The results are in! And it turns out that the 4th Annual CrateEngineDepot.com Sport Compact Meet was a resounding success! As we all know, it’s the people that make up a community, and luckily we have tons of great people that make up the GM small car family – and apparently some that have a little bit too much free time and access to tons of blue painter’s tape! Hit the jump and check out the mischief and fun that went down at CED this past weekend.

The party started with some good ole fashion drag racing Friday night at the Great Lakes Dragway. This was the first time at a drag strip for quite a few Cobalt owners who were anxious to lay down the best passes possible to show they had the goods before Saturday’s beauty pageant. One of the most notable passes of the night was by a 70 year old veteran who had not raced in over 50 years. That fact surprised a lot of those in attendance though because he was able to pull off a .089 reaction time and hit 14.1 through the whole 1320. Quite impressive indeed for 50 years of dust to shake off! You can check out all of the great shots of Cobalts taking on some classic drag cars in our image gallery at the bottom.

On Saturday, the festivities made their way over to Rockenbach Chevrolet which was the official gathering point of the meet. One of the best things about a large meet like this is being able to check out all of the unique modifications each person has done to their cars, and boy was there ever an eclectic range of ideas on display at Rockenbach. Everything from a Batman-inspired HHR and a Cobalt with Italian Police livery to lambo doors and grand sport stripes. The customization didn’t stop there either as the blue painters tape was out in force and even completely covered a Cobalt’s hood, which was good because it served as a message board to display some very descriptive and seemingly very important information about a few owners at the show (you can check that image out in the gallery and see if you can spot all of the not-so-subtle notes).

Something really exciting about this year’s show was the vast distances that owners came from. There were Cobalts from as far away as California, Florida and New York that made an appearance which only means one thing… The ION, SKY, Solstice and HHR groups need to step it up for the fall show! For those that did make it out, there were special gifts and deals available from GM Performance Division and GM Performance Parts. Never one to miss an event, Bill Duncan from GMPD was on-site to answer questions and bounce ideas off of which he seemed to never stop doing all day long.

If you couldn’t make it out to Rockenbach Chevrolet for the event, don’t fret. We have almost 60 pictures documenting the weekend that you can thumb through in our gallery below. Do you see your car in the coverage shots? Give us a shout below and let us know who you are!

Day 4 of the HOT ROD Power Tour brought the party to Bowling Green, KY. The show was held on the airport grounds so there was plenty of space for everyone to spread out and show off their rides. As a special treat, those participating in the tour got to take a tour of Corvette plant and the Corvette museum. There was also a decent share of oddballs at this stop that you’ll just have to check out the gallery to see.

One of the aforementioned oddballs was a car built by someone that who, let’s just say, has a very eclectic taste. This hot rod has street signs and license plates inside instead of floor boards and the entire vehicle has some deceased woodland critters affixed to various body panels and fixtures. The saving grace here is that this machine is powered by a 454 big block engine. That engine does use dryer ducts for fresh air inlets but what else would you expect from this creation?

The other featured ride is one called the “Lost Sol”. We don’t think this one is lost at all, but if it ever was, it wouldn’t take long to find the right way as its rear wheels are motivated by the mighty LS7. If we were to ever swap out the stout LE5 for an engine in a Solstice, we would have to agree that an LS7 would be a nice trade.

Motor Medics patients continued to flood in with repairs today. Jobs included fixing a LT1 engine in a Caprice wagon that was only running on 4 cylinders, setting an axle pinion gear clearance set, and even a few front spindle replacements.

Since the event was at an airport, and the show all about hot rods, it was only fitting that a 1929 Ford Tri-Power airplane touched down to take some attendees on a trip above the tour stop. Seeing the entire show from up high is a great way to really get some perspective on just how large this caravan of car enthusiasts is.

We have some great pictures from the event, courtesy of Bill Duncan, who is leading the GMPD charge at the HOT ROD Power Tour in his Synergy Green Camaro. Check out all of his shots below.

The first Formula Drift event was in beautiful Long Beach, California. A clear blue sky, 85-degree weather, and intense drifting competition drew a huge crowd to the Streets of Long Beach. Pontiac Motorsports was proud to be represented at this event by Rhys Millen Racing and, new this year, Gardella Racing.

A cold and rainy morning turned into a beautiful afternoon for the Chevy Cobalt drag cars and Pontiac Solstice drift cars at NOPI'€™s Englishtown event. The pro drag racing teams got only one shot at qualifying, but it was enough for Gary Gardella to put his Chevy Cobalt at the top of the Pro FWD class with a 7.12 second run. Chevy racer Marty Ladwig was in the second spot in Pro FWD, and Bryan Jimenez grabbed the same spot in the Hot Rod class. The Turbo Street class was able to squeeze in two qualifying rounds. Brian Ballard landed in the top spot, piloting his Cobalt to a run of 9.518 seconds at 152.90mph.