CamaroFacts

Home / Racing

Racing history

The Z/28 exists because of a rulebook. From Penske and Donohue's Trans-Am titles to IROC, NHRA Pro Stock, the modern COPO drag program, NASCAR, and a Camaro at Le Mans.

The Penske and Donohue Camaro chapter leads directly to their next engineering problem: Penske and Donohue at AMC, where the Javelin campaign won the 1971 Trans-Am manufacturers' championship.

Sunoco/Penske Trans-Am Camaro tribute
Sunoco/Penske Trans-Am Camaro (tribute car) Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1967–1969

Trans-Am: Penske, Donohue, and “Team Unfair Advantage”

The Z/28 exists because Chevrolet wanted to race in SCCA Trans-Am. Roger Penske's Sunoco team, with Mark Donohue driving, turned it into a championship car, winning the manufacturers' title for Chevrolet in 1968 and 1969. Penske and Donohue left for AMC in 1970, and Chevrolet handed the program to Jim Hall's Chaparral.

  • 1968: Donohue won 10 of 13 races; Chevrolet took the manufacturers' title
  • The acid-dipped 1967 “Lightweight” Z/28
  • Sub-two-minute pit stops, per Donohue's The Unfair Advantage
  • 1970: Jim Hall's Chaparral built three Camaros; Vic Elford won at Watkins Glen

Where the Z/28 came from, 1967–1969

The SCCA Trans-American Sedan Championship capped engines at five liters (305 cubic inches) in its over-two-liter class, and Chevrolet built the Z/28 to fit; the 302 engine story is on the first-generation page.

In 1967 the Penske team ran an acid-dipped, drastically lightened Z/28 known as "The Lightweight," and Donohue took his first Trans-Am wins. In 1968 he won 10 of 13 races and Chevrolet took the manufacturers' championship. In 1969 Chevrolet won it again. The period title was the manufacturers' championship. The series' retrospective history explains that driver points for 1966–1971 were reconstructed after 1980 and the early winners were later recognized; that is a different basis from an award made during those seasons.

Donohue's book The Unfair Advantage describes how the team worked: full pit stops (fuel, four tires and front brake pads) in under two minutes, roughly half the time of the rival Ford team, and preparation that read the rulebook as closely as the racing line. The team came to call itself "Team Unfair Advantage."

Chaparral, 1970

Penske and Donohue left Chevrolet after 1969, and not for another Chevrolet team: they went to AMC. For the new second-generation Camaro's 1970 season Chevrolet turned to Jim Hall's Chaparral, the Texas Can-Am team. Hall built three cars in about six months (one for himself, one for Ed Leslie and a spare) and brought Chaparral's aerodynamic thinking to the class, including a flexible clear Lexan front spoiler. Vic Elford took over Hall's seat and scored the team's only win, at Watkins Glen in August 1970. Chevrolet finished third in the manufacturers' standings, and the cars were sold after the one season.

Penske after Camaro

Penske's AMC Javelins finished second in the 1970 manufacturers' championship, with Ford beating AMC 72 points to 59. Separately, the reconstructed drivers' standings put Parnelli Jones one point ahead of Donohue, 142 to 141. For 1971 the series' reconstruction credits Donohue with seven wins and a second place in eight Javelin starts; starts are not the same denominator as a season's rounds. Penske then left Trans-Am for a factory Porsche 917 Can-Am program, and Roy Woods Racing carried the Javelins on: the series' history identifies George Follmer's 1972 title for that team as its first official drivers' championship. Donohue's three recognized earlier crowns belong to the later reconstruction.

Trans-Am After Penske

The factory era faded through the early 1970s with the rest of the muscle-car market. In 1983 DeAtley Racing's Camaros won 10 of 12 rounds, and Chevrolet took its first manufacturers' championship in 14 years; David Hobbs won the drivers' title ahead of Willy T. Ribbs. Chevrolet won the manufacturers' title again in 1990 and 1992, but that is a make-wide award: the 1990 drivers' champion, Tommy Kendall, raced a Beretta. Jack Baldwin's 1992 drivers' title was in a Camaro. In 1994 Scott Pruett won the drivers' crown in a Camaro while Ford took the manufacturers' title, another reason to keep the two awards distinct.

