalt ran the quickest elapsed time in the
history of the Pro Outlaw FWD category stopping the timers in 7.292
seconds, and his 7.124 second e.t. at the 2005 NHRA finals in Pomona is
the best-ever in the NHRA Pro FWD class.
"Besides our new car, the
other big news for Ladwig Racing is that we'll be teaming with Julie
Stepan and her father John," said Ladwig. "Julie will be making her Pro
Class debut in NHRA All Motor. She was the 2006 NHRA Sport RWD champion
and she has 13 NHRA wins. We're excited to have Julie on board for this
year."
Chevrolet's Gary Gardella won just about everything he
entered in 2005, including the NDRA Pro 4 Cylinder championship.
Gardella's 2005 campaign included nine wins on the NDRA circuit to go
along with 10 final-round appearances and eight No. 1 qualifying awards. e
was equally as punishing on the NHRA circuit where in his limited
appearances, the Chevy Cobalt driver captured three national events,
advanced to five final rounds and finished fifth in the
standings.
Last year, the New Jersey native cooled down, advancing
to just three final rounds combined in both NDRA and NHRA. But he posted a
career-best elapsed time of 7.565 seconds and speed of 186.15 mph at
Englishtown (NHRA) in September when earned No. 1 qualifying honors.
Gardella finished in fourth place in the NHRA Pro FWD standings and in
fourth place in the NDRA Pro Outlaw FWD standings.
"We have a lot
of new things going on this year including our new 2007 Chevy Cobalt built
by S & W Racecars," said Gardella. "We've tested and have it ready to
be competitive, and we're looking forward to having a great year. Our
primary sponsor this year will be Red Bull. They stepped up pretty big and
you can expect another new paint scheme on our car for '07.
"We're
looking forward to coming out this year and seeing if we can recreate some
of that magic that we had in '05. We had some minor mechanical issues that
we ran into last year, and in drag racing you have to be spot-on perfect
to win. We've tested getting our new 2007 Chevy Cobalt ready, and I've
never felt as comfortable in a racecar as I do this one. It's been easy
for me to drive, and going back to a clutch car was as smooth as I
expected - that's just something you don't forget how to do. I ran a
clutch for so many years and this was like being home again."
Bryan Jimenez was new to the Team Chevy camp in 2006, so it's only
fitting that the Houston, Tex., resident had his best season ever as a
sport-compact competitor. The driver of the Everyone's Mortgage Chevy
Cobalt scored his first career victory at the NHRA event at Atco, advanced
to the final round at the NHRA season-opening contest in West Palm Beach
(Fla.), and then posted a runner-up at the NDRA eliminator in Valdosta
(Ga.), and a runner-up at Rockingham (N.C.). Jimenez also drove his
Ecotec-powered Chevrolet to a career-best time and speed of 7.721 seconds
at 183.34 mph at the second NHRA Englishtown event in October. He finished
in third place in the NHRA Pro FWD standings and in sixth place in the
NDRA Pro Outlaw FWD standings. With a full season of experience behind the
wheel of his Chevy Cobalt, you can expect Jimenez to be a contender in
both sport-compact racing series.
"After the success we
experienced last year, we're expecting great things in 2007," said
Jimenez. "We knew our new Chevy Cobalt was going to be an incredible
racecar so we weren't that surprised when we improved as quickly as we
did. Everyone on this team is pretty confident that we can get even
better, but the competition level is going to be so fierce, with so many
good cars, that it's hard to say just where each team will end up. You're
going to need your 'A' game at every event. We're ready to mix it up a
little and let the chips fall where they may."
After winning three
straight titles in the NDRA series (2004-2005 in Turbo 4 and 2006 in Turbo
Street) you can once again expect Brian Ballard's Ecotec-powered Chevy
Cobalt to be an on-track monster. In the nine contests in which Ballard
raced, the Chevy Cobalt driver captured five national-event victories (St.
Louis, Rockingham, Leicester, Budds Creek, Norwalk), advanced to six final
rounds and earned five No. 1 qualifying awards. Ballard ran a career-best
elapsed time of 9.282 seconds at Norwalk (Ohio) and a career-best speed of
158.84 mph at Epping.
"I'm confident that we can pick up right
where we left off last season, but running consistently and winning rounds
will be the key," said Ballard. "We started a little slow last year, and
then we came on like an roaring freight train and rode that momentum to
the TurboStreet championship. We'll come out of the gate better prepared
this year and hopefully we can charge to our fourth consecutive title."
