Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.
General Motors Corp. is entering the growing sport of front-wheel-drive drag racing to help it capture a youth enthusiast market enthralled with foreign compacts. “We're not even on the youth market's radar screen,” admits Josh Peterson, GM manager-drag racing programs. “It's really an import-dominated market.”
Forget about the old muscle cars traditionally favored by teenagers. Over the last decade, racing enthusiasts from the Echo Boomer generation have turned their street-tuning efforts to Honda Civic and other foreign models, although Ford Focus is garnering some attention. Chevy Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire, however, have remained an afterthought. Despite Cavalier/Sunfire's outdated body styles, GM believes its all-new, all-aluminum 16-valve, dual-overhead-cam 140-hp Ecotec 2.2L 4-cyl., which debuted in the '02 models last fall, will draw interest from the aftermarket crowd.
GM Racing works a little magic and finishes with a customized 2L Ecotec that produces 600 to 700 hp. Two races into a season that features 14 stops, early results have been encouraging.
