Team Chevy Sport Compact Results - NOPI ETOWN
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Team Chevy Sport Compact Results - NOPI ETOWN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Romack or Kirk Weeks
Chevrolet Trackside Communications
Sport Compact Drag Racing
jfromack@cs.com or krkweeks@cs.com
http://media.gm.com/gmracing
http://www.gmracing.com
www.gmtunersource.com
Team Chevy Scores Sport Compact
Victories at the NOPI Springnationals;
Marty Ladwig Wins Pro FWD, Brian Ballard
Turbo Street
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., May 4, 2008 –Team Chevy's Marty Ladwig captured his second national event victory of the season and set a new national elapsed time record for the Pro FWD category when he defeated Gary Gardella in the final round of today's NOPI Springnationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
"This Lucas Oil Chevrolet was a bracket-car this weekend," Ladwig said. "The car ran great on every pass and we were consistent on our lights. You couldn't ask for anything more from the car or this race team."
Watch Video; Team Chevy Pro FWD Final Round - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkIE09KA-88
Ladwig entered Sunday's eliminator with his Lucas Oil Chevrolet qualified in the No. 2 position after running 7.207 seconds at 203.06 mph. He defeated Chris Rado in round one with a 7.210-second run at a career-best speed of 203.31 mph to earn a spot in the finals against Gardella. In the championship heat, Ladwig's Ecotec-powered Cobalt took the win and the national record with a 7.167-second run at 202.88 mph. It was Ladwig's 18th career victory at an NHRA-sanctioned sport-compact event.
"We weren't too surprised with our qualifying e.t.," Ladwig said. "We were shooting for something like that but it was nice to be able to pop something like that right off the trailer. Then to be able to back it up in our first elimination pass, and then come back in the finals and lower the e.t. record even more in the finals was a nice closer.
"We were trying to take what the racetrack was giving us and that included putting out as much power as we could, and we got very, very close each time. Tuning-wise the team did a great job and all I wanted to do was hold up my end as the driver."
It was the fourth time this year in as many races that the two Chevy Pro FWD competitors have met in the championship round. Ladwig and Gardella are now knotted up for the season at 2-2.
"We've got a nice break now until June and I'll head home to Texas," Ladwig said. "We'll take the car back, not do any major changes, because we certainly don't need to, and perform some regular routine maintenance. This Chevrolet runs great. It's pretty much the same setup as we used at Pomona at the end of last year and it's a credit to the guys at Roush and GM Racing who built the car. Our Ecotec engines, we get those from GM Racing, and they've been super reliable. We're very happy with our GM hardware."
Gardella entered Sunday's eliminator with his Red Bull Chevrolet qualified in the No. 1 spot after running the quickest elapsed time of the meet and the season at 7.125 seconds (it was also a career-best for the resident of nearby Jackson, N.J.). He defeated fellow Team Chevy driver Jason Hunt in round one with a 7.273 e.t. at 199.58 mph and then fell short in the finals against Ladwig with a 7.39 e.t. Unofficially, Gardella leads the NOPI Xplod Pro FWD standings over Ladwig by two points.
"We're so close in the points right now, but whoever's in first, it's going down to the final race," Gardella said. "It was a good weekend, though, especially when you can have a performance like that at your home track. We went out a little hot in the finals against Marty – it pulled down at the starting line, shook the tires, we moved around a little bit but I still tried to run him down. You can't win them all, although we try. We we're coming off a two-event win streak and we got our Red Bull Chevy Cobalt into another final. That's not too bad.
"The car is solid and that 7.12 was incredible. We have to keep working on our consistency. We lost a little of that later in the day when we were all chasing the conditions. This race was so tricky and we probably judged the track to be a little better than it was. You have to consider that it was 55 degrees when we ran this morning and tonight it was 75 degrees."
Watch Video; Team Chevy/Round 1 of Eliminations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtcwetlNmqA
Watch Video; Gary Gardella takes a production Chevy Cobalt SS through its paces - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQPr0TQXe5Q
In HOT ROD, Bryan Jimenez advanced to his fourth consecutive final round this season and then cashed in with a pair of runners-up to NOPI points leader Kenny Tran. Jimenez was runner-up to Tran at this weekend's NOPI Springnationals and also for the final-round make-up of the rain-shortened event at West Palm Beach, Fla., back in April.
