GM Racing Norwalk summary

Gary Gardella, Chevy Cobalt, Set National ET Record At NOPI World Finals Brittany Kindle Qualifies No. 1 In Chevy Cobalt Phase5

NORWALK, Ohio, Oct. 15, 2005 - With nine NDRA Pro 4 Cylinder victories and the 2005 NOPI Xbox championship already safely locked away, you might expect Chevy Cobalt driver Gary Gardella to ease up a little bit at the series' last event of the season. But when near perfect atmospheric and track conditions presented the opportunity for a national record performance today at the NOPI World Finals, the 26-year-old New Jersey gladly accepted the challenge and drove his ECOtec-powered Chevrolet to a new elapsed-time mark of 7.873 seconds. It was also Gardella's ninth No. 1 qualifying effort of the season in the Pro 4 Cylinder category.

"It feels good, 7.87 seconds, two passes in a row within two-thousandths of a second, that's outstanding," said Gardella. "This Chevrolet just keeps motoring along, and the great thing is we have some excellent data to study tonight. We may even be able to run better numbers tomorrow and if things fall into place like we're hoping they should, then by the end of the day we may get this Ecko/Hot Hues Cobalt down into the low 7.80s. That would be a great way to close out the season."

In the NOPI Chic class, Brittany Kindle, drove the Chevy Cobalt Phase5 to the No. 1 qualifying spot with an 11.892 second run at 113.67 mph. Kindle posted her best time in competition in the 2005 Chevrolet, and the effort earned the New York City resident her fourth No. 1 qualifying award of the year.

"It feels wonderful, we're very excited," said Kindle. "A lot of hard work went into getting us to this point. We broke out and lost our first race, ran a 12.94 e.t. and we were so excited. Now, here we are at the end of the season, running our best ever in the Chevy Cobalt Phase5 in competition and that's pretty special. I would have to say that we've made some progress this year.

"Our biggest goal this weekend was to run in the 11s. We took the car off the trailer just the way we had it at Atco (N.J.). We changed the oil, took it to the line and ran an 11.95 - it came out of nowhere. That was without turning the boost up at all. We added a couple of more pounds of boost for the third run and that's when we ran the 11.89. We knew this Chevrolet could do it, it was just a matter of getting all the pieces together. We love this car. It's the best racecar we've ever had."

Jason Hunt captured pole qualifying honors in Pro Outlaw FWD driving the ECOtec-powered Pontiac to a 7.990 e.t. at 177.98 mph. Marty Ladwig is qualified in the No. 2 spot in the Brut Chevy Cobalt. Ladwig can set a national-record mph on Sunday if he can back up today's blistering top speed of 195.14 mph.

-gm racing