2003 Chevy Approved: The all-new 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo race car has been given the green light by NASCAR. Officials with Chevrolet and GM Racing received the final approval this week. For the past six months, key representatives from GM Racing have been working diligently with NASCAR and Chevrolet Winston Cup drivers, team owners, and engineers to develop, build, and submit a brand new Monte Carlo for Winston Cup competition. Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), Richard Childress Racing (RCR), and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) pooled their talents to design the new race car, which will make its official debut at Daytona Speedweeks in February 2003. With valuable input from Joe Gibbs Racing, which was one of the teams leading an earlier 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix submission, GM Racing engineers were able to streamline their entire course of action and accomplish the task in a relatively short period of time. Each team played a significant role in the development of the new Monte Carlo. RCR built the downforce car, DEI built the superspeedway car, and HMS built the final submission car. GM Racing concentrated on the challenge of building a car that not only conforms to the new aerodynamic platform established by NASCAR, but that also retains the styling characteristics of the street Monte Carlo.(GM PR)(8-24-2002)
