Welcome to Miami, Bienvenido a Miami!
By Alba Colon
GM Racing Program Manager, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
Like the Will Smith song says, “Welcome to Miami!”
I’m really excited to head to Miami. It’s the last race of the season, Chevy can win one more race, and we’re leading the points. But personally I’m looking forward to it because going to Miami is like returning home. It’s one of the few places where I can go and speak Spanish 24/7 and everybody understands what I am saying. The weather is warmer there than it is here in Detroit, and I will have my wonderful husband joining me. I think this will be a good weekend.
Before I tell you about the fun things I did in Phoenix, I have to say last weekend was a huge deal for Chevy. After being so dominant at Phoenix, Kevin Harvick won there for the second time this year. Second, Jimmie Johnson has a 63-point lead in the points. That’s a pretty good margin, but the championship isn’t secured yet because there are still five guys in the hunt for the Chase. Chevrolet also broke their own win record, so now we have 23 wins this season. It was definitely good for us all around!
In Phoenix I got to spend a day at the Bondurant driving school. I had an opportunity to hang out with the media and the PR reps for some of our teams. Three of our Chevy drivers — Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer — came by and raced some laps with us. The day was a great opportunity for us and our drivers to spend some time with the media in a casual atmosphere.
I also learned that day why I am not a professional driver! Watching those guys race on the track, I was surprised they even let me drive out there. Kyle was kind enough to take me for a spin. Of course the first thing I did was to make sure the seatbelt was working. It was a very good ride once I was buckled in, and a fun way to spend the day in the middle of such a hectic season.
After we wrapped up in Phoenix, the haulers took off on Sunday night and made their way back to North Carolina. The haulers should be arriving in Charlotte and getting ready to load their Homestead vehicles. Five of those teams will be putting precious cargo inside their trailer, and at the end one of them will be crowned the champion.
Right now our teams are making their final tweaks on their Homestead car and engines are getting loaded. The teams are rechecking that the parts on the vehicle are the very best and that nothing will break. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the haulers will start the long drive to Miami and will arrive by Thursday around noon. I know there is probably a lot of anxiety at the race shops this week, but at this point their job is pretty much complete.
From the GM Racing side, we’ve also already done everything that we can for this weekend, so this week has been a little bit different for us. We’re already working toward next year. Many of the Daytona vehicles have been built and are already being tested in the wind tunnel. Engines are getting built for the Daytona 500. We’ve been delivering parts for the new engine package and parts for the Car of Tomorrow. Plus next year we will go to unleaded fuel in all NASCAR races (except Daytona). Everyone is testing and retesting to see how this will affect the engines.
This weekend everyone will play the waiting game — waiting for qualifying on Friday, waiting for practices on Saturday, and waiting for Sunday’s race. I talked to Jimmie and his wife when we were leaving the track in Phoenix and he asked me, “Do we really have to wait six more days to settle all of this?” I hear what Jimmie is saying. Everyone is very anxious to see what’s going to happen. It’s a lot of waiting around, but it’s part of the deal and part of the excitement. Sunday we will be counting lap by lap that one of our Chevy boys will bring home the championship!
This weekend the five remaining Chase drivers will, of course, be the ones to watch. The main thing for them is making sure they don’t do anything wrong and staying out of trouble. The Roush drivers will also be ones to look out for since this is a track that has been very good for them. You can also keep your eye on Tony Stewart. Tony will be bringing the same vehicle that he used to win in Atlanta and Texas and the team is feeling very confident that they can do a great job this weekend.
Thanks again for following along with me this season. It’s been a lot of fun to hear from so many of you and read your comments. I will be looking forward to giving you the full scoop from Homestead when I return.
- Posted in Cars & Trucks
noel park
As a NASCAR fan, and a die hard motorsports fan and participant (see my comment on the Texas race), I have to say, how about less NASCAR and more on the irresistible new GM products which will compel us to buy new cars and save the corporation?
BRE
As a NASCAR fan, and a die hard motorsports fan and participant (see my comment on the Texas race), I have to say, thanks for the updates and Good Luck at Miami.
Phil
It will be fun when the new Impala is able to hit the track in ‘09!
Oh and by the way, tell Bob Lutz not to plan to take the car upscale! Remember, Chevrolet must fend off competition from more challengers AND a possibly rejuvinated FORD! So don’t get all excited ’cause the car looks great and handles well! This should have always been a given. Crack the world over the head with the kind of VALUE that used to make it a NO BRAINER to buy American.