In the NDRA Pro Extreme category, 2006 champion Don Nase Jr.
blasted his way into uncharted territory in the GM/Ecotec-powered,
DVDAvenue.com dragster. The Jackson, N.J., resident won nine races last
season on the NDRA tour, captured nine No. 1 qualifying awards, set an
NDRA elapsed-time national record of 6.457 seconds at Epping, and a Pro
Extreme top speed record of 210.14 mph at Budds Creek.
"We've been
working on a new ProTorque torque converter and an experimental turbo
wheel design for AirWerks," said Nase. "We've also been breaking in some
new crew members. We're determined to defend our NDRA Extreme Compact
championship, and we want to give our sponsors the bragging rights to the
best four-cylinder drag car in the world, and the first sport-compact car
to break into that elusive five-second zone. We're super excited to see
some of the new competition coming out this season in our class, and we
are also going to run some Top Dragster over in the IHRA. We've added five
races to our schedule this year so it will be interesting to see what kind
of effect that has on our overall program. If we keep our heads down and
stay focused on the tasks at hand, it should be another great season for
the DNR Team."
Last April, when California native Erica Nocita
flew all the way across the continent to drive her Chevy Cobalt Phase5 in
her first NHRA Sport Compact Quick 16 race at Florida's Moroso Motorsports
Park, she couldn't have imagined that six months later she would be
crowned the category's Eastern champion. But in 2006, she made most the of
the opportunity to compete against some of the country's finest bracket
racers, working her way toward a pair of national-event victories and a
well-deserved NHRA Quick 16 East title. In addition, the senior at Azusa
Pacific University earned No. 1 qualifying honors at Denver and ran a
career-best e.t. and speed at the October event in Englishtown.
"GM has provided us with the resources to take our Chevy Cobalt to
the next level of performance," said Nocita. "We'll be running a similar
Ecotec engine package to that of Brian Ballard and Jason Whitfield, and
the increased performance means we'll be going faster. We also enjoy the
continued support of Chicago Title Insurance and BG Oil Products, and look
forward to another amazing season with them as a part of our team. Good
Neighbor Pharmacy, who came on board toward the end of last year, will
also be a part of our team for the entire 2007 season!
"This
season we'll be focusing our efforts on West Coast races," said Nocita.
"We'll be running IDRC events, Battle of the Imports, Summit Series
events, as well as the NHRA Sport Compact races in Las Vegas and Pomona.
Not that the East Coast wasn't an awesome experience, but with the way my
personal schedule is structured, racing on the West Coast will be enough
to provide us with a challenging schedule."
California's Jason
Whitfield will also be heating up the competition west of the Rockies with
his Ecotec-powered Chevy Cobalt. Whitfield will be entering his 13th
season on the tuner circuit and will race in IDRC and select NHRA and NDRA
events on the west coast.
"The offseason was very productive
for us and the improvements we made to our Chevy Cobalt will be evident as
soon as we hit the track," said Whitfield. "It's going to be a great
season, and like everyone else at Team Chevy, we can't wait to get
started."
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest
automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded
in 1908, GM today employs about 284,000 people around the world. With
global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33
countries. In 2006, 9.1 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally
under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo,
Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM's OnStar
subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and
information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com .
# # #
|
Attachments:
Jason Hunt (12).jpg |
|
| For
additional information please visit the GM racing media site by clicking
here . |
|
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has
been the global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded in 1908, GM
today employs about 284,000 people around the world. With global
headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33
countries. In 2006, 9.1 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally
under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo,
Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM's OnStar
subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and
information services. More information on GM can be found at
www.gm.com.
### |
|
Contact:
Jeff Romack
317.843.5447
jfromack@cs.com
Kirk
Weeks
317.843.5443
krkweeks@cs.com
|
|
|
|
| Please do not reply to this e-mail as we are unable to respond to
messages sent to this address. You can request additional information by
e-mailing the contact listed above. You received this e-mail because you
have expressed interest in GM Racing. If you would like to edit your GM
Racing News e-mail preferences or unsubscribe, click here . To read General Motors complete
Privacy Policy, please click here . |
|
| If
you cannot view this email, please click here to view it in a web browser.
|
|
| | |
| |
The Reinhart
Report
|