'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season has introduced fans of the sport to several firsts in the history of stock car racing. While Cup cars going around the streets of Chicago rank high on the list, the noise of an American V8 thundering down the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans certainly has to top the list.
The World Endurance Championship and Le Mans as a track are as far to NASCAR as chalk is to cheese, yet both entities managed to combine this year. Morphing into a combination nobody asked for, the Garage 56 entry by NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans turned out to be one of the highlights of the event this year.
The blue Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 heavily modified for the grueling French circuit, driven by former F1 champion Jenson Button and former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, the V8 sang its song loud and clear over the smaller, often hybrid-assisted engines of the rest of the field. Jimmie Johnson also happened to be the third driver getting the privilege of being faster than GTE cars on the day.
The program, even though entered as an experimental entry, kept pace with purpose-built road racers, as well as completed the grueling task of running 24 hours on a stretch.
Not only managing to finish the grueling event, but also being able to keep pace, and sometimes even out-pace the comparable GTE cars, the Garage 56 entry turned out to be a successful exhibition of what NASCAR has and can offer to the world of motorsports.
Hendrick Motorsports' NASCAR pit crew swept the GT team's Pit Stop Challenge
Despite being flown out of their comfort zones into the havoc of endurance racing, Hendrick Motorsports' pit crew also managed to sweep the stage at Le Mans earlier this year.
With the Pit Stop Challenge seeing the boys from America wow the crowd with their speed and athletics, the GT class pit crew regulars were forced to vacate the award's top spot for the team.
All in all, what might have been a mashup of a passion project, a technical showcase, and somewhat an outright whacky idea, turned out to be one of the definitive moments in motorsport in 2023.
Who knows, we might even see some of the Garage 56 upgrades trickly down to road-course spec cars in the Cup Series one day.
