The announcements were made as part of GM's "Fast Kids' Toys" press conference at the Las Vegas Race Rock restaurant during the 1999 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Convention.

Highlights of the event included vehicle displays and announcements from virtually every type of automotive racing, illustrating GM's ongoing global commitment to motorsports and its efforts to firmly tie its motorsports activities to brand strategies.

• First public viewing of the Cadillac Northstar LMP racecar that will compete in next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France;
  
• Announcement and public showing of Chevrolet's C5-R Corvette entry in Le Mans;
  
• First showing of the 2000 Chevrolet Corvette, Official Pace Car of the Rolex 24 at Daytona;
  
• First look at the #24 Jeff Gordon 2000 Monte Carlo NASCAR racecar;
  
• Announcement of GM Powertrain's role in providing production Vortec Red V-8 engines for the AC-Delco Challenge ASA Stock Car Racing Series;
  
• The official hand-off of the 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora Indianapolis 500 Pace car by GM President and Chief Operating Officer G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. to Indy Racing League President Tony George; and,
  
• Unveiling of the strategic vision of how General Motors is focusing its global resources to support its brand strategies through worldwide motorsports events along with a new corporate GM Racing logo.
  

The mission of GM Racing, Middlebrook said, is to focus GM's world-class product engineering, program management and marketing expertise into global GM motorsports activities that support individual brand strategies.

"The 'GM Racing' logo embodies the decades of excellence and proven success GM has achieved in the motorsports arena," said Middlebrook. "The GM Racing entity reflects our long-term commitment and our unified global approach to racing."

GM brands can rely on the combined technical and program management expertise of GM Racing to help outperform their market competitors on the racetrack. Added to the distinct approach are GM Racing marketing specialists, who are assigned to vehicle divisions to translate on-track performance into enhanced brand images.

"By leveraging the deep, global human and technical resources that GM has on its balance sheet in support of clear brand strategies, GM Racing will nurture strong brands, transfer technology and take a leadership role in shaping the direction of motorsports in the 21st century," explained Middlebrook. "In addition to on-track performance, our future efforts will focus on examining real-world issues such as safety, cost and the environment and developing innovations that create an effective balance between technology and value."

The following additional proof points support the GM Racing vision and were showcased in today's event:

Middlebrook cited Cadillac's entry into international endurance racing as evidence of a highly focused and revitalized global brand. "GM's racing activities put Cadillac technology on a higher stage to build worldwide credibility for its core products," said Middlebrook. "Racing is the key tool for us to accelerate perceptions of what has been a decidedly American brand for Americans to an American-inspired brand with global credibility."

The LMP chassis will be powered by a 4.0-liter version of Cadillac's Northstar V-8 with twin turbo chargers.

Cadillac also announced the appointment of Ron Fellows as a driver and member of the 2000 LMP racing team. Fellows, 40, is regarded as one of North America's best road racers and the Toronto native has won in nearly every level of racing. He ranks fifth all-time on the SCCA Trans-Am Series with 19 career victories and is the series' all-time earnings leader. Fellows has teamed with Chris Kneifel this year for three podium finishes (Daytona 3rd; Sears Point 2nd; Laguna Seca 2nd) in the C5-R Corvette but has also shown his diversity this year with sterling performances in a variety of NASCAR series races.

Chevrolet officially returned to road racing earlier this year with the introduction of the GM Goodwrench Service Plus-sponsored C5-R Corvette, a GM-engineered GTS sports car based on the production C5.

Chevrolet plans to leverage Le Mans to showcase the Corvette brand and increase market share of the production C5 vehicle on a global scale.

Millennium Yellow is a premium, additional cost exterior paint available on the 2000 Corvette coupe and convertible. The paint provides a richer, deeper color utilizing a tinted clear-coat process.

Beyond its new "suit" the production Corvette needed only minimal changes to prepare it for pacing the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Modifications to the production Corvette included a heavy-duty transmission oil cooler, custom exhaust system and 360-degree strobe-light package.

The 2000 NASCAR Monte Carlo shows what "technology transfer" really means by staying close to its production roots. The 2000 Monte Carlo production was designed with an aerodynamic profile that allowed GM Racing engineers to make minimal modifications to develop its racing counterpart. The race version Monte Carlo utilizes the same hood, roof and decklid sheetmetal as the production vehicle and shares the contour of the windshield and overall shape of the rear fascia panel. The end result is a racecar with more production content than any other non-GM car on the NASCAR circuit.

Unlike the previous V-6 racing engines used in the ASA circuit, GM's Vortec Red is a production vehicle V-8 right off the assembly line. In fact, only minor modifications for racing are made (a dry sump oiling system is added to improve oil retention in racing conditions). The significance to ASA race teams is dramatically reduced cost without sacrificing performance. A GM Vortec Red ASA 5700 engine can be used all year and is a fraction of the cost of the several engines and engine rebuilds necessary with the previous race-developed V-6 engines. The lower cost makes ASA racing more viable for younger drivers and increases the caliber of competition by allowing driver skills rather than engine performance differences to be the real competitive advantage.

The V-8 Touring racecar fully complies with the new German Touring Car (DTM) series rules, which unequivocally define specifications and ban electronic driving aids. The ruling is expected to help limit costs and eliminate the tendency of development budgets to determine the level of competition. Standard components in the series include: transmission, braking system, rear spoiler and a flat underfloor with diffuser at the rear.

John Middlebrook congratulated Johnson on his impressive track record and the success of the GM Goodwrench Service Plus Firebird racing team. "Everyone at GM is excited about Warren's championship because it says a lot about the incredible talent and perseverance involved between man and machine in racing," said Middlebrook. "We're proud to be a part of the NHRA and Warren Johnson's winning Firebird."

GM President and Chief Operating Officer, G. Richard Wagoner Jr. and IMS President and CEO, Tony George, founder of the Indy Racing League (IRL), formally welcomed the 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora as the Official Pace Car of the 2000 Indianapolis 500.