There’s already a huge overlap between the Malibu and Impala, and it’s just a matter of ‘Do I like the medium or the large?’ In ‘09 you’ll have front or rear drive as your additional choice. But the Impala of today doesn’t cost a hell of lot less than Chryler 300.
So watch yourself, and keep a knife in the liver of the Hyundai/Kia group. Don’t raise but lower the base price of the new Malibu because the press will jump alll over it! Honda and Toyota did this for decades and it worked for them really well. It will also help get those guys at Lease Guide to RAISE RESIDUALS AGAIN!
DO IT!
Fred
This blog seems to have turned into the Alba Colon NASCAR blog.
Maybe GM needs to have a separate NASCAR blog? Or one that is dedicated to racing.
noel park
It seems to me that there is an overload of NASCAR updates out there, what with Speed Channel, the majors broadcasting the races and pre-race shows, Autoweek, National Speed Sport News, Racer, Stock Car Racing, Circle Track, etc, etc, etc.
I thought that this is where we were going to get some sort of insight into the future of GM, if any, and maybe even get to comment thereon.
When the last two posts are on the former, it sort of starts to look like cover for a lack of content regarding the latter.
Joe D, Cleveland
Could you please get back on track and discuss more about GM’s future PRODUCTION car plans? This blog should be reserved for no one but Rick Wagoner, Bob Lutz, and Mr. Lutz’s assistant engineers and designers discussing the latest technologies (like that new remote with radio station control and fuel level display) and vehicle designs and performance (we need more info about the Camaro, RWD Impala, what’s the latest on the G8). We want to know more about the Enclave and ‘08 CTS. How ’bout a Redline Aura to go with the Sky and Vue? Supercharge that 3.6, tighten the suspension, de-chrome the exterior, and put in a 6 speed stick…. you see what I’m getting at?
NASCAR has their own forums that you can find everything you need and want to if you like it. You know where to go. GM, please concentrate this forum for your future production cars and discussions with those who are making the more important decisions - the engineers.
Sundown
Why don’t you guys just make it official and re-name this blog “the GM NASCAR Blog”?
This has to be the most boring stuff ever posted here. If you are a NASCAR fan there are plenty of other sites to get info from. If you are a NASCAR fan you probably find these “What Alba Did This Weekend” posts a bore too.
HST
Enough with the NASCAR! Name 10 parts in common between the Monte Carlo street car and the race version…if you can’t, then please stop with the postings.
How ’bout creating a new blog for all the NASCAR posts? nascar.gmblogs.com — simple.
Let’s get back to focusing on current and future production models, shall we?
Robert T.
This site is becoming more and more a letdown. I come here to see what GM is going to do to get its butt back in shape. There is enough NASCAR everywhere else. I guess there is nothing relevant or important to report from GM at the moment. The trend continues.
noel park
Well done bloggers.
You guys are the greatest.
gtjeff
Notice how the number of replies is down on the blog lately? Could it be because almost 45% of all the topics posted during the last month and a half have had to do with racing/nascar?
If you are running out of topic ideas-try this one. Ask your potential customers which 5 models GM should bring back. Then, give us what we consider “gotta have.”
Josh Schmutz
Please excuse me for sounding like many other posts on this blog as of late. The GM Small Block Engine Blog served it’s purpose well. Why can’t you dedicate a blog to GM’s racing efforts. Beyond NASCAR (which I’m a huge fan of) you have NHRA, D1 Drift, Baja, LeMans, etc. I would certainly read and post on such a blog, but I think you you are undoubtedly losing consumers that used to be excited by this blog. Your racing heritage is important and relevant but not necessarily for this particular forum.
Great work on the NASCAR program and I look forward to Chevy kicking some Toyota tail next year in the cup series.
Chris R
Take heart fellow bloggers. After the Miami cup race the Nascar season is over. So hopefully we’ll have until the Daytona 500 in February before anything new comes up for Nascar.
I am a Nascar fan myself, but this blog is not the place to go railing on about it. It dilutes the purpose of this blog, which is to inform those who are both loyal to, and curious about GM of GM’s upcoming products, as well as some technologies, or new options that are coming in the not to distant future.
Rick Lupori
Congratulations to Jimmy Johnson for winning the 2006 Nextel Cup.
Jimmy is a class act and persevered through some tough times in the final 10 races. He will be a good champion for NASCAR.
Will there be a special Monte Carlo model to commemorate this?
noel park
Thank you gtjeff, 11/18, 1:34 AM (!).
Note 14 (well now 15) comments on this post and 57 on Mr. Lutz’s on the Saturn/Opel connection.
I rest my case.
Robert
there’s big talk about this over at the nascar forum on nascarspace.