What drag racer doesn't dream of running at what is now known as O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis?
Even better than racing at Indy is winning at Indy, and Gary Gardella earned that honor. It was his first NHRA Wally of the 2007 season and the first for his new Pro FWD Chevy Cobalt chassis (Gary is on a bit of a roll, having won the previous two NDRA events).
The Gardella Racing team worked hard to get here, struggling through all the bugs and quirks associated with a brand new car. A win at Indy was a fitting reward. Our congratulations go out to Gary and his team.
The weekend was full of great runs and accomplishments from the Chevy Cobalt teams. Both Gardella and Marty Ladwig posted runs in the 7.20s range (7.28s and 7.26s, respectively) during qualifying. Ladwig put up another 7.26 second run during round 1 of eliminations, which set a new national elapsed time record and gave Ladwig twenty bonus points, catapulting him into the #1 position in the championship points race. Jason Hunt and his Matco Tools Pro FWD Chevy Cobalt set a new national speed record at 202.64 mph. Erica Nocita, who made the long haul from Southern California to race at Indy, put up her quickest time ever, 10.40 seconds, in her production-based Quick16 Chevy Cobalt.
It was a great weekend. We couldn't do it without the dedicated engine builders, fabricators, machinists, and engineers at GM Racing and Roush Industries who work hard to give our teams the best possible ECOtec race engines. With the tight race schedule, itâs been a tough few weeks. Thanks for sweating it out. Youâre the best!
Check out more pictures from an exciting weekend at Indy over at flickr.
