GM Benefits by Racing
By Alba Colon
GM Racing Program Manager, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
Three Team Chevy wins in three races sure isn’t a bad way to start the Chase for the Championship. It was great to see Tony on top again after winning the Banquet 400 on Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Not only was it Chevy’s third victory in the Chase, it was also our 18th win this season. I’m disappointed that Tony is not able to defend his title this year, but the team is using these final 10 races to test for next year, and it’s definitely paying off.
Since I started writing for this blog several weeks ago, I’ve enjoyed reading your comments from a wide spectrum of viewpoints. Some people have questioned the value of GM participating in NASCAR, so I wanted to share my perspective. As someone who is deeply involved in GM’s racing efforts, I can tell you there are many great benefits to our participation in the sport.
As most of you know, racing is a fast-paced business with races taking place 38 out of 52 weekends a year. This schedule allows us to do immediate testing week in and week out, testing that would normally take months or years to complete on the production side of the company. When we gain valuable knowledge from our race vehicles in a very high-stress and fast-moving environment, we can use that data and share it with our engineering team that designs GM’s production vehicles so they can use the findings to improve GM’s cars and trucks on the road.
For example, when the 2006 Monte Carlo SS was created, the GM designers met with our race engineering team to seek our input on aerodynamics. Our racing and production teams work closely together to share information and practices so we can produce the best vehicles, both on the road and on the race track.
Racing is also the perfect training ground for engineers, where one advantage is forcing them to come up with creative ideas, and sometimes take those ideas and make decisions in a matter of minutes. The engineering experience gained at the race track is valuable for improving production vehicles and vice versa as well. A good example of this is Ron Sperry who has been working at GM for more than 40 years and currently manages the head manifolds for GM Racing’s NASCAR group. Ron started out in the racing group and eventually transitioned to the production side for several years. There he was able to share his racing experience to help improve GM’s production vehicles. He has since returned to racing to help us design heads and manifolds and has brought a different perspective to the team that has been extremely beneficial.
Racing has also proved to be a valuable advertising and marketing tool. Not only are we exposing our products to thousands of fans at the race, we are also reaching millions of viewers who tune in by TV. NASCAR has 75 million fans and is the second most watched sport behind the NFL. This TV exposure helps showcase our vehicles to millions of people. And our success in the U.S. helps communicate the reliability and dependability individuals can find in our production vehicles.
Our racing connection also allows us the opportunity to create unique incentives to introduce race fans to our products. In several cities this year we have offered a free Chevy Day experience with hot laps at a race track and driver autograph sessions to individuals that test drive a Chevy vehicle at their local dealer. The program has been extremely popular and has allowed us to increase customer traffic at dealerships while also providing race fans a fun experience at the race track. It’s a win-win situation, especially considering that race fans are one of the most loyal consumer groups of our products.
Thanks again for checking out my blog posts and sharing your thoughts. I look forward to hearing more of your opinions throughout the rest of the Chase and during Team Chevy’s quest for the 2006 Nextel Cup championship.
- Posted in Cars & Trucks
Zivnuska
You mentioned aerodynamics. Please tell us how the NASCAR Monte Carlo race car has better aerodynamics than the competition.
Paul
I don’t drive my car as fast as possible. I don’t make only left turns. I don’t have a pit crew and full-time mechanics on staff.
I worry about gas prices and finding a parking space. I worry about carbon emissions and what kind of planet my children are going to inherit.
NASCAR might help GM engineer V-8, rear-wheel drive sedans, but it doesn’t help them improve quality or
Someone in a previous NASCAR post said it best: If you took some of the folks who make the huge NASCAR engines and put them on improving quality and fuel economy, you’d see new demographics in the showrooms.
CGI
Is the newly announced enginematerial CGI in a coming GM V8-diesel a spin-off from Nascar racing? I have heard that almost all engines are running with such engineblocks in the demanding NASCAR.
Dave
“It’s a win-win situation, especially considering that race fans are one of the most loyal consumer groups of our products.”
Great. Now how are you going to get the ‘non-NASCAR-fans-but-still-enthusiasts’ demographic to even look at your product? After bad experiences in the ’90s, it’ll take more than Junior running around the track in a “Monte Carlo” to get me to even consider looking in GM’s general direction for a new car.
“The engineering experience gained at the race track is valuable for improving production vehicles and vice versa as well.”
…so you can build a better carbeurator for the street?
“Racing is also the perfect training ground for engineers, where one advantage is forcing them to come up with creative ideas, and sometimes take those ideas and make decisions in a matter of minutes.”
That’s true, but I would think you’d want engineers to gain skills that can be USED on the street. Unless, of course, the new street version of the Monte Carlo has a tube frame, four-speed manual, and stick-on headlights. If that’s the case, I stand corrected.
Your comments about racing producing better cars is true, as long as the technology you develop in racing actually is tranferrable. Otherwise, you’re in a spec racer series that puts on a decent show, but does nothing to advance the automobile as a product. Like I said in the last post, “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” has been dead for a long, long time.
Sam Houston
I stand by my previous statement about GM getting into Formula 1.
As Dave spelled out in his post of Oct 3, Ms. Colon’s view about racing helping build better street cars would make better sense if GM were racing a type of car that uses technology closer to what is being used on street cars of today instead of 20 or more years ago.
Formula 1 allows real time data logging of Fuel injected engines spinning at over 18,000 rpm. That provides accurate and useful data that directly translates to street performance technology, instead of Nascar’s antiquated carburetor-fed engines. When was the last time GM offered a car for sale in America with a carbureted engine? circa 1987?