"We made a couple of changes to the car last weekend before Atco and were running pretty good," Jimenez said. "It was just one of those weekends. It's disappointing but we'll get the car straightened out. We plan on testing quite a bit before the next race in Denver, and the plan is to go there, get the win and see if we can't finish up this season strong. We have some points to make up but we're confident that we can get the job done."
Brian Ballard qualified the Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt in the No. 1 position after running 9.518 seconds at 152.90 mph and then went on to capture his first victory of the season thereby moving into first place in the Turbo Street standings.
Watch Video; Team Chevy's Brian Ballard Wins Turbo Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mlvp7tFF4A
"This was awesome," Ballard said. "We came out and qualified the Mobil 1 Chevrolet with a solid effort and ran strong all through qualifying. We had a little mechanical problem in the second qualifier but I think our Cobalt was still quick for the round. We ended up on the lucky side of the ladder, had a couple of close races at the beginning of the day and beat down that Dodge pretty good in the final."
Ballard defeated Joe Simpson in round one with a 9.505 e.t. at 151.09 mph, Mark Remick in the quarterfinals running 9.621 seconds at 150.77 and then had a round-three bye before advancing to the finals. In the championship heat against the Dodge of Kevin Van Natten, Ballard's Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt blistered the starting line and then charged to a winning 9.527-second run at 152.81 mph. Van Natten finished with a 9.882-second run at 151.73 mph. The margin of victory for the Chevrolet was .695 of a second.
Watch Video; Brian Ballard qualifies Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt No. 1 in Turbo Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wb_mUgY3Ds
"Believe it or not, every pass under power was between 9.50 and 9.60 seconds and we'll take that anytime," Ballard said. "This is a tricky new setup that we're still learning, but even when the track started to get a little slicker later in the day, this Chevrolet still ran great."
The next stop on the schedule is the NOPI Colorado Nationals on June 21 – 22 at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colo.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. 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 or Kirk Weeks
Chevrolet Trackside Communications
Sport Compact Drag Racing
jfromack@cs.com or krkweeks@cs.com
http://media.gm.com/gmracing
http://www.gmracing.com
www.gmtunersource.com
Team Chevy Scores Sport Compact
Victories at the NOPI Springnationals;
Marty Ladwig Wins Pro FWD, Brian Ballard
Turbo Street
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., May 4, 2008 –Team Chevy's Marty Ladwig captured his second national event victory of the season and set a new national elapsed time record for the Pro FWD category when he defeated Gary Gardella in the final round of today's NOPI Springnationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
"This Lucas Oil Chevrolet was a bracket-car this weekend," Ladwig said. "The car ran great on every pass and we were consistent on our lights. You couldn't ask for anything more from the car or this race team."
Watch Video; Team Chevy Pro FWD Final Round - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkIE09KA-88
Ladwig entered Sunday's eliminator with his Lucas Oil Chevrolet qualified in the No. 2 position after running 7.207 seconds at 203.06 mph. He defeated Chris Rado in round one with a 7.210-second run at a career-best speed of 203.31 mph to earn a spot in the finals against Gardella. In the championship heat, Ladwig's Ecotec-powered Cobalt took the win and the national record with a 7.167-second run at 202.88 mph. It was Ladwig's 18th career victory at an NHRA-sanctioned sport-compact event.
"We weren't too surprised with our qualifying e.t.," Ladwig said. "We were shooting for something like that but it was nice to be able to pop something like that right off the trailer. Then to be able to back it up in our first elimination pass, and then come back in the finals and lower the e.t. record even more in the finals was a nice closer.
"We were trying to take what the racetrack was giving us and that included putting out as much power as we could, and we got very, very close each time. Tuning-wise the team did a great job and all I wanted to do was hold up my end as the driver."
It was the fourth time this year in as many races that the two Chevy Pro FWD competitors have met in the championship round. Ladwig and Gardella are now knotted up for the season at 2-2.
"We've got a nice break now until June and I'll head home to Texas," Ladwig said. "We'll take the car back, not do any major changes, because we certainly don't need to, and perform some regular routine maintenance. This Chevrolet runs great. It's pretty much the same setup as we used at Pomona at the end of last year and it's a credit to the guys at Roush and GM Racing who built the car. Our Ecotec engines, we get those from GM Racing, and they've been super reliable. We're very happy with our GM hardware."
