Marty Ladwig Highlighted in "Super Street" Magazine

The May issue of Super Street Magazine has a great feature on Marty Ladwig and his Chevy Cobalt racecar. Marty is a pioneer when it comes to Chevy Sport Compact Racing and is being recognized for not only that, but his incredible consistency on the track year in and year out! The story highlights Marty in a great way.

Marty is already off to another great start for this year, and is on pace to do some great things. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marty grabbed another record or two along the way. Thank you Marty for giving Chevy Cobalt fans across the nation, something to cheer and get excited about! Take a look at the race schedule and get out there and support our Cobalt race teams. These guys are amazing characters off the track and always make time for their fans.

Make sure to check it out. The magazine is still on sale at bookstores right now. read more...

Ryan Tuerk drove his Solstice GXP to the podium in only his second event in the new car.

GM Nearly Sweeps Formula Drift Atlanta

Formula Drift Atlanta was a huge event for Pontiac drifting: two Solstices on the podium and the GTO in fourth. It was a long haul for event winner Rhys Millen, who persevered through two qualifying rounds and four elimination rounds. Rhys had an unwaivering focus. This will probably make me sound old and dorky, but remember Ice Man from ‘Top Gun’? That was Rhys this weekend: no mistakes. None. Then there’s modest Dai Yoshihara, claiming that he was still getting used to being behind the wheel of the GTO. . . Dai, I don’t think you can say that any more, because it’s clear you have pretty good handle on it! And Ryan Tuerck. Only his second Formula Drift event in his new Solstice with a new team, and he lands himself on the podium.

Absolutely amazing. Congratulations to all. read more...

Don Nase talks about his ECOtec-powered dragster to a group of VIP ECOtec owners at NOPI Englishtown.

GM ECOtec VIP Owners Meet NOPI Englishtown, May 4

NOPI Englishtown marked the second GM ECOtec VIP Owners Meet of the year. We were a bit concerned about the weather due to the fact that it was very cold and overcast with light rain and heavy wind on Saturday. We stayed positive and continued to setup the GM VIP area and it paid off big time. Come Saturday morning, it still looked bleak, but at about 11:00 in the afternoon, the sun came out and warmed everything up just right!

This event went great. We had over 31 ECOtec VIP cars and about 60 fans in attendance. They received a treat this weekend, with a full-on tour of the new HHR SS and the 2008 Turbo Cobalt SS with Brian Brown, the Chevy HHR and Cobalt marketing manager. Soon after that, Carmen Smith took the group on a pit tour of all the ECOtec/Cobalt racers. This is when the fun really began. The owners were able to get up close and personal with all of the racers and their racecars. They had a blast asking questions and talking about how they make power and what parts they use. After the tour, we all went to the grandstands to cheer on our favorite Cobalt racers as they were running extremely well this weekend and were set to run some serious numbers! read more...

Gary Gardella and Ryan Tuerck celebrate a big NOPI Drift victory in front of the Gardella Racing Pontiac Solstice GXP.

NOPI Englishtown: Pontiac Solstice GXP Get Its First Drift Win!

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.

During eliminations, Brian Ballard progressed consistently through four rounds to bring home a win for Chevy and his CSI racing team. Turbo Street is a highly competitive class with little room for error. Congratulations to Brian, Rob, Jason, Charlie, and the whole CSI team! read more...

2009 Cobalt SS Gets Great Reviews From RiceBoyTV.com

Many of you may not be familiar with www.RiceBoyTv.com, so let me bring you up to speed. John Naderi is a guy that has been in the market for many years. He has made his way through the famed site Overboost.com and eventually found himself at Primedia. This is where he became the editor of Super Street Magazine, which many of you are familiar with. John had a great run with Super Street and made a huge impact thanks to his contributions to the Tuner Marketplace. John recently took a chance at creating a new media outlet, which has given him creative freedom and a new perspective for the tuner market.

