NASCAR at LeMans

Charlie Spencer said:
If they're going to modify an ZL1, how much is this vehicle going to be like a Gen 7 stock car? With that as the starting point, it may have more in common with GT cars than what we've seen running in Cup the last month. There should still be active IMSA / sports car drivers who have experience from the last time Camaro ran competitively.
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They're not modifying a Camaro ZL1 street car. It's a gen 7 Cup car, they mean Camaro ZL1 in body style, same as the "Camaro ZL1" we see on track every Sunday now.
 
donthaveanickname said:
A Ford Torino and a Dodge Charger from the Cup Series already competed at Le Mans in 1976, was about time it happened again.
www.24h-lemans.com

1976: when the 24 Hours of Le Mans and NASCAR crossed paths | 24h-lemans.com

In 1976, the 44th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans welcomed a car from NASCAR, today the most popular motorsports in the United States. This event marked a great chapter in Franco-American history, revisited July 4-6, 2014 at the Le Mans Classic.
www.24h-lemans.com www.24h-lemans.com
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"In 2011 and 2012, two NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers - Michael Waltrip and Brian Vickers - competed in La Sarthe in the LM GTE class with Ferrari."

I learn something new every day


Some more details on that Charger Torino showing
 
This is an amazingly cool idea, I can’t wait for it to happen. I think Jimmie will most likely be behind the wheel. Then maybe Jordan Taylor. I hope JG is considered, just for my own selfish reasoning to see him race again. If NASCAR has an open week that week, maybe Larson and Chase will be considered. I will say HMS is onto bigger things, so innovative. It’s great to see.
 
Kiante said:
Good.

Testing and all of the manufacturers looking on, too? 2023 is going to be a great time to capitalize off interest to other OEMs as well. New GT regulations and the new GTP and LMH to debut.

Give NASCAR credit, they are playing their hand very well with this move. The most important thing is what will this hybrid powertain consist of? The same V8 or maybe time comes for a new engine configuration?

This is all very exciting.
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I agree but not happy it's just Hendrick getting to do this testing. Like Childress Chevy getting to develop the gen 7 before anyone else.

Ford took part in the first Nascar to LeMans foray, they should be a part of this one too in my biased opinion.

BTW-Recorded Ford vs Ferrari and been watching it this week. What a cool story even though lots of it is Hollywooded up.
 
nickp said:
Should NASCAR create a break in the schedule to allow NASCAR drivers to run it?
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Should they and will they are really 2 different questions.

Do I think they should? No we shouldn't alter the schedule so that a few drivers can go race in another series.

Now I do say I'd rather them make an opening in the schedule than to grant exemptions to anyone participating in it. That would taint an already questionable way of determining a season champion.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
Ford 222 said:
I agree but not happy it's just Hendrick getting to do this testing. Like Childress Chevy getting to develop the gen 7 before anyone else.

Ford took part in the first Nascar to LeMans foray, they should be a part of this one too in my biased opinion.

BTW-Recorded Ford vs Ferrari and been watching it this week. What a cool story even though lots of it is Hollywooded up.
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2016 50 year anniversary

www.motortrend.com

Ford GT Wins 24 Hours of Le Mans

How did the Ford GT celebrate the 50-year anniversary of kicking Ferrari’s butt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? By doing it again, of course.
www.motortrend.com www.motortrend.com
 
this is great,ive been hoping that hms would get into other racing and get out of the small box of cup only
 
They could open up Le Mans weekend by moving the off week one whole week. This year it’s Sonoma weekend, after which there’s the Cup bye then Nashville.

You would still miss test day the Sunday before and would need an exemption based on experience and rating like the IndyCar drivers usually get when they’re stuck at Detroit. But someone like Elliott is already platinum and could probably get one.
 
