Chevy Launches 2006 Monte Carlo

Hot on the heels of Ford's unveiling of its new Fusion, and Dodge's new for 2005 Charger, Chevrolet's new car will mark the 50th anniversary of the Chevrolet Small Block V8 engine.

The car will be used in both Nextel Cup and the Busch series.

"We've won races in Monte Carlos for years, and it's exciting that we'll have a brand new one to race next year," said four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon. "The new car looks to be even faster than the one we have this year and I can't wait to get a chance to race it."

The SS was developed over a 14-month period using the full complement of engineering and design tools available to the people at GM Racing and Chevrolet.

Pat Suhy, GM Racing group manager for NASCAR racing said: "We spent a lot of hours in our wind tunnel, coast-down test facility and on race tracks to make the Monte Carlo even better. Having the SS name on our new race car is important as it directly relates to the high-performance SS that the thousands of Chevy race fans can buy for the street."

The new race car retains the overall dimensions of the 2005 model, based on the sport's requirements.

Following NASCAR approval, teams will begin building development cars in preparation for testing before its competition debut at Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, 2006.