Chevy’s Future in NASCAR

I don't normally follow NASCAR, but last night there wasn't much else on and the short track Clash race kickoff was on and something odd struck me:

The Chevy racecar is a "Camaro ZL1".

...but the Camaro was discontinued at end of 2024.

I realize they're all little more than stickers on a tube chassis shell that vaguely represent a production model, but it still struck me as odd that a major corporation would market a vehicle that's no longer in production.  "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday".  
 

Maybe it doesn't matter, and I'm just an oddball, but then I thought if it's a sedan/coupe body, they really don't have much of anything left to vaguely represent a production vehicle.  Perhaps GM should dump Chevy and badge a Cadillac sedan? 

Apparently they still make the Malibu?

wae said:

Apparently they still make the Malibu?

 

Nope. That was discontinued at end of 2024 as well per my quick googles:

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/05/chevy-malibu-production-ends-this-fall-as-another-sedan-bites-the-dust/

Chevy Bolt NASCAR?  Maybe it becomes NASCUV 🙃

Car you race a stock car if you don't make cars?

The regulation for NASCAR Cup cars allows the manufacturers to carry-over a body beyond it production for a limited amount of time (3yrs). It goes beyond the general model and includes the sub-models (ZL1).

What GM uses next who knows? I have some people I could ask but they won't tell me since we are competitors...

stafford1500 said:

The regulation for NASCAR Cup cars allows the manufacturers to carry-over a body beyond it production for a limited amount of time (3yrs).

oh I have no doubt that the sanctioning body wants the gravy train of manufacturer money to continue, especially with only 3 left (Ford/Toyota/Chevy).  

Appleseed said:

Can you race a stock car if you don't make cars?

This strikes more at where my brain was.

Even if you can, why?  

Does having your badge on a generic "stock car" body that doesn't represent anything you sell actually move enough Equinoxes and Silverados to justify the presumably $100Million+ these racing programs cost?  

It has to raise a few bean counters eyebrows I'd imagine.  The science of advertising and branding is a dark art that I don't claim to understand. 

In reply to stafford1500 :

That's interesting, I didn't know that. It definitely gives manufacturers some time to get a new model sorted.

Side note: It'd be cool if NASCAR brought back homologation rules, is there a particular reason why they stopped?

My guess...Full size truck for the big racers, mid size trucks for the current "truck series."

xflowgolf (Forum Supporter) said:

Perhaps GM should dump Chevy and badge a Cadillac sedan? 

Yeah, I'll throw my vote behind CT4-V.

They could call it a Volt, there are no Camaro anything so it doesn't matter.  Even the shape isn't remotely Camaro, or Camary or Mustang. The stickers make it look like it if you squint though.

In reply to Colin Wood :

They stopped homologation because these aren't related to production cars in any way at all. It's not like you can buy a rwd V8 Camry. 

Malibu is discontinued.

Could NASCAR Cup racing exist without a bowtie on the grid? Interesting question. 

It'll be weird when all the manufacturers have to run SUVs because they don't build anything else.

Could they run a C8 body backwards?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Valid point.

Also, I always thought it'd be neat to see more brands in NASCAR. How rad would it be to see a stock car from BMW or Kia? I get why they aren't involved, but it'd still be way cool.

In reply to Colin Wood :

I would tune in for that in a heart beat.

Hyundai and NASCAR rumors go back several years. 

Driven5 said:

xflowgolf (Forum Supporter) said:

Perhaps GM should dump Chevy and badge a Cadillac sedan? 

Yeah, I'll throw my vote behind CT4-V.

Found somebody did a photoshop (or AI creation?) of a Cadillac stock car 

In reply to xflowgolf (Forum Supporter) :

I wish I was capable of making renders like that. Something that recently popped into my head: What if Hyundai's N Division started way earlier and went rally and/or endurance racing with a Scoupe or Pony (or even the original Pony concept)?

David S. Wallens said:

Could NASCAR Cup racing exist without a bowtie on the grid? Interesting question. 

GM stopped factory assistance in 1963. Chevy didn't win anything for a long , long time after.

Also in the "What could the future of Nascar look like when nobody makes cars anymore?" category, Ford just unveiled their Mustang Mach E Nascar concept. It supposedly has lots of carryover with the current Next Gen Cup Car chassis, suspension, brakes, etc:

In reply to STM317 :

I think that thing could do some wicked demos at races. A mind-boggling standing start, a couple of laps while making a sci-fi shrieking noise and a big front straight burnout. Might open a few eyes.

Maybe they should use it as a pace car  and have it just drop the pack when the lights go out.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yeah. They should have it do some demonstration with the new Lightning SuperTruck to get the Real Truck Men's attention