The series continues as the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. Its TA2 overview, read October 26, 2026, describes purpose-built racers restricted to 530 hp and lists Camaro, Mustang and Challenger bodies; the page does not state its revision date. The earlier description of about 490 hp, 447 lb-ft and Camry eligibility is not verified here as a dated ruleset and should not be treated as the current specification. The series' October 27, 2021 announcement advertised 50 TA2 entries for Circuit of the Americas, an announced entry count rather than a verified count of starters.

Black and blue No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Trans Am decals
Black and blue No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Trans Am decals, side profile panning shot, on track Photo: SmackJam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black No. 11 Iron Smoke Distillery Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Trans Am decal
Black No. 11 Iron Smoke Distillery Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Trans Am decal, side profile panning shot, on track Photo: SmackJam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black and lime-green No. 75 Gel Blaster Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Silver Hare and Trans Am decals
Black and lime-green No. 75 Gel Blaster Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class car with Silver Hare and Trans Am decals, side profile panning shot, on track Photo: SmackJam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black and blue No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class road-racing car
Black and blue No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro TA2-class road-racing car, side view, on track between blue guardrails Photo: SmackJam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License

Did you know

  • The series' history identifies 1972 as the first official drivers' championship. It says the SCCA's publicity department reconstructed 1966–71 driver points after the 1980 season, with later recognition for those early winners. That tally gives Donohue 222 points to George Follmer's 97 in 1968, with ten wins and eight in a row, and 156 to Parnelli Jones's 130 in 1969.
  • Of Mark Donohue's 29 Trans-Am wins for Penske, 19 came in Camaros: three in 1967, ten in 1968 and six in 1969. The other ten came in AMC Javelins (three in 1970, seven in 1971). The series counts 43 podium finishes in his 55 Trans-Am starts.
  • The 1969 title was won in a rush. Ford took four of the first five rounds, then Camaros won all of the last seven: Donohue six times and Ronnie Bucknum once, at Seattle. Donohue beat Parnelli Jones's Mustang, in the series' words, "only after winning six of the final seven races."
  • Jim Hall's 1970 Chaparral Camaros wore Pontiac Firebird's taller rear spoiler because the production Camaro's short one made too little downforce. Through Vince Piggins's influence the spoiler reached Camaro showrooms, first through the COPO system and then as RPO D80 for 1971, so a Trans-Am fix became a catalog option.
  • Vic Elford's Watkins Glen win in August 1970 was only his second Trans-Am start, taken over from car owner Jim Hall. When the rain returned Hall put wets on all four corners, and when it dried he kept the rain tires on the right side, so Elford finished on mixed rubber: 91 laps, 209.3 miles, 103.8 mph average, with Donohue's Javelin second.
  • Beyond the acid dip, the Penske shop's Traco-built 302s carried a quick-fill oil valve on the valve cover for endurance stops. A vacuum system pulled the front caliper pistons back for faster pad changes, and because the etched shells came in under the minimum weight, ballast went wherever it helped the handling most.
  • 1968 is the only season Trans-Am counted the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours as rounds. Ford won Daytona; Donohue and Craig Fisher won Sebring. Chevrolet's 90 points (105 before dropping its worst results) beat Ford's 59 and AMC's 51 under a 9-6-4-3-2-1 scale that scored only each make's top finisher.
  • Chevrolet won the 1990 manufacturers' title, its first in seven years, with eight wins; Tommy Kendall won the drivers' title in a Beretta. Scott Sharp and Jack Baldwin ran 1–2 in 1991; Baldwin beat Sharp at the final turn of the 1992 finale, and Sharp won in 1993 for Buz McCall. Pruett won his second drivers' title in a Camaro in 1994, while Ford took that year's manufacturers' crown.
Sources for these details
Black 1974-body IROC Camaro race car with white #7 and "B. UNSER" lettering
An IROC Camaro built from a 1974 body, in Bobby Unser's #7 livery, at an RM auction Photo: Simon Davison, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1975–1980, 1984–1989

IROC: Camaro as rented equality

The International Race of Champions all-star series switched to identically prepared Camaros for its second season (1975), since they were cheaper to run than the Porsches it started with, and used them for twelve seasons: 1975–80 and 1984–89. Identical cars made the driver the only variable, and gave Chevrolet a name to license: the “IROC-Z.”

