NASCAR | LE MANS GARAGE 56
GM to race 24 hours 2023 could see the return of Stock Cars to Le Mans for the first time in almost half a century By Andrew Cotton
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ASCAR’s Next Generation Stock Car will race at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2023 if plans by Hendrick Motorsport, Chevrolet and Goodyear come to fruition. The go ahead to race still needs to be given by the ACO’s selection committee, but the idea is to run a Gen 7 car fitted with a hybrid system taken from the manufacturer’s LMDh platform as a Garage 56 entry. The plan was hatched in 2020 between NASCAR president, Jim France, and ACO president, Pierre Fillon, and unveiled at Sebring. If it goes ahead, it would be the first time a Stock Car has competed in the great endurance race in nearly 50 years. The last time was in 1976, when the Grand International category was formulated specifically for such cars, following a vision laid out by NASCAR founder, Bill France, with a view to expanding the global exposure of his top class. Two Stock Cars raced that year, a Dodge Charger owned and driven by Hershel McGriff, and a Junie Donlavey-owned Ford Torino driven by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson. ‘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 that 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 test, manufacturer and tyre in NASCAR history. We look forward
20 Le Mans 2022 • Racecar Engineering
to showcasing the technology in the Next Gen car and putting forward a competitive entry in the historic race.’
Forging links Confirmation of the programme is one of a series of announcements that closely link the American IMSA series to the ACO
and FIA, following the revelation over the Sebring in March that the LMH cars will be able to race in IMSA’s series in 2023, provided they take part in a test in December. The Garage 56 entry (so named when Le Mans accepted only 55 regular entries, plus one for innovative technologies that operates outside the normal class structure)