He is joined by some heavy hitters that worked along side of him at Super Street Magazine – Ricky Chu and Justin Kaehler. Both of these guys are huge assets to RiceBoyTV.com and have made a great name for themselves in the marketplace. We have been talking to them about the new Turbo Cobalt SS for a while now, and they finally got a chance to drive it. They recently did a story on the new Cobalt on their site, and gave it amazing reviews. read more...

NOPI Atco (and Atlanta Re-run)

It was a busy and blustery weekend in Atco, New Jersey for the NOPI Drag Race event. It’s not easy to keep everything straight when you’re essentially running two events in one, but I’ll do my best to summarize everything for you.

Saturday’s qualifying doubled as elimination rounds to make up for the rained-out Atlanta event. It was a good day for Hot Rod Chevy Cobalt driver Bryan Jimenez, who wound-up with the Atlanta win. Saturday also resulted in a hard-fought win for Gary Gardella in Pro FWD, who laid-down an impressive run of 7.27 seconds at 214mph. Later in the weekend, Gary was able to back-up this run, setting both elapsed time and speed records. Saturday resulted in runner-up Atlanta finishes for Chevy drivers Brian Ballard in Turbo Street, Marty Ladwig in Pro FWD, and Grace Howell in All Motor. It was not such a good day for Don Nase Jr., driving the ECOtec-powered Extreme dragster. He got out of the groove and, through a series of moves, wound-up hooking a tire and flipping over. Luckily, Donnie was OK and his dragster suffered only minor damage to the main hoop and wing. read more...

With a revamped car and a winning attitude, Erica Nocita is a racer to watch in her ECOtec-powered Chevy Cobalt.

Erica Nocita Shows She Can Play With the Big Boys

Many of you remember Erica Nocita with her aggressive driving skills and handful’s of Wally’s, not to mention her girl-next-door smile. We checked in with Erica and wanted to see how things where looking for 2008. From the sounds of it, she’s back on track and ready to race!

2007 was a challenging season for Dalcorp Racing, but also one of the most rewarding. After Erica wiped out the competition in 2006, winning the NHRA Quick16 East Championship, GM Racing decided to play hardball and upgrade the performance level of Erica’s 2005 Chevy Cobalt. Not one to be outdone, GM Racing decided to go all out and change the NHRA Quick 16 car completely, which included an engine and turbo change, suspension modifications, a different computer system and even a new paint scheme. read more...

GM VIP ECOtec Owners Meet Invades Englishtown Raceway on May 4

The GM VIP ECOtec Owners Meet was a great success at Moroso Motorsports Park in Florida that we decided to host another event in the North East for our ECOtec friends.

The GM Tuner Tour will be at Englishtown Raceway in NJ on the 4th, loaded with great cars on display along with all kinds of giveaways and prizes. Make sure to come out to the event and stop by the booth and check out the new display. read more...

Bryan Jimenez and Don Nase, Jr at the ECOtec Owner's Meet in West Palm Beach, FLA.

GM VIP ECOtec Event, Take One - Moroso Florida! Next Up: Englishtown NJ!

We had our very first GM VIP ECOtec event on Saturday April 5, 2008. The event took place at the NOPI Drift and Drag event held at Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach, Florida. The great thing about the event for GM ECOtec owners was the fact that GM took care of the costs of registration, so it didn’t cost the owners anything to come out to this great event.

As the sun rose early Saturday morning on Moroso Motorsports Park in Florida we could tell that there was going to be a great day ahead of us. We started off with a good turnout of a whole bunch of different ECOtec’s. Everything from hooked up Solstices, Sky’s, Redline’s and Cobalt SS/SC’s with elaborate paintjobs, the ECOtec owners showed us that they were waiting for one of these events for a long time to show their enthusiasm. read more...

Ryan Tuerck made an amazing debut for Gardella Racing at Formula Drift Long Beach.

Recap: Formula Drift Long Beach

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.