Gardella entered Sunday's eliminator with his Red Bull Chevrolet qualified in the No. 1 spot after running the quickest elapsed time of the meet and the season at 7.125 seconds (it was also a career-best for the resident of nearby Jackson, N.J.). He defeated fellow Team Chevy driver Jason Hunt in round one with a 7.273 e.t. at 199.58 mph and then fell short in the finals against Ladwig with a 7.39 e.t. Unofficially, Gardella leads the NOPI Xplod Pro FWD standings over Ladwig by two points.
"We're so close in the points right now, but whoever's in first, it's going down to the final race," Gardella said. "It was a good weekend, though, especially when you can have a performance like that at your home track. We went out a little hot in the finals against Marty – it pulled down at the starting line, shook the tires, we moved around a little bit but I still tried to run him down. You can't win them all, although we try. We we're coming off a two-event win streak and we got our Red Bull Chevy Cobalt into another final. That's not too bad.
"The car is solid and that 7.12 was incredible. We have to keep working on our consistency. We lost a little of that later in the day when we were all chasing the conditions. This race was so tricky and we probably judged the track to be a little better than it was. You have to consider that it was 55 degrees when we ran this morning and tonight it was 75 degrees."
Watch Video; Team Chevy/Round 1 of Eliminations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtcwetlNmqA
Watch Video; Gary Gardella takes a production Chevy Cobalt SS through its paces - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQPr0TQXe5Q
In HOT ROD, Bryan Jimenez advanced to his fourth consecutive final round this season and then cashed in with a pair of runners-up to NOPI points leader Kenny Tran. Jimenez was runner-up to Tran at this weekend's NOPI Springnationals and also for the final-round make-up of the rain-shortened event at West Palm Beach, Fla., back in April.
"We made a couple of changes to the car last weekend before Atco and were running pretty good," Jimenez said. "It was just one of those weekends. It's disappointing but we'll get the car straightened out. We plan on testing quite a bit before the next race in Denver, and the plan is to go there, get the win and see if we can't finish up this season strong. We have some points to make up but we're confident that we can get the job done."
Brian Ballard qualified the Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt in the No. 1 position after running 9.518 seconds at 152.90 mph and then went on to capture his first victory of the season thereby moving into first place in the Turbo Street standings.
Watch Video; Team Chevy's Brian Ballard Wins Turbo Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mlvp7tFF4A
"This was awesome," Ballard said. "We came out and qualified the Mobil 1 Chevrolet with a solid effort and ran strong all through qualifying. We had a little mechanical problem in the second qualifier but I think our Cobalt was still quick for the round. We ended up on the lucky side of the ladder, had a couple of close races at the beginning of the day and beat down that Dodge pretty good in the final."
Ballard defeated Joe Simpson in round one with a 9.505 e.t. at 151.09 mph, Mark Remick in the quarterfinals running 9.621 seconds at 150.77 and then had a round-three bye before advancing to the finals. In the championship heat against the Dodge of Kevin Van Natten, Ballard's Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt blistered the starting line and then charged to a winning 9.527-second run at 152.81 mph. Van Natten finished with a 9.882-second run at 151.73 mph. The margin of victory for the Chevrolet was .695 of a second.
Watch Video; Brian Ballard qualifies Mobil 1 Chevy Cobalt No. 1 in Turbo Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wb_mUgY3Ds
"Believe it or not, every pass under power was between 9.50 and 9.60 seconds and we'll take that anytime," Ballard said. "This is a tricky new setup that we're still learning, but even when the track started to get a little slicker later in the day, this Chevrolet still ran great."
The next stop on the schedule is the NOPI Colorado Nationals on June 21 – 22 at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colo.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. 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.
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Joined: 12-01-07
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From: newark, de
I was there and the folks at Gm were awesome!!! I drove into the gate and a Gm rep pulled me to the side and gave me two tickets to get in and asked me to park inside the pit gate with about 40-50 cobalts. Then they fed us lunch and gave us a full tour of the chevy cobalt ecotech teams. I got to sit in the new ss turbo which is an awesome car!!!
I got a very nice Chevy Cobalt hat and T-shirt which has a complete blow up of the insides of the new turbo engine in the ss. They put on a top notch show. THANKS TO THE NICE FOLKS AT GM!!!!!!!!
I got a very nice Chevy Cobalt hat and T-shirt which has a complete blow up of the insides of the new turbo engine in the ss. They put on a top notch show. THANKS TO THE NICE FOLKS AT GM!!!!!!!!
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