NASCAR Camaro for Le Mans in 2023

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 17, 2022 1:05 PM ET

NASCAR is planning a return to Le Mans in 2023.

In a collaborative effort between IMSA, NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, a modified Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be entered in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. It will be a Garage 56 entry, which is reserved for highlighting innovation and technology that exists outside of the WEC regulations. The entry will not take a spot from a car on the traditional starting grid.

Bill France Sr. first took a stock car to the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 12, 1976. Hershel McGriff owned and drove a Dodge Charger while Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson drove a Ford Torino owned by Junie Donlavey.

“From the early days of NASCAR, it was important to my father that we played a visible role in international motorsports, and there is no bigger stage than the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “In partnering with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, we have the winningest team, manufacturer and tire in NASCAR history. We look forward to showcasing the technology in the Next Gen car and putting forward a competitive entry in the historic race.”

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NASCAR executives announced their intentions alongside IMSA on Thursday at Sebring International Raceway, where IMSA competes this weekend with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours.

“Garage 56 is a special opportunity at Le Mans since this race has been a leader in technological process for the auto industry over its nearly century long existence,” said Pierre Fillon, president of l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “When the ACO receives an application for a Garage 56 program, we begin by talking with designers, team partners and suppliers in order to set performance parameters such that the program can be successful for everyone involved. We will continue to work with NASCAR and all their partners as they work toward their proposed 2023 Garage 56 project.”

Details about the technical elements the car and its driver line-up will be announced at a later date. Chad Knaus will serve as the program manager.

“Participating in one of the truly iconic events in auto racing and representing NASCAR and Chevrolet on the world stage is a privilege,” said Rick Hendrick. “Jim deserves tremendous credit for having the vision for the project, and we thank him for trusting our organization with the responsibility.

“Even though Garage 56 is a ‘class of one,’ we are competitors and have every intention of putting a bold product on the racetrack for the fans at Le Mans. It’s a humbling opportunity — one that will present an exciting challenge over the next 15 months — but our team is ready.”

Said Jim Campbell, vice president, Chevrolet performance and motorsports, “NASCAR is going back to Le Mans! Chevrolet is looking forward to being a key partner with NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports and Goodyear in this historic Garage 56 effort. While many know us as the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR, we also have had great success with our Corvette Racing program at Le Mans, with eight class wins in 21 starts since 2000. At Chevrolet, we love to compete and we can’t wait to get started on this program.”

“Goodyear has proudly produced tires for NASCAR for more than 60 years, and we look forward to taking our innovation to the next level at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of Global Race Tires. “In addition to Goodyear’s presence at Le Mans on the LMP2 class vehicles, being involved in this historic race as part of the Garage 56 entry is yet another demonstration of our commitment to advancing racing tire technology.”

 

Why a NASCAR Camaro is going to Le Mans

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | March 17, 2022 1:05 PM ET

A passion project between father and son is at the heart of the new Garage 56 Le Mans project commissioned by NASCAR and IMSA in partnership with the ACO.

It was 1976 and the United States of America’s big bicentennial celebration that struck NASCAR founder Bill France Sr as the perfect time and opportunity to wave the American flag on an international stage by sending two stock cars across the Atlantic ocean where they’d compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

France’s son Jim, an avowed lover of sports cars and endurance racing, was part of the family’s interests with IMSA – the International Motorsports Association – which they co-founded in 1969 with John and Peggy Bishop. And with the new intertwining of NASCAR and IMSA, the decision came a few years later as the country was brimming with patriotism to fund two Le Mans entries, one for Hershel and Doug McGriff in a Dodge Charger Cup car, and another with a Ford Torino for Dick Brooks, Dick Hutcherson and Marcel Mignot, and together, the ’76 tour made a big impression.

So with NASCAR’s recent switch to a new style of Cup car that draws a lot of inspiration from touring car and GT racing technology, Jim France, along with NASCAR president Steve Phelps and IMSA president John Doonan, batted around the idea of taking the stock car organization back to Pierre Fillon’s Circuit de la Sarthe to give the 24-hour race another try with NASCAR’s latest creation.

Enter Rick Hendrick and his Hendrick Motorsports team, and Chevrolet with Team Chevy and a Chevy Camaro Cup car, and Goodyear Tires, and other partners to prepare the machine for its Le Mans debut on the event’s 100th anniversary. And in the Garage 56 class, no less, where one car is selected each year to demonstrate some form of unique technology or compelling story that falls outside the confines of Le Mans’ rigid class structure.

Compared to the giant auto manufacturers who’ll be competing with high-tech prototypes and the litany of supercars fielded in the GT classes, Jim France’s nod to history and the future with NASCAR’s second visit to Le Mans using a thundering Camaro Cup car should be unlike anything else we’ll see at the race’s centenary.

“To talk about the next version of Garage 56, you have to rewind the clock and look in the treasure chest of NASCAR history and the vision of Bill France Sr,” IMSA’s Doonan told RACER. “He put NASCAR on a global stage when he took a couple of cars and teams to represent NASCAR at Le Mans in 1976. And the wish of Jim France is to repeat that, and what better time to do it then right upon the next-gen Cup car’s reveal. So this is definitely a vision of Jim France to replicate the challenge and do it in the modern day with the brand-new Cup car.
The Next Gen Camaro will have to undergo some significant modifications to prepare it for two laps around the clock at La Sarthe. Matthew Thacker/Motorsport Images

“I also think the timing of this opportunity is an additional reinforcing statement of the relationship that IMSA has as part of the NASCAR family, and that NASCAR and IMSA has with the ACO. And having an opportunity to showcase that relationship is really special to see this Garage 56 program come together in 2023.”

