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.
"Jason Whitfield and all of his guys at Whitfield Racing put in countless hours working on our car. They came out to the track with us for testing, gave us their settings to try, worked with our tuner, Andy Kolb; anything we needed or wanted they were there for us. I’m blown away by the amount of work and hours those guys put in. I wouldn’t be able to do this without them!” said Erica Nocita. “Not to mention all of the hard work that Whitfield Racing put into the car, they even painted the car, which came out PERFECT! The same thing was true with Jason Hunt and Charlie Schafer from CSI Racing. When they were here in California they made it a point to come out to our shop and see if we needed any help with our set up since they've had such success with Brian Ballard's car. This GM Racing team is a great group to be a part of."
Needless to say, Erica was extremely excited about the new setup and the brand new 650hp ECOtec racecar. With help from the GM Racing team setting up the suspension and power systems, Erica’s ECOtec was heading for big things. During the course of the 2007 season the Dalcorp Racing ECOtec ran consistent mid to low 10’s while the 2005 Chevy Cobalt and its race team were working hard getting it dialed in and setting it up to be the monster they all knew it would be. Turning up the heat a little bit Erica put the Cobalt through the traps at 153mph and clocked a 9.99-second e.t. in the quarter. The whole team was ecstatic and extremely happy with the outcome!
This is just a hint at what is to come for Erica and the Dalcorp Race Team in the next season as 2008 seems to be the most promising yet. Be on the lookout for Erica Nocita and the Dalcorp Team this season. If you see them at a race, make sure to go over and check out the new car and setup. It looks really, really good!Photo of the Week
Don Nase Jr. burns out in his GM Racing-ECOtec-Mobil 1 dragster.