Rhys Millen’s Solstice GXP Drift was not able to compete at the Long Beach event due to some late-developing technical issues. But, RMR was well represented by the return of the Pontiac GTO Drift. The GTO launched Pontiac into the drifting circuit, and we like to think of it as a bit of a legend. After an unfortunate incident involving a NASCAR driver and a wall, the GTO needed some work to make its comeback in 2008. And, with Rhys behind the wheel of the Solstice GXP, the GTO also needed a driver. With the help of Bridgestone, the GTO Drift was revived and put into the hands of accomplished drifter Dai Yoshihara. read more...

Race Videos From NOPI Florida

We all love a good YouTube video - especially good racing videos.

Our friend Jeff Romack just posted six new videos on YouTube that are a must watch. Our Cobalt race teams look really good this year! They are under some new rule regulations that they are working through, and once they work through those, we will be seeing a ton of victories out of this bunch. read more...

Marty Ladwig captured the Pro FWD flag at the rain-shortened Moroso Motorsports Park Sunday.

Ladwig Captures Moroso Pro FWD Victory; Rain Postpones Some Elimination Races

We almost completed the first sport compact drag race of the 2008 season.

Intermittent rain, coupled with track oil-downs, disrupted the eliminations schedule on Sunday at Moroso Motorsports Park. Some classes were completed, including Pro FWD and All Motor. The finals for Hot Rod will be run during the second round of qualifying at Englishtown in May. Chevy driver Bryan Jimenez will be competing for the win.

In Pro FWD, Chevy driver Gary Gardella was the top qualifier with a run of 7.38 seconds. Note that qualifying at Moroso doubled as qualifying for the rained-out Atlanta event, making Gary the top qualifier for both events (eliminations for the Atlanta rain-out will be run during qualifying at Atco). Gary had to settle for runner-up in Moroso, however. The final round was won by Chevy driver Marty Ladwig. Marty piloted his ECOtec-powered Chevy Cobalt to a clean 7.33 second run, which also set a national elapsed time record. It’s a great start to the season for Marty Ladwig Racing. read more...

Gardella Racing Gears Up for a New Season

With the off season coming to end, Gardella Racing has got a lot done and it still feels as though we have a ton of work left to do. Our drag and drift programs have gone well over the past few months. Here is a quick recap… We are headed back down south to get some more testing in with the Red Bull Cobalt to make sure the new wire harness has no flaws in it; along with some other major upgrades we have done. We are excited for the changes and will keep everyone posted on how testing goes.

On the drifting side of things we have made some major upgrades on our Solstice GXP. We have gotten a lot done on the Pontiac since our first test session, 5 weeks ago. Driver, Ryan Tuerck, needed more steering angle than we originally had. With a stock lower control arm and upright, we were able to get an additional 50 plus degrees. This Pontiac Solstice is a great vehicle and it has a lot of potential to be a serious competitor in the Formula D series. read more...

Brian Ballard's Chevy Cobalt, newly painted blue and with Mobil1 sponsorship, will race in the NOPI Turbo Street class.

Atlanta Rain Out!

Not much to report from the first event of the 2008 Sport Compact Drag Racing season. We waited for two days, but the sun refused to come out to dry the soggy track in Commerce, GA. A full day and night of rain on Saturday was followed by a damp, cold, and grey Sunday that prevented the Atlanta Dragway crew from being able to prep a safe track.

So, we packed it in and got ready for the next event, only one week away at Moroso Motorsports Park in Jupiter, Florida.

Despite the uncooperative weather, there were quite a few NOPI fans and show-car owners who came out to support the event. It’s a good sign for events to come; I’m anxious to see what kind of crowd we’ll get when it’s not raining and cold! GM is hosting the first 50 entrants in the “GM ECOtec VIP” category (sign up on nopi.com) in a special owner’s area at the Moroso event. I’m looking forward to meeting you all!

See you there. read more...

