by Genna Young, senior manager GM corporate news
Nicole and Joe McKinnon met on the job at GM working in the Performance space at Cadillac. Fast forward almost a decade: Nicole and her co-pilot GM engineer Kristen Goslawski finished fifth among rookie drivers at the Rebelle Rally in the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison – a truck that Joe and his GM team helped outfit for the women’s off-road race. Better yet, Nicole and Joe are expecting a baby girl this month.
Fast beginnings
Like many careers at GM, Nicole McKinnon has a wide variety of experiences. She started as an infotainment integration engineer and worked with Cadillac Performance supporting the CTS-V and CT4 and CT5 Blackwing programs.
Now, she’s making strides in her role as a performance and off-road motorsports engineer. She is also the project manager for off-road icon Chad Hall, leading a Chevrolet factory-backed off-road racing team. By racing trucks with majority production parts, Chevy and Chad Hall are able to push trucks to their limits in the desert, and share those learnings to make production retail trucks more capable.
Joe McKinnon also has a long history with GM. His father has been with the company for more than three decades and has an affinity for speed as the product electronics technician on the Corvette program. And Joe followed suit, launching his GM journey at Milford Proving Grounds as a development tech on the RWD Cadillac development team.
Joe currently leads Full-Size Truck, Mid-Size Truck, and Battery Electric Truck and all product electronic technician teams. As he says, “I have the privilege of working with the best technicians in the company — experts in their craft who consistently push the boundaries of vehicle development.”
Nicole and Joe’s career paths crossed during their time working with Cadillac Performance, but Nicole’s new hobby brought new meaning for this power couple. Last year, she spearheaded the proposal for Chevrolet to enter a truck in the Rebelle Rally, a women-only, eight-day off-road rally in the California and Nevada desert terrain.
From in the office to off-road
In Nicole’s day job, she helps prepare Chevrolet trucks for off-road events. But unlike traditional races, the Rebelle Rally requires drivers to navigate rugged terrain for up to 10 hours a day over eight days – all without modern navigation tools like GPS.
Nicole submitted the proposal for Chevrolet to enter the rally to leadership and Joe was ready to back her up. What she didn’t know was fellow GM engineer, Kristen Goslawski, had been itching to participate as well. The two decided to tackle it together – meeting for the first time at the airport as they headed off to training.
“The rally was a months-long training and project management exercise that all culminated in eight days of getting to show off the incredible capability of our product,” Nicole said of her first Rebelle Rally. “I’m looking forward to our next outing, to continue sharpening our skills and bring awareness to the capability of our vehicles, and our employees.”
About the race:
- 2,500 kilometers of rugged desert terrain
- 8 days of driving 10-12 hours each day
- No phones, no internet, no GPS, just paper maps and compasses
The horsepower behind it all
Back at Milford Proving Grounds, Joe and his team were busy outfitting the truck for the race.
“When we got the green light for the rally, we wasted no time putting together a comprehensive checklist to ensure the off-road truck was fully prepped for the race,” Joe said. “The teams quickly aligned, working together to anticipate everything the truck, Nicole and Kristen would need to handle whatever the rally threw their way.”
From there, Joe’s team combed through the GM Performance Parts catalog, selecting the best accessories to enhance the truck’s capabilities for this specific rally. “Once the parts arrived, the transformation began—turning the truck into a fully equipped off-road machine,” Joe said. “After installation, we conducted a final safety check to confirm everything was in top shape before putting the truck through a rigorous shakedown, ensuring it was race-ready and capable of tackling the demanding course ahead.”
All about the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison
The 2024 Colorado ZR2 Bison was made in partnership with American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) and is built to conquer any terrain. The Bison was tested and proven by champion off-road racer Chad Hall in competition, and underwent testing on the Rubicon Trail.
