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First To 200 MPH, GM Racing Team Prepares Pro FWD Chevy Cobalt For Mountain Madness Looking To Capture Second Straight Mile-High Win MORRISON, Colo., June 7, 2005 - The Second annual Mountain Madness NHRA Sport Compact Nationals will be held June ...
Published: Jun 10, 2005, 2:39 AM
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First To 200 MPH, GM Racing Team Prepares Pro FWD Chevy Cobalt For Mountain Madness
Looking To Capture Second Straight Mile-High Win
MORRISON, Colo., June 7, 2005 - The Second annual Mountain Madness NHRA Sport Compact Nationals will be held June 11- 12 at Bandimere Speedway. The GM Racing team will be looking to defend its event championship in the Pro FWD category at the Mile-High strip and carry forward the record-setting momentum established in Atco, N.J., on May 15. Marty Ladwig's ECOtec-powered Chevy Cobalt became the first four-cylinder and first front-wheel drive car to exceed 200 mph at the New Jersey quarter-mile, and the performance provided the GM Racing program with its second Pro FWD win of the season (its 14h victory in the NHRA category since 2003).
"A great effort at Atco by everyone affiliated with this program," said Marty Ladwig. "I know our car is prepared by the best team in racing and that provides me with a lot of confidence every time I go up to the line. This is a professional, detail-oriented group, and you don't have to worry about any loose bolts. The great thing about the GM program is that we've pushed everyone else to excel. We're not just out there winning races, we're pushing the envelope and developing new technology that makes it more cost-effective for everyone in the sport. The 200-mph barrier is something we've been working toward for a long time. Now we're beginning to run up to our potential and with a consistency that should make the rest of the season very enjoyable and exciting for fans of the new Chevy Cobalt and the Pro FWD category."
At last year's Mountain Madness Sport Compact Nationals the GM Racing team rolled to a then national-record e.t and speed of 7.778 seconds at 191.51 mph when Nelson Hoyos piloted the ECOtec-powered Chevrolet to the Pro FWD title. Marty Ladwig tucked away career win number seven in HOT ROD at last year's race to provide the event daily-double for the GM Racing team. This will be Ladwig's second visit to Bandimere Speedway, his first in the Pro FWD class, and he's looking forward to the added challenge of racing at close to 5,900 above sea-level.
"After what we were able to do in New Jersey, we can't wait to get back on the track in Denver," said Ladwig. "It's been almost a month since we've raced and our enthusiasm level is extremely high. Using a turbocharger on our ECOtec engine, the thinner air at that altitude can actually contribute to better performance numbers, but we'll have to wait and see. We'll certainly have to make some adjustments but it's another challenge we're looking forward to."
Even though the GM Racing program has elected not to battle for the NHRA championship this year in Pro FWD, it has won two of the three events in which it has competed in 2005 at Las Vegas and most recently, at Atco. Ladwig's ECOtec-powered Chevy Cobalt has also captured No. 1 qualifying honors twice, and at Atco ran the fastest top speed in the history of the category at 202.02 mph.
"The great thing about this sport is that you never know what to expect and that is especially true when trying to determine the performance of these cars," said Ladwig. "The awesome thing about this series and these type of cars is that nobody knows what the limits are. Every time you think they can't go any faster they go a lot faster and a lot quicker and we haven't come close to that performance wall. This is a sport where we're pushing the development of new products and technology and putting them under stresses you won't find in normal circumstances, and that's something that benefits everyone who buys a new Chevy Cobalt."
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