More Blogosphere Love for The 2008 Cobalt SS

We are starting to really get excited about the new 2008 Cobalt SS. Media all over are already talking about this car. Our friend Jonel Zula from www.CobaltSS.net had a chance to drive the new Cobalt SS and absolutely fell in love.

He did a post on his site, which is the largest Cobalt fan sites on the net, and has received amazing response. As of March 27, this post is up to 19 pages!

How amazing is that? read more...

GM Tuner Tour Invades HIN LA

HIN LA is always a huge show and this year sure didn’t disappoint. With big expectations and eager to build on the success of the season opener, the GM Tuner Tour headed to Los Angeles for the 2nd HIN show at the LA Convention Center.

The GM Tuner Tour placement was exceptional. We had prime positioning in close proximity to the Boost Mobile stage. Overflow from the stage added to the already steady traffic moving through the GM Tuner Tour display all night long. Crowds remained heavy all around the GM VIP Studio. A steady stream of people moved into the studio to have their pictures taken with the gmtunersource.com models and the Pontiac Solstice SD-290. The radical speedster design of the Solstice SD-290 was the perfect draw for this crowd. Many VIP Studio participants were eager for the chance to come into the studio just to get an up-close look at the Solstice. A consistent lineup of people waited for their turn in the studio and resulted in 1337 consumer photos taken. This represents our highest throughput for the VIP Studio beating our previous best from HIN San Mateo two weeks prior.

Consumers were also eager to sign up for their chance to win a Pontiac G8. The newly added 50 Cent G8 banner featuring the Rides Magazine cover helped generate additional exposure for the 50 Cent G8. If you have a chance to make it out to a show where the GM Tuner Tour is present, make sure to signup to win a G8! read more...

ECOtec Owners Unite! Let GM Treat You For The Weekend!

Calling all Cobalt, ION, Solstice, Sky, HHR and G5 owners …

Come join us at the NOPI Drag and Drift event held at Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach, FL on April 5. read more...

Chat With a Pontiac Designer on GMnext

"GMnext.com" is hosting a virtual chat on its site with Pontiac designer Jose Gonzalez on Thursday, March 20 from 11 a.m.-noon EDT. This is an exclusive chance to direct questions to the person who worked on the newest iteration of Solstice, unveiled at the New York Auto Show. Please note the chats are open to the media and the public. read more...

Times Have Changed

It’s March 2008, and the buzz for the new 2008 Cobalt SS, which won’t be out till the end of the year, is already making tremendous noise! This is the car that the tuner world has been waiting for from GM. Keeping to its roots with FWD power and FINALLY the turbo setup we have all been dying to have! Well ECOtec fans … as you may have already known, the wait is soon to be over with the new 2008 Cobalt SS.

Recently we held a media event and invited all kinds of media. Hot on the list were our friends and partners from the Tuner media world, which were some of the first that we invited to this 2008 Cobalt SS meet and greet! Stories are already circulating online and will soon be in print as well. read more...

The Show Season Has Begun!

The show season is upon us and the Tuner Tour is on the road! The kickoff happened at San Mateo HIN this past weekend. After a two-year hiatus from the season opening Hot Import Nights show in San Mateo CA, the GM Tuner Tour has returned. Kicking off the 2008 season, the GM Tuner Tour rolled into San Mateo with engaging new displays and the undeniable presence of the all-new GM VIP Studio and hot new feature vehicles.

Our placement was awesome as we were in the front row near the main entrance. We were also surrounded by what were clearly the event’ s hottest show cars. Foot traffic was very heavy throughout the night. Crowds of people gathered around the new GM VIP Studio to catch a glimpse of Jason Whitfield’s Cobalt and our GMTunerSource.com models. The throngs of gathering onlookers were prompted by the GM Tuner Tour Staff to come in to the studio and have their picture taken with the 900hp Cobalt and models. We where overwhelmed with the amount of traffic in the new GM Tuner Tour display. The show was a HUGE success for us! read more...