Ford 222 said:
I agree but not happy it's just Hendrick getting to do this testing.
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Testing? I still want to know exactly how much this car will have in common with the Gen 7. The publicity says they're modifying with a ZL1; how much of what they learn will apply to a Cup G7 'Camaro'? Were Penske and Ganassi's recent IMSA efforts 'testing'?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Testing? I still want to know exactly how much this car will have in common with the Gen 7. The publicity says they're modifying with a ZL1; how much of what they learn will apply to a Cup G7 'Camaro'? Were Penske and Ganassi's recent IMSA efforts 'testing'?
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Not when they were taking a NASCAR race car and racing in IMSA, which they did not. But this appears to be HMS taking a Gen 7 and making it fit whatever the rules are to race at LeMans which are probably the direction NASCAR will eventually go with the G7. Especially engine direction.
 
Ford 222 said:
Not when they were taking a NASCAR race car and racing in IMSA, which they did not. But this appears to be HMS taking a Gen 7 and making it fit whatever the rules are to race at LeMans which are probably the direction NASCAR will eventually go with the G7. Especially engine direction.
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There are few of any rules for their entry at LeMans. It's a single car experimental slot in the race. No prizes, trophy and probably no money. They are already saying they are going to stick some electric on it, the car was designed from the start for it.
 
StandOnIt said:
There are few of any rules for their entry at LeMans. It's a single car experimental slot in the race. No prizes, trophy and probably no money. They are already saying they are going to stick some electric on it, the car was designed from the start for it.
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Hopefully we'll get some kind of documentary on it and see what they do differently. Is this Garage 56 entry in every race?
 
racer.com

INSIGHT: Why a NASCAR Camaro is going to Le Mans

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 Ameri…
racer.com racer.com

“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.”
 
Ford 222 said:
Hopefully we'll get some kind of documentary on it and see what they do differently. Is this Garage 56 entry in every race?
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Garage 56 entries appear at Le Mans every now and then.
I think the first one was the Deltawing in 2012, two years later the Nissan ZEOD was in the race. In 2016 quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset drove a modified LMP2, his team returned in 2021 fielding another modified LMP2 for paraplegic former MotoGP ROTY Takuma Aoki and fellow paraplegic driver Nigel Bailly.

There were a few other attempts to run a Garage 56 entry but they didn't materialize.
 
I'm skeptical myself, that's a tall order getting the ol gang back together when there are other Chevy drivers who are frankly more qualified to run LaMans. It would be something though if it happens. It's something looking at the lineup and thinking that Johnson is the weakest out of that bunch on road courses and he is great on them. lol
 
aunty dive said:
Shouldn’t the driver lineup include a couple of people with experience at Le Mans?
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Yeah, but it depends as well. Not just anybody is going to go LeMans without a chance to win. I've seen people mention JPM, but he has a triple crown to attain.

Someone who love this opportunity? I can see GM calling up Jan Magnussen or an Oliver Gavin as former GM factory drivers with plenty of time around LeMans. GM has plenty of drivers to use for this chance, but we'll see as time goes on.
 
It's a NASCAR deal it has to be NASCAR drivers
 
kkfan91 said:
No, why enter a car to promote your sport and not promote the drivers. NASCAR drivers are world class let them show it.
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Still need someone else with experience around there. If they want to potentially match the pace of the WEC Pro-Am class, you're going to need someone that knows De La Sarthe like the back of their eyelids.

No issue with maybe one active driver currently in Cup within the lineup, but this is something that will be figured out in time.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I thought that. I guess it's a question of whether the emphasis is more on being competitive or generating publicity.
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Just as much marketing as it is being a test bed or proving ground for a roided-up Next Gen car. Wasn’t there something in the schedule thread about NASCAR wanting to go do a stadium race in Europe? Might not happen itself but it’s apparent they want to build a fan base there, same reason there’s a Euro series. In that case why not bring your biggest stars? I’m kinda hesitant on Gordon because he hasn’t raced in five or six years and went out with a win, but it might be nice to see.

But like I said before, if they need another weekend off for test day it’s a different story. Someone like Gavin or Magnussen would be good for a seat or two like @Kiante said.
 
Maybe it's been discussed somewhere else on here and I didn't see it, but sounds like some teams are pretty upset that HMS was the chosen one for this. Basically they'll get a few days of road course testing over all other teams.
 
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