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One of the dearest projects close to everyone in the NASCAR community was the Garage 56 entry at Le Mans in 2023. It was an effort in showcasing stock car racing to the world. It ended up being one of the many highlights of the 100th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this racing season.
Competing in arguably the world's most recognizable endurance event at the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe in France, the experimental entry garnered a lot of attention.
The Garage 56 is a product of a joint effort between the governing body and Hendrick Motorsports. Its entry at Le Mans is a showcase of innovative and experimental cars.
NASCAR's Next Gen Cup Series car made the base for what was termed as 'Le Monster' during the event.
The program left a mark on global motorsport as the car managed to hold its own amongst the LMGTE and LMP2 car classes at the 8.4-mile-long track. Driven by three legendary drivers in Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button, and Mike Rockenfeller, the fan appeal touched every genre of motorsport possible.
The car managed to finish in P39 amongst the LMGTE field at the event's 100th running this year.
After serving its purpose as a showcase for NASCAR, Jenson Button took the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the Goodwood Festival of Speed to show off for the fans. He did so with a proper burnout at the event's hill climb course, with the V8's intoxicating rumble drowning every other noise.
Watch a video of his complete run below:
The NASCAR Garage 56 car reportedly has two identical examples. One will be kept by Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, while the other one heads to the sport's CEO, Jim France's garage.
NASCAR's Garage 56 car is much faster than Next Gen Cup cars at COTA
NASCAR's Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is one hot rod that came into existence with several organizations' efforts.
The governing body, working alongside Hendrick Motorsports and tire manufacturer Goodyear, created a seventh-generation cup car-based machine. It proved its mettle in the toughest endurance race on the planet.
The differences between the Garage 56 car and the Next Gen cup car grew to a big extent when development finished. The end product was a much better race car around road courses.
Justin Fantozzi, Goodyear’s lead on the project elaborated on the same to carthrottle.com and said:
“It’s definitely not just a Cup car with lights, it’s six or seven seconds a lap faster than a regular Next Gen car at COTA. It’s a proper racecar.”
The Circuit of the Americas is one of the premier racetracks NASCAR visits in their schedule. The Garage 56 car had already proven its pace at the venue in testing.