  • Camaro was IROC's spec car for twelve seasons: 1975–80 and 1984–89
  • Champions in Camaros included Bobby Unser (1975), Harry Gant (1985), Al Unser Jr. (1986, 1988)
  • Dale Earnhardt: four titles (1990, 1995, 1999, 2000), none in a Camaro
  • Directly named the production IROC-Z trim (1985–90)

IROC was created by David Lockton, Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps and launched in 1973 with identically prepared Porsche 911 Carrera RSRs. It switched to Camaros for IROC II in 1975 because they were cheaper to run and maintain. The series did not run from 1981 to 1983, which is why the Camaro years come in two blocks, and Dodge Daytonas took over in 1990. Those identical race Camaros are the direct reason Chevrolet later licensed the "IROC-Z" name for a production Z28 trim (1985–1990); see the second generation and the third generation.

The all-star field mixed champions from NASCAR, IndyCar, F1 and sports cars, and the drivers who turned laps in IROC Camaros included Foyt, Fittipaldi, Petty, Gordon, Mark Martin, Bobby Allison and the Unsers. Al Unser Jr. is cited as the last champion from outside NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt built the series' most dominant record of his time, with four championships: 1990 (a Dodge Daytona), 1995 (a Dodge Avenger), and 1999 and 2000 (Pontiac Firebirds), none of them in a Camaro. Mark Donohue, the driver behind Chevrolet's Trans-Am titles above, had been IROC's first champion, in the 1974 Porsche season.

Did you know

  • Penske Racing built the first IROC Camaros in the summer of 1974: fifteen cars, three of them spares, from stock 1974 Camaros with the 350 V-8 and four-speed. Traco supplied 336-cubic-inch engines dyno-tuned to 440 hp, each car weighed about 3,200 lb (1,100 more than the Porsches), and drivers drew for their car at every race.
  • The showroom link was thinner than the advertising. From 1977 Penske had NASCAR builder Banjo Matthews construct 15 tube-frame Camaros with fiberglass panels, and the 1984-89 cars followed suit; Hagerty calls the racer by then "essentially a NASCAR Winston Cup chassis with Camaro body panels."
  • Harry Gant's 1985 title came down to the last race at Michigan, where he started 12 points behind Darrell Waltrip. Gant won in a photo finish over Terry Labonte, which tied him with Waltrip in points; the tiebreaker went to Gant on finishing position, first against Waltrip's fourth.
  • Ten different drivers won the twelve Camaro-era titles. A. J. Foyt took back-to-back crowns in 1976-77, and the Unsers won four of the twelve: Bobby (1975), Al (1978) and Al Jr. (1986, 1988). Terry Labonte, in 1989, was the last Camaro champion.
  • Chevrolet chose not to renew its IROC contract for 1990 and lost the right to use the name after January 1, 1990. That is why the 1990 IROC-Z was a short run that finished production by the end of the 1989 calendar year.
  • Nobody could tell IROC Camaros apart by sponsor decals. Each car had its own paint color and the driver's surname on the door, numbers followed grid position, and drivers were assigned cars by blind draw before each event.
  • IROC came back in 1984 with the third-generation Z28, and Chevrolet co-sponsored the series alongside Anheuser-Busch, Goodyear and True Value.
Sources for these details
Orange 2018 COPO Camaro drag car
2018 COPO Camaro factory drag car Photo: Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1969–present

NHRA drag racing and COPO

Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins won the first NHRA Pro Stock national event in a 1968 Camaro at the 1970 Winternationals. The original COPO ZL1 and L72 cars existed to get race-legal big-block power past GM's internal displacement policy, and Chevrolet Performance revived COPO in 2012 as an annual factory-built, race-only drag special: 69 cars a year, a deliberate callback to the 1969 ZL1 count.

  • Grumpy Jenkins: first NHRA Pro Stock national event win (1970, Camaro)
  • Original COPO 9560 ZL1 (69) and 9561 L72 built for Super Stock/Stock
  • Modern COPO: 69/year from 2012, non-street-legal
  • 2018 eCOPO electric drag concept marked the program's 50th anniversary

Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins and the first Pro Stock national event (1970)

Jenkins, generally credited as the "father of Pro Stock," drove a converted 1968 Camaro, "Grumpy's Toy IV," to win the 1970 Winternationals at Pomona, then backed it up with a win at the Gatornationals: three Pro Stock event wins in 15 days and a reported $30,000 in prize money. He is also credited with several lasting drag-racing innovations developed across his career, not only on this car, among them early kick-out oil pans, a Pro Stock strut-style front suspension and dry-sump oiling.