As you have said, “race fans are one of the most loyal consumer groups of our products.” A classic case of preaching to the choir. These people are already convinced. There are people out there who are not hearing your message because they don’t like Nascar, for whatever reason. And like me, they see their favorite car company ignoring their favorite racing series.
BRE
You know all this complaining about Nascar brings up a point, maybe France should go to production vehicles to race, it would be interesting to see the four doors like the Ford Fusion running the Chevrolet MC two door SS V8 wouldn’t it ? Oh and I know the technology is “old” but it is spelled carburetor not carbeurator.
Cone Dodger
What I’d like to see is more GM support for forms of racing that people can get into themselves without a load of money. I’m a GM loyalist who’s had trouble finding GM vehicles, parts, and support for SCCA’s lower-end events like Solo2 (autocross). I run a car now that’s a Saab in name only, but at least performance parts are available for it (through its former rally champ cousin).
GM needs performance parts other than just motors if they want people to really get interested in racing their cars and being competitive. The people who try racing Cobalts and Ions in this series have their hands full with understeer and mediocre handling cars.
Oh, and I can GUARANTEE you that if you had something that could run against the Hondas on the national level, you’d be selling a bunch of them, too, unlike the tenuous link between NASCAR and what’s at your dealer on the corner.
Currently, there’s no way to buy anything like that from GM. Everything’s too heavy, is not available with a manual trans, or comes with a ton of options if you buy this engine, etc. Is it any wonder Acura, Nissan, BMW et al have such loyal followings? You tell me.
BRE
Okay, I have been reading enough. Lets cut to the chase, Nascar if you have been reading/following at all, is headed to an all neutral car with some drivetrain options, with this is mind it will not be long after that we see the auto brands disappear altogether and most of advertising will be carried out by companies of whatever. At that time the GM, DODGE, TOYOTA,etc. auto competion will be history and you will have to complain about something else. We could pick on drag racing next, you know you should see those “floppers” they put out 15000 hp and use nitro and don’t have doors or anything, talk about not being like a production car…
JB
“Is it any wonder Acura, Nissan, BMW et al have such loyal followings? You tell me.”
If they are so loyal, why did an independent customer survey a couple of years ago find Chevrolet was the highest with 61%?
Why in Sam Hill would GM dump money into Formula Boring? I’d rather watch a professional balloon race.
Tim
I will never buy a montecarlo because of Nascar racing. Like many people have said they use 20 year old technology and they have nothing in common with the street car. They dont even look like the street car! I love motorsports and I think GM’s smartest move is the Corvette Lemans program. Your racing a real car and its something I can buy.
Formula 1= new advance technology
Roadracing, WRC rally = street cars you can relate too.
sam
first off you people need to learn that when nascar said they will be going to 1 body, They mean they will no longer have 3 diffent styled Brand specific bodies. For the 3 kinds of Nascar tracks. They will all run the same body for every track now. ALL brands
and just because they have Carburetors doesnt mean anything. Look at the Sb2, Exact SAME block design as the 350. It doesnt matter how they deliver the fuel. Take the New LS 364 crate engine from GMperformance Parts. A LS block 364 CU in 440 HP. with a CARB.
And now Theyve OKed a new chevy engine for 07.
and if you think the new bodies dont look more like the production cars you need glasses folks.
Cone Dodger
I think JB mixed a couple of messages up here…
What I asked was for GM to provide more support to THE LITTLE GUY who wants to race on weekends in what may be his daily driver, and not NASCAR, F1, or something else requiring millions and a massive support organization to get into.
THIS is the area where perfromance-minded customers can basically forget about GM unless they have a Corvette, because there’s no support. Acura, Nissan, BMW, Honda, and even DCX do much more. Those SRT-4 Neons are pretty competitive stock, and Mopar has a lot of stuf too make them better or make a regular Neon approach one of the pricier ones. So what I was saying was to cut back on the expensive stuff, spend more time on your parts catalog, and maybe do some low-cost contingency sponsorship for little guys…
BTW, the real pros in balloons ARE pretty cool to watch, but not on TV.
bone
I don’t understand GM’s commitment to NASCAR. The Monte Carlo is a poor seller that has seen declining sales for years.Racing hasn’t helped. Nascar racing technology is not transferable to the street like what is seen in Grand Am and SCCA racing. I wish Ford and Dodge would also back out of the series and leave it to Toyota to bring it down to the level of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.
Sam Houston
Let the record reflect that I spelled “carburetor” correctly.
I can see how drag racing is useful in stress testing engine and drivetrain components. It is exciting to watch, at least to me. Same way with Formula 1. In the real world, cars are sold today with fuel injection and sophisticated electronic engine management systems, like they use in F1. And in the real world, cars don’t stop on the side of the road when it starts to rain like they do in NASCAR. At least, not in my part of the world.
Why would the world’s largest auto manufacturer NOT want to compete in the world’s most popular form of motorsports?
As far as I can tell, Ms. Colon’s purpose in this blog was to convince me that NASCAR is useful from both marketing and engineering standpoints. I remain unconvinced. And no amount of mud slinging and flaming will assist anyone in convincing me.
Jim W
GM does have a contingency program for club racing, there’s a link off the SCCA website. There’s nothing for Solo, though. They really should get behind the Solstice in a big way since that’s a class-killer in autocross, as well as the Corvette, which always does pretty well.
I’m just not sure they care that much about the “weekend warriors” (a.k.a enthusiasts), they seemed focused on targeting the guy with the beer on the couch watching NASCAR.
regards,
Jim