The choice of Hendrick to run the car—with assistance from multiple IMSA champions Action Express Racing—and a dedicated tire partner in Goodyear, which has terabytes of data from its participation in the LMP2 class, are bonuses from Doonan’s perspective.

“If you’re going to do something like this, to have the best of the best from NASCAR is important,” he said. “Rick Hendrick embraces this project as the winningest team, both in race wins and championships, in NASCAR history. And then of course, he and his operation represent the winningest manufacturer, both in terms of race wins, and manufacturer titles in Chevrolet. And then finally, since 1954, Goodyear has been the tire partner for NASCAR, so all of the killer representatives over the years will represent NASCAR in this project. I think that’s a celebration of NASCAR history in and of itself. And the Next Gen car has been very well received and will be a really good showcase at Le Mans for the audience when, much like it was in 1976, the big V8 Camaro thunders down the Mulsanne.”

With the announcement made, the project moves into a busy phase of converting the Camaro Cup chassis into a proper endurance racing vehicle. From the basic modifications needed to lap the circuit formed from country roads to performing pit stops in a timely manner to ensuring the engine, transmission and suspension all live for a minimum of 24 hours, the task ahead is significant for all involved.

“The key word there is ‘collaboration’ and you bring in the team, the manufacturer, the tire partner, you bring in a company like Dallara that’s spent so much time working with NASCAR to develop the Next Gen car, and that’s a strong team,” Doonan said. “The car will be racing at night on a circuit that doesn’t have the same type of lights that all of us are used to when we watch a NASCAR race, so it’s certainly going to need headlights and taillights and things like air jacks and a number of other items that are traditionally not seen in NASCAR.

“There’s a long list of items to work on a lot of testing to be done from a durability standpoint on the platform. But I think everybody’s eager and bought into the project to have us go over there and represent everybody that’s involved and represent the spirit of what Garage 56 is all about. When it comes to car specs, and when it comes to drivers, there’s more to come on that. Because of the awesome tie-in between Mr. Hendrick and the Action Express team when it comes to the Cadillac DPi project that they’ve embarked on last year, there’s a lot of synergies there that could be carried over to a project like this.

“So definitely over the next several months, you’ll hear more about specs of the car, you’ll hear more about the driver lineup, you’ll hear more about testing and the things that are going to prepare the whole operation to go over there and compete and put on a good show for the audience and what Pierre Fillon and the ACO have done around Garage 56. It’s a great story to tell.”

 

NASCAR, Le Mans scratching a 50-year itch

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 17, 2022 3:52 PM ET

The impression the 24 Hours of Le Mans made on those in NASCAR who experienced it nearly 50 years ago is one of the reasons a stock car is headed back to France in 2023.

Jim France, Chairman and CEO of NASCAR and IMSA, remembers asking Dick Brooks about the June 1976 event. Brooks was one of two drivers who competed in it, which was the last time a NASCAR stock car has been to Le Mans. But France, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, and Goodyear are hoping to change that with the intention of running the ’23 race with a modified Next Gen car.

“I asked [Brooks] what his thoughts were on it and he said No. 1, the fans love the car,” France said Thursday. “(He said) No. 2, it was a fantastic experience. No. 3, it was a hell of a challenge.”

Brooks split driving duties with Dick Hutcherson in a Junie Donlavey-owned Ford Torino. The second car was a Dodge Charger owned and driven by Hershel McGriff.

Taking on such a challenge again is something France believes all involved are up for tackling.

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PODCAST: Dave Moody“It’s a tremendous opportunity for the sport that my dad started to further its reach with other fans, new fans,” said France. “I’m also very much into the sports car racing and road racing, as dad was. There’s no way that I can honor my dad; he was so much farther ahead than what I am. But to try and carry on some of his legacy and continue what he and my mom started, it’s our family business, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow it.”

Chad Knaus will serve as the program manager. Specs of the car are not yet finalized, nor is the driver lineup, but Hendrick hopes it will feature a Cup Series driver in the mix along with IMSA drivers who have Le Mans experience. That would mean having an opening in the NASCAR schedule to allow any drivers to participate.

All those details are still to come, as is an official invitation from the selection committee for Le Mans, which doesn’t come out until January. But all parties believe that will be a formality.

Talks of NASCAR returning to Le Mans began in late 2020, and Hendrick was asked by France to be involved as the winningest team in NASCAR. The last two Cup Series champions have come from the Hendrick stable.

“This is a huge opportunity for us,” said NASCAR President Steve Phelps. “I think if you look at where NASCAR is, the momentum we had in ’20 and ’21… But for those of you who have been at the racetrack in ’22, there’s a new sense of energy and enthusiasm that the sport hasn’t had in a long, long time, as evidenced by what happened at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.

“The centerpiece of that wasn’t just that amazing venue, it was the Next Gen car. If you think about the racing we’ve seen with the Next Gen car in these five races, there’s something special that’s happening here. We are trying to look at things that are unique and different and puts us apart. I think that’s exactly what we’re doing. That’s what this opportunity is.

“We have a series in Europe called the Whelen Euro Series. We know there’s some enthusiasm for NASCAR stock car racing. But this is going to take it to a new level. This has been 50 years in the making to come back with this project.”

The entry will be in a class of its own with no impact on points or the overall win. However that doesn’t mean it will be there just taking up space with France telling Hendrick the goal is to finish the race and not be last.

“We’re not taking this lightly,” said Hendrick. “This is a full bore, full-blown effort to run 24 hours and to run competitive times. Our guys are working aero, weight, horsepower. We’re looking at different classes. They’ve told us kind of where we’d like to be. But we’re not going over there to ride around. We’re going to put the best effort out there and run very competitively and finish the race. That’s a tall order. I feel strongly that we can do it.”