GM Looks to Extend Consecutive SCCA National Championship Win Streak to 52 Years

Pontiac Solstice GXP makes Runoffs debut after four podium finishes in 2007

2007-10-08, TOPEKA , Kan. – When the 44th Annual Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Club Racing National Championship Runoffs Presented by AT&T kick-off today at the 2.5-mile Heartland Park Topeka circuit, GM-powered vehicles will attempt to make it 52 straight years of winning at least one SCCA National Championship.

In 1956, Dr. Richard Thompson drove a 265 cu. in. V8 Chevrolet Corvette to the first SCCA National Championship win for a GM vehicle. Since then, club racers in GM-powered cars have won at least one National Championship every year totaling 128 titles overall, a record no other manufacturer can match.

“ For performance vehicles to have a credible place in our customers’ driveways, they must perform on the race track,” said GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy. “We’ve worked very hard in recent years to get some of GM’s most capable performance models classed to compete in SCCA, so our success is no accident.”

“To continue this winning tradition, all Touring and Showroom Stock classes are represented with at least one current model GM vehicle for 2007, and many of the classes feature models only recently out of production, making parts and service readily available.”

Through the efforts of GM Performance Division (GMPD), drivers have GM brand vehicle choices in every Touring and Showroom Stock class, including the Chevrolet Corvette, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Touring 1 (T1); Pontiac Solstice GXP, Pontiac GTO, Pontiac Firebird, Cadillac CTS-V and Chevy Camaro in Touring 2 (T2); Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged, Saturn ION Red Line and Pontiac G6 GTP in Touring 3 (T3); Pontiac Solstice, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in Showroom Stock B (SSB); and the naturally-aspirated Chevy Cobalt SS and Pontiac Sunfire GT in Showroom Stock C (SSC).

In 2007, GM vehicles finished on the podium 270 times during National events between the five Touring and Showroom Stock classes leading up to the Runoffs, including 51 wins by Chevy Corvette in T1, 13 wins by Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged in T3 and 11 wins by Pontiac Solstice in SSB following its 2006 National Championship.

Sixty-three teams will be racing GM branded vehicles in six classes this week through Sunday, including American Sedan (AS) in addition to the Touring and Showroom Stock classes.

As they have done each year for the past two Runoffs, GM Performance Division will be on-hand at the Runoffs with a team of engineers and technicians who will support all GM racers and source any needed parts through Superior Chevrolet’s on-site parts truck.

“These teams have put their faith in GM products to take them to the winner’s circle, so we’re continuing to provide them with an ‘insurance policy’ of nine engineers and technicians, a truckload of parts, and a $50,000 contingency program,” said Greg Fadler, GMPD engineering group manager.

“It takes away a lot of pressure, knowing the Performance Division engineers are shadowing us,” said three-time Runoffs National Champion Don Knowles, who will be one of three drivers racing a Pontiac Solstice GXP Club Sport Z0K in Sunday’s T2 race. “These guys spend their days designing performance cars like the Solstice Z0K and GXP Z0K Club Sport models, and most of them road race or drag race in their spare time, so it’s a definite advantage for the Club Racing community who wisely choose GM vehicles.”

Knowles won the SSB National Championship last year with an iRacing.com-backed, Phoenix Performance-built Solstice Z0K in the vehicle’s first Runoffs appearance. The team’s second Solstice entry set the pole with 2006 SSB Northeast Division champion Andrew Aquilante driving.

The Solstice has also fared well in Solo Autocross for the past two years, with National Championships in the C Stock Open and C Stock Ladies classes in 2006, and a C Stock Ladies title in 2007. The Solstice GXP won its first Solo Championship last month during the 2007 Runoffs in A Stock Ladies.

This year, eight Solstice Z0K drivers will compete for the SSB title, while the GMPD-developed Pontiac Solstice GXP Club Sport Z0K takes center stage in T2 with Knowles, Phoenix Performance owner Joe Aquilante and Bill Ziegler all competing.

“These cars were designed and developed by the Performance Division using the SCCA competition rules to ensure competitiveness in the very well-rounded SSB and T2 classes,” noted John Barrick, GMPD senior group manager.

The production Solstice GXP comes standard with a five-speed manual transmission, anti-lock brake system (ABS), a limited slip differential and FE3 suspension, which includes lower control arms with higher-rate bushings; larger stabilizer bars; stiffer stabilizer bar bushings, endlinks and clamps; performance-valved shocks; and higher rate springs.

For the GXP Club Sport Z0K package, the spring rates have been adjusted even higher and the vehicle roll further reduced by increasing the diameter of the sway bars. Combined with its 260 hp, 2.0-liter direct injection turbocharged Ecotec 4-cylinder engine, the Solstice GXP Z0K is a force to be reckoned with in T2.

It made its racing debut on July 28 at Lime Rock Park, where Knowles guided the iRacing.com team entry to a second place finish in its first outing. The Solstice GXP Z0K made three more podium finishes in 2007, including a win by Knowles at Virginia International Raceway on Aug. 12.

“I’ve watched the Pontiac Solstice GXP grow into a real race car, and I’m very excited about the car’s chances at the Runoffs, keeping in mind we’re going to be racing against a very competitive field of turbo and V8 powered cars” said Knowles. “I have to believe we can do it.”

The popular T1 race on Friday will feature GM engineering specialist John Buttermore and Andrew Aquilante both driving race-prepared versions of the Corvette C6 Z51, while GM Performance Division executive John Heinricy will miss the T1 race for the first time since 2000.

Heinricy has 10 Runoffs titles, nine of them in the past six years, and an astonishing five consecutive wins in the T1 class with Corvettes from 2001-2005. His 10 wins are the highest career total of any active Runoffs driver.

His focus for the week will be on two versions of the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, as he races a naturally-aspirated version of the vehicle on Friday in SSC, then a 2.0-liter supercharged version in the T3 competition on Saturday. After that, he’ll jump into a Pontiac Firebird for the AS race about an hour after he finishes T3.

Barrick points out one of GM’s best reputation-enhancers are the racers all over the country using GM-brand cars and engines.

“The Runoffs is a very important week to hundreds of racers, and we want those who have elected to put their stake in GM products to have the best shot possible at winning a Runoffs championship.”

Adds Fadler, “We love for our vehicles to win, but we also like them to be on the track and competitive. By providing engineering, repair and parts support to every team with a GM-powered car, we help ensure both.”

To reward drivers of GM products for doing well in their races, GM Performance Division will award every podium finish and pole qualification by a GM vehicle during the week – $5,000 for a National Championship, $3,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place and $1,000 for qualifying on the pole.

With 63 teams racing GM vehicles between all the classes as well as the technical support and financial incentive from GM Performance Division, GM’s consecutive SCCA National Championship win streak is almost certain to reach the 52-year milestone this year.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 280,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2006, nearly 9.1 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

Source: GM

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