The Pro FWD class offered another exciting battle to the finish. The top two Chevy Cobalt teams, with drivers Marty Ladwig and Jason Hunt, grappled with mechanical problems during the first two rounds of qualifying.
But, qualifying round three was fast for all the Chevy teams and resulted in a very tight ladder. Jason Hunt grabbed the number one spot with a 7.50-second run, followed by Gary Gardella (7.64) in the second spot, Marty Ladwig (7.65) in fourth, and Bryan Jimenez (7.89) in sixth.
Eliminations day couldn't have gone better for Chevy Cobalt. With the ladder in our favor, we were able to take out the competition in the first round. So, by round two, we were guaranteed a win for Chevrolet and ECOtec. It was great racing all day long. Hunt, Ladwig, and Gardella all made runs in the 7.40-second range. With all the ECOtec engines running strong, the day came down to driver skill and finding the right tune for the track.
Check out flickr for lots of great pictures from our weekend at Atco.
Jason Hunt, with the CSI team, came home as the Pro FWD winner for the second time this season. He also moved up to second place in the championship point race, behind Chevy driver Marty Ladwig in first. Gary Gardella's runner-up finish closed the gap between him and the top of the field, putting him well within striking distance.
The Pro FWD championship continues to be a fierce battle.
Jason's teammate, Brian Ballard, running in Quick 16, grabbed runner-up and, with that, sealed the NHRA Quick 16 East championship (Chevy Cobaltâs first championship of the 2007 season).
At the same time, we had Don Nase driving his ECOtec-powered dragster in NDRA St. Louis, where he took home a win and set a new elapsed time record at 6.41 seconds.
