What if NASCAR Wins LeMans Next Year?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by nota

in 1950 a caddy was 10th over all
entered by https://stevemckelvie.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/briggs-cunningham-and-cadillac-at-le-mans-in-1950/

I actually think a current GT rule car would be faster then a nastycar by the book rule car

In 1970 a 914/6 GT came in sixth overall and first in GT. That very car is on display at the Rev's institute in Florida.

Cars have to be tough to go for 24 hours at Le Mans. Ask Toyota about the pain of breaking just 1/4 of a lap from the finish. From first to an also ran. In 2017 they were leading until the last lap and handed Porsche their 18th Le Mans overall win.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

In 1970 a 914/6 GT came in sixth overall and first in GT. That very car is on display at the Rev's institute in Florida.

Cars have to be tough to go for 24 hours at Le Mans. Ask Toyota about the pain of breaking just 1/4 of a lap from the finish. From first to an also ran. In 2017 they were leading until the last lap and handed Porsche their 18th Le Mans overall win.

Yes but then there was the 1-2 finish where Toyota was so cocky to bring in both cars for a quick wash and send them back out for a 1-2 photo finish…

[unclebilly]

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Yes but then there was the 1-2 finish where Toyota was so cocky to bring in both cars for a quick wash and send them back out for a 1-2 photo finish…

Porsche used to do that. They had some victories with huge margins. And they won 19 times so far.

Toyota has been basically unopposed in the top class since Porsche, Audi, and the other top competitors dropped out. We will find out in 2023 who is the fastest and the most reliable. Toyota's guaranteed win days are numbered. They no doubt have a fast car, but no real competition. In 2017 they were clearly faster than Porsche, but it is a 24 hour race, not a 23 hour and 59 minute race.

The 100th anniversary race will be epic with all the big names except Ford returning.

[mattdavis11]

Nascar has everybody talking. I'm pretty sure they were even talking about it on the weather channel this morning.

[CurtEgerer]

So the Garage 56 car was a full 10-seconds a lap quicker at VIR than a Cup car. And this was just early testing with lots of changes to come. So what is the point of running this car at Le Mans? The car is in a class of one and is not competing against any other car. The car looks pretty much like the Cup car it is based upon but the similarity ends there. Engine, aero, etc. all different. Is it to give the illusion to the uninformed race fan that a NASCAR Cup car can do respectable laps at Le Mans, when in fact it is not a Cup car at all?

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, it is like when Porsche was done with sanctioned racing, and decided to take the limits off of the 919.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_919_Hybrid

They did a lap of the Nürburgring in 5:19.546. That is the overall fastest lap ever, and likely to stand for many years. They are over 40 seconds faster than the closest other car.

[CurtEgerer]

As expected, the Garage 56 Camaro is being touted at Le Mans as a NASCAR Cup Car with some minor modifications like headlights and dive planes One article I read even said the engine was the same. In practice sessions, the car was something like 2-3 seconds quicker than the fastest GTE cars (essentially, GT2 cars) and this is making headlines as if its some sort of accomplishment Why? The Garage 56 car has nearly 100 HP more than the Cup car and weighs 500lbs less. Take that car to any NASCAR race and it would lap the field many times over. And the specs between the Garage 56 car and a GTE car are completely different. For one, the GTE cars have 500HP vs 750HP for the Camaro. Of course, none of that is mentioned because this is purely a joint media promotional effort for NASCAR.

Hopefully, the Camaro won't get in the way and take out any of the actual competitors in the race! They've got a trio of good drivers, so presumably they'll each have one eye glued to the mirror for fast closing prototypes.

[herr_oberst]

I don't know the particulars of the G56 car, but it looked cool in practice. It sounded good, handled well and it was fun to see the size difference between it and the Hypercars and LM2's. Jensen seems like he's having fun driving it. It will remain to be seen what the repercussions of the LM project will be. A lot of Nascar fans are still having a great deal of trouble getting to grips with the whole concept of the Next Gen car.

(Sidebar, all those Porsche GTE cars sound great, don't they?)

[Tervuren]

If you look at other G56 cars it is often a test to see where the rules might go in the future, or, to have some fan enthusiasm over something iconic.

This could be both.

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

So the Garage 56 car was a full 10-seconds a lap quicker at VIR than a Cup car. And this was just early testing with lots of changes to come. So what is the point of running this car at Le Mans? The car is in a class of one and is not competing against any other car. The car looks pretty much like the Cup car it is based upon but the similarity ends there. Engine, aero, etc. all different. Is it to give the illusion to the uninformed race fan that a NASCAR Cup car can do respectable laps at Le Mans, when in fact it is not a Cup car at all?

[JackDidley]

I just hope Johnson does not crash the car. I am a JJ fan but he is just too old to get the job done.

[URY914]

Marshall Pruett interviewed Jenson on the RACER website about the car. It was very insightful on how the car's performance compares to the GTE cars. It's on the RACER youtube channel. They show the car on track with other car and it looks HUGE, The car was on display at the Rolex and I'll post my photos of it tonight.

[Zeke]

The Panamerica had Lincolns, Packard's and Hudsons running against Ferraris, etc. What's different?

[cockerpunk]

i think its super cool. exposes both sides to new stuff. garage 56 is fundamentally about fun, exciting and strange. and putting a cup car into le mas is fun, exciting and strange.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

i think its super cool. exposes both sides to new stuff. garage 56 is fundamentally about fun, exciting and strange. and putting a cup car into le mas is fun, exciting and strange.

Next year let's have them run a winged sprinter!!!

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by URY914

Next year let's have them run a winged sprinter!!!

With a 8-speed? Funny to see a push truck out there in the hot pit.

You weren't being silly were you?

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Zeke

With a 8-speed? Funny to see a push truck out there in the hot pit.

You weren't being silly were you?

Maybe a little bit

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

By 1987, NASCAR was running 360 cubic inch small blocks and attaining those speeds. Imagine if they had kept with the 7.0 liter limit, and had continued to run the 426 Hemi, the 427 Rat, and the 429 Cobra Jet.

Or if they had let Ford run the 429 Cammer.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by Zeke

What's different?

10,000 page rule books.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CurtEgerer]

I'd be more tolerant of the so-called 'Cup Car' at Le Mans, if they allowed Hendrick to run the car in all remaining Cup races this year with it's same 750HP and 500lb weight reduction And there is a zero chance of a new category being added to WEC/Le Mans. With the advent of the new Hypercars, there is no room on track or in the pits. IMSA has already deleted the LMP3 cars for next year to make room.

The GT category will be GT3 cars starting next year in WEC/IMSA/Le Mans. GM will run their Corvette and they could easily build GT3 Camaros if they wanted to actually race on equal footing. The G56 car is 'boob bait for the bubbas'