COPO: factory drag specials, then and now

The original COPO 9560 (ZL1) and COPO 9561 (L72) Camaros were built for NHRA Super Stock and Stock; the first generation and the rare and significant cars have the full story. The modern cars, starting with the 69 of 2012, raced in NHRA Stock and Super Stock and later in NMCA Factory Super Cars and NHRA Factory Stock Showdown. Bruno Massel scored the modern program's first NHRA national-event win at the 2014 U.S. Nationals. The 2018 eCOPO electric drag concept (see the fifth and sixth generations) belongs to the same line, built to mark the original COPO program's 50th anniversary.

Red Chevrolet COPO Camaro drag car with black hood stripe and Hoosier slicks
Red Chevrolet COPO Camaro drag car with black hood stripe and Hoosier slicks, front three-quarter view, on display at an indoor tuning show with visitors around it Photo: Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License

Did you know

  • Jenkins' win came in the first Pro Stock national event, a 16-car field of five Hemi Plymouths, five big-block Camaros, three Ford Mavericks and three Hemi Dodges. In round one he ran Pro Stock's first nine-second pass, a 9.98 at 138.46 mph, and in the final he beat Ronnie Sox's Barracuda with a 9.99 at 139.53 mph, the top speed of the meet.
  • Pro Stock's record book still favors the Camaro. Through the class's first 899 events NHRA counted 228 Camaro wins, 138 more than the Pontiac Firebird, inside Chevrolet's 347, and Camaros had won the last 103 straight events, going back to the summer of 2016. A Camaro also won event No. 899, bookending Jenkins' first.
  • The modern COPO grew out of an NHRA rule change that let a factory-built car run in Stock Eliminator if 50 were produced. Chevrolet's Russ O'Blenes and Robin Wright built a naturally aspirated LS427 proof of concept, rolled the car out at the 2011 SEMA Show, and delivered the first four customer cars in August 2012 at GM's Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan.
  • At the 2014 U.S. Nationals, 33 COPO Camaros made the biggest showing yet for Chevrolet's drag package, and seven won classes. Bruno Massel's supercharged car took Stock Eliminator with an 8.82 on an 8.79 dial, beating Joey Wilkes's 396-cubic-inch COPO in an all-COPO final; 187 Stock cars had gone after 128 spots.
  • Chevrolet's own March 2024 retrospective says the modern COPO "has reached the finish line": more than 800 COPOs and Camaro Rolling Chassis were built, mostly 69 COPOs a year, and Barrett-Jackson charity sales of COPOs raised close to $2 million. Chevrolet Performance still supports the cars with blocks, heads and contingency money.
  • GM's Russ O'Blenes, who led the modern COPO effort, owns the trailer in which Dick Harrell's original No. 1 1969 ZL1 COPO Camaro burned, and he picked up the first modern COPO in that same trailer.
Sources for these details
NASCAR Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 at Le Mans 2023
2023 NASCAR Camaro ZL1 Garage 56, Le Mans Photo: Wolkenjaeger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2013–present

NASCAR: Cup, Xfinity and Le Mans

Camaro bodywork has run in NASCAR's Xfinity Series since 2013 and replaced the Chevrolet SS as the Cup Series body (badged ZL1) in 2018. Chase Elliott (2020) and Kyle Larson (2021) won Cup drivers' championships in Camaro-bodied Chevrolets, and in 2023 a NASCAR Camaro ZL1 ran the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the “Garage 56” entry, driven by Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller.

  • Cup Series body (ZL1) from 2018
  • Drivers' titles: Elliott 2020, Larson 2021 (Hendrick)
  • 2023 Le Mans “Garage 56” entry
  • Ford won the 2020 manufacturers' title, scored separately from the drivers'

Xfinity Series

Camaro bodywork replaced the Impala as Chevrolet's shape in NASCAR's second-tier national series in 2013, when it was still the Nationwide Series; it later became the Xfinity Series. The Camaro ran there alongside Mustang, Challenger and Camry shapes.

