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A collaborative effort between NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports and Goodyear saw a Garage 56 entry at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thanks to this, race fans across the world were able to witness a stock car go around the famed Circuit de la Sarthe.
The seventh generation 'Next Gen' Cup car had been modified specifically for endurance racing. It proved to have owed its capabilities to long-format racing over 24 hours non-stop.
Developed specifically for going around the 8.4-mile-long road course in France, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 runs in its own class amongst a varied field of other racecars. The Garage 56 Chevrolet is classified in the Innovative Car category and managed to be on pace with the LMGTE AM sports car class of the event.
The can ran more than five seconds faster than its sensible competition on the track. Race day saw Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller run second in the class at one point.
With intermittent rain over the circuit, the NASCAR Cup Series car also went through its first laps on wet weather tires in conditions unknown to the drivers and team.
With sights set on finishing the race first and foremost, and then competing with the sports cars, Hendrick Motorsports engineers and drivers seem to be pushing on. The car was reported to have clocked a continous 2142 miles of running with 253 laps of the track completed so far.
For reference, that is more than four times the distance of a Daytona 500.
NASCAR Garage 56 reported issues with driveline on lap 254
The NASCAR Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 hit its first hurdle of endurance racing on lap 254 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With around three hours remaining out of the 24 hour race, the driveline of the #24 Innovative Car category car was found to have developed an issue.
Driver Jenson Button reported back to the pit garage in a bid for the team to try and repair the problem on the car's drivetrain. Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus reset the teams' goals from competing with the LMGTE sports car class to finishing the race at the time, and said:
"We have a drive line issue and the team is working to repair it now. The goal remains to finish the race."
The crew at Hendrick Motorsports later revealed to have sorted the mechanical issue with the car. Jimmie Johnson was ultimately seen crossing the checkered flag with the car in P39, making it into NASCAR and motorsport history books.
