Garage56 began at Le Mans as a way to bring innovation to the sport of racing while still allowing for a full field of competition. The special allowance is so named because the traditional Le Mans field is made up of 55 competitors and the 56th spot was added specifically for a nontraditional competitor. It began in 2012 as a way for cars with significant adjustments outside of the norm to enter and compete in Le Mans. NASCAR hasn’t always been the 56th spot, but significant efforts are going into this year’s presentation in an effort to secure the spot.
Why does NASCAR want to compete in Le Mans?
Diversity
It’s no secret that NASCAR is looking for every opportunity to get our unique version of motorsports racing in front of as many viewers as possible. Le Mans is a 24-hour endurance race that brings in teams of drivers from all over the world, driving a variety of cars with similar features. The field includes Porsche 911, Ferrari, Corvette, Aston Martin, and specialized cars like the Toyota Hybrid and the Oreca 07. The popularity of the Fast and Furious franchise proves people like to watch cars race, regardless of the type of car.
Ten of the 55 cars in the regular field are with US teams, namely Glickenhaus Racing, Team Penske, United Autosports USA, Corvette Racing, Riley Motorsports, Weathertech Racing, and Hardpoint Motorsport. Other countries participating include Great Britain, France, Japan, Belgium, Poland, and Italy, among others. With over 81 million viewers around the world, Le Mans draws a larger viewing audience than the Daytona 500 has in the past ten years combined. This diversity in sportsmanship and wide-reaching broadcast is what NASCAR needs to bring in more fans from outside the typical demographic.
Innovation
Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Goodyear, and NASCAR are working together to engineer the possible entry into the Le Mans race next June. The current NextGen chassis is the starting point for the entry, but many changes are anticipated to what will become the submitted entry. Recent testing in Virginia in November revealed changes to the chassis, engine, suspension, and aerodynamics. Varying dive planes, splitters, and diffusers have been part of the trials. Some of these changes could make their way to the NextGen 7.1. We already know changes are being made after driver feedback and public outcry from rearend wrecks causing significant brain injury to multiple drivers during the 2022 season, most notably Kurt Busch who was forced to early retirement because of persistent concussion side effects.
Chad Knaus is heading up research and development. (No surprise since Hendrick Motorsports is the team behind the entry.) Even though the car being used is a Chevy, the testing results from the various trials will be shared with other manufacturers. This is primarily in case NASCAR allows some of the changes from the final Le Mans setup to be implemented in the Cup series.
Photo source: nascar.com
Trials conducted so far have shown improvement between sets. Mike Rockenfeller, former Le Mans winner, has been the test driver for Hendrick’s Camaro ZL1. His first test was in Atlanta in a standard NextGen car. The most recent testing in Virginia showed a significant increase in speed according to Rockenfeller. This increase was attributed to better downforce and lower weight brought about by the changes made from the standard NextGen to the tested version.
Previous innovations in Le Mans (from across all categories) have included diesel engines, modifications for drivers with physical disabilities, all-electric cars, DeltaWing, hydrogen fuel cells, and biomethane fuel. NASCAR wants to add NextGen changes to the list.
Significant Anniversaries
Le Mans will celebrate its 100th anniversary at the 2023 running. NASCAR will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2023 season. A less notable anniversary date is the time since the last Garage56 entry was from NASCAR. It has been 47 years since NASCAR had an entry in Le Mans and it did not perform memorably then. Two cars were entered in 1976, a Dodge Charger and a Ford Torino. It was America’s bicentennial so patriotism and All-Things-America ran rampant around the globe. What could be more American than two muscle cars competing in a race against a bunch of other countries and their tiny little cars? The Charger completed two whole laps before an oil leak forced the team to drop from the race in Hour Two. The Torino lost its transmission after 104 laps and left the race just before the half-time mark in Hour Eleven. Not exactly the best first impression on the international circuit.
While no formal invitation for 2023 has been issued yet, NASCAR is hopeful that the invite will come once Le Mans officials see the work that’s gone into the entry. NASCAR wants to capitalize on the Le Mans race by drawing in a new set of fans from the international coverage that Le Mans receives. Fans, teams, and drivers hope that innovations from the NextGen changes will make for better racing in 2023. Improvements are sure to come in some fashion simply from all the testing that Hendrick Motorsports is conducting on their various setups. Let’s all hope for a win-win at Le Mans for NASCAR.
