Return of the Century: Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 takes on the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Enter Nascar in the Creative Car category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The idea of ​​Jim France, president and CEO of the National Stock Car Racing Association, seemed to be difficult and yet the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 took on the challenge of the 100th Anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Beyond the challenge of sports and mechanics, this car surprised 325,000 viewers with its aggressive look and the special sound of its 5.5-liter V8 of 680 horse power.

The Spirit of Nascar at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

For two years, a group of engineers from Nascar, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Goodyear and IMSA worked bring to life the vision of Jim France. This collaboration met and exceeded all expectations, on and off the track. With the help of drivers Jimmie Johnson, seven-time Nascar Cup Series champion, Jenson Button, 2009 Formula One world champion and Mike Rockenfeller, two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 showed the spirit of Nascar to the fans. of patience.

The car without a door or spoiler was a huge success with fans, media and even other competitors from its first cycle. His times have kept him constant ahead of the peloton in the LMGTE Am category. He held this position for over 20 hours until gearbox problems took him off the track for over an hour. Finally, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 crossed the finish line in 39th place. “It was amazing,” announced Jim France whose inspiration for this project came from his father Bill France Sr., founder of Nascar, who entered two stock cars at the 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans. It took thousands of hours of work to make this happen. And the way the team performed all week, it was fantastic.

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During the Pit, the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from Hendrick Motorsports made an appearance. Without pneumatic cylinders, unlike all other cars entered in this Centenary edition, the team’s mechanics used jacks when changing wheels. 10.364 seconds is the time it took the mechanics to change all four wheels during this Pit Challenge. They were able to get on the podium with their jack, along with members of the Peugeot TotalEnergies Team, the winners of this competition.