General Motors Announces Front-Wheel-Drive Drag Racing Schedule
FOR RELEASE: January 30, 2002General Motors Announces Front-Wheel-Drive Drag Racing Schedule
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Ecotec 2.2-Liter-Powered Dragsters to Compete in NHRA Races | |
| DETROIT – Drag racing versions of General Motors’ popular Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire sedans will compete in all rounds of the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series and select Import Drag Racing Circuit (IDRC) events in 2002. The two front-wheel-drive cars, powered by differently prepared versions of GM’s Ecotec 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine, will compete in different categories of the two series. Sunfire will contest the Hot Rod and Quick classes of NHRA and IDRC respectively. The more heavily modified Cavalier will run in NHRA’s Modified and IDRC’s Outlaw classes. | |
GM Racing’s Peterson: Front-wheel-drive drag cars ‘exciting, competitive’ | "We’re thrilled to campaign these cars across North America to show drag racing enthusiasts and consumers alike that front-wheel-drive cars don’t have to sacrifice their production roots to be both exciting and competitive at the drag strip," said Josh Peterson, manager of drag racing programs for GM Racing. "The cars use race-modified versions of Ecotec, the technologically advanced, all-aluminum 16-valve powerplant that is used globally in GM’s small cars. The modifications raise horsepower to a remarkable 600 to 700." |
| Production Ecotec 2.2-liter engines are available in the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire, Pontiac Grand Am, Oldsmobile Alero, Saturn L-Series and VUE in North America and Opel and Saab models in Europe. |
The race schedule for both cars will be as follows:
| Date | Series | Track | Location |
| Feb. 23-24 | IDRC | Los Angles County Raceway | Palmdale, CA |
| March 23-25 | IDRC | Firebird International Raceway | Phoenix, AZ |
| April 13-14 | NHRA | Gainesville Raceway | Gainesville, Fla. |
| May 4-5 | NHRA | Old Bridge Township Raceway | Park Englishtown, N.J. |
| May 18-19 | NHRA | Atco Raceway | Atco, N.J. |
| June 1-2 | NHRA | Houston Raceway Park | Houston, Tex. |
| June 15-16 | NHRA | Maple Grove Raceway | Reading, Pa. |
| Aug. 3-4 | NHRA | Texas Motorplex | Dallas, Tex |
| Aug. 17-18 | NHRA | Woodburn Dragstrip | Woodburn, Ore. |
| Sept. 7-8 | NHRA | Sears Point Raceway | Sonoma, Calif. |
| Oct. 5-6 | NHRA | Old Bridge Township Raceway Park | Englishtown, N.J. |
| Oct. 26-27 | NHRA | Pomona Raceway | Pomona, Calif. |
| Nov 9-10 | IDRC | River City Raceway | San Antonio, TX |
| Nov 23-24 | IDRC | Los Angeles County | Raceway Palmdale, CA |