We first saw Gary Gardella's red drag Civic at the 2000 edition of the NOPI Nationals in Hotlanta, Ga. The car was about 70 percent complete but caught our attention because of its attention to detail, its apparel-oriented sponsor (Ecko Unlimited) and its East Coast roots.
The car had all the right tricks: Type R power, a nicely sized turbo, a sparse, race-ready interior and the little things we look for; stuff like the proper AN fittings, weld quality, clean wiring and the use of the correct parts (race-proven components). Another giveaway is slick size-the bigger the tire, the more serious the racecar. This car had potential.
In our brief stop at the booth, we said we liked it and when it ran a number, we'd catch up with it. This proved difficult because Gardella and company were always on the move, off to the races and continuously dropping those e.t.s. We caught up with the car and driver late in the 2001 season-at the curtain call of one of the most prolific rookie seasons ever in the Quick/Hot Rod Class.
Gardella lived the charmed life in 2001, and nowhere was this more evident than in his Cinderella (or is that Cinder-Gardella) antics at the IDRC Apex Integration East Coast Nats at Maple Grove. The Civic was eating axles like they were french fries and in his three qualifying attempts, Gardella only got through the traps once, and even that pass was a drama-a damaged driveline had him crawling through the beams in 19.90 seconds at 48 mph.
He was on the outside looking in, an alternate, until No. 2 qualifier Sean Glazar had fuel system problems and Gary made the show. He changed to a kinder set of slicks and took his alternate qualifying position all the way to victory lane, running a 10.36 in the finals for his first-ever win. Gardella also took the winner's purse money at the IDRC ACT Spring Nats at Atco, a Battle of the Imports event also at Atco and the IDRC Long Horn Nats in San Antonio.
Success is impressive, but so was the speed of Gardella's Civic. The Jersey-bred Civic came out of the hole running 11.9 at 139 but steadily improved with a best of 9.16 at 154 mph by the E-Town NIRA event on October 13, 2001. When you look at a FWD racecar, the first place you look is under the hood.
Gardella runs a turbocharged B18C. The engine was built by John Brown Racing and the Turbo People assisted on turbo selection. The Type R powerplant was stuffed with the usual suspects: JE Pistons and Crower connecting rods. The already "upgraded" Type R head was fortified with Ferrea valves and valve springs to sustain high-rpm operation. Pressurization is provided by a Turbonetics 60-1 series turbo mounted on a custom DC Sports header. Job Spetter Jr. tickled the keys of his laptop and tuned the engine to a razor's edge with an Accel DFI engine management system.
Putting the power down is a Honda five-speed gearbox outfitted with a Prodrive differential and an expensive, but effective, Tilton carbon/carbon clutch. Footwork consists of Ground Control coil-overs and DC Sports anti-roll bars.