Cup Series

The Cup Camaro carried on under the Next Gen rules with a standardized composite body shaped after the sixth-generation road car. Both drivers' championships won in it went to Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR scores the manufacturers' championship separately.

Le Mans, 2023

In one of the modern Camaro's stranger outings, a Next Gen Camaro ZL1 ran the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans as the invitational Garage 56 entry. Hendrick Motorsports prepared it, and Formula One champion Jenson Button, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Le Mans and DTM veteran Mike Rockenfeller drove it. Running outside the classification, it completed 285 laps and 2,413 miles, finished 39th of 62 entries, and was widely regarded as a success. Chevrolet followed it with a 56-car ZL1 1LE Garage 56 Edition.

Blue
Blue, white and red No. 47 Kroger ClickList Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and AJ Allmendinger name on the roof rail, full side view, on track on a road course Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White
White, yellow and blue No. 00 Eternal Fan / Fan Memories Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Joey Gase name on the roof rail, front three-quarter to side view, on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White and blue No. 00 GoShare Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Tomy Drissi name on the roof rail
White and blue No. 00 GoShare Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Tomy Drissi name on the roof rail, full side view, on track on a road course Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black No. 77 Formula One Imports Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Justin Haley name above the window
Black No. 77 Formula One Imports Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Justin Haley name above the window, side view, on track Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Red
Red, white and blue star-livery No. 52 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Cody Ware name above the window, front three-quarter view, parked in the pit and garage area Photo: Talladega87, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Red No. 51 Jacob Companies Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal
Red No. 51 Jacob Companies Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal, front three-quarter view, in the garage area with crew in the background Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Blue and yellow No. 39 Uncle Bob's Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal
Blue and yellow No. 39 Uncle Bob's Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal, side view, on a road course Photo: Paula R. Lively, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White
White, red and blue No. 31 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy windshield banner, close front three-quarter view, cornering on a road course Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White
White, red and blue No. 15 Sufferfest Beer Company Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal, side view, on a road course Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black No. 72 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal
Black No. 72 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal, side profile panning shot, on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White and red No. 31 Grainger Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Ryan Newman name above the window
White and red No. 31 Grainger Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Ryan Newman name above the window, side view, on a road course Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Silver and white No. 3 Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal
Silver and white No. 3 Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal, side and front view, on a road course Photo: Paula R. Lively, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Yellow and black No. 00 StarCom Fiber Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Landon Cassill name on the roof rail
Yellow and black No. 00 StarCom Fiber Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Landon Cassill name on the roof rail, full side view, parked in the garage area in front of numbered garage bays Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Fluorescent yellow No. 33 Menards / Rheem Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Nationwide Series decal and Max Papis name on the roof rail
Fluorescent yellow No. 33 Menards / Rheem Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Nationwide Series decal and Max Papis name on the roof rail, side view panning shot, on track on a road course Photo: Matt Lewis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black No. 52 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Marriott Companies sponsor panel
Black No. 52 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Marriott Companies sponsor panel, full side view panning shot, on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti Photo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black
Black, grey and white No. 2 Shore Lodge Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal and Camaro nose lettering, full side view, on track on a road course in front of a Honda banner Photo: Paula R. Lively, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Purple No. 7 Nationwide Children's Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal and Camaro nose lettering
Purple No. 7 Nationwide Children's Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal and Camaro nose lettering, full side view, on track on a road course Photo: Paula R. Lively, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Yellow and black No. 00 StarCom Fiber Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Landon Cassill name on the roof rail
Yellow and black No. 00 StarCom Fiber Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Landon Cassill name on the roof rail, front three-quarter to side view, on track beside the wall Photo: Zach Catanzareti Photo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White and blue No. 00 VRX Simulators Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal
White and blue No. 00 VRX Simulators Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal, full side view panning shot, on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Blue and black No. 5 HendrickCareers.com Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car
Blue and black No. 5 HendrickCareers.com Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car, front three-quarter view, on display under a tent at a Hendrick Automotive Group and Wake Tech event Photo: Wake Technical Community College, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Black No. 27 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Joe Nemechek name on the roof rail
Black No. 27 Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Joe Nemechek name on the roof rail, full side view panning shot, on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White NASCAR Racing Experience Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car in pink and teal NASCAR Championship Weekend Miami promotional livery
White NASCAR Racing Experience Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car in pink and teal NASCAR Championship Weekend Miami promotional livery, side and front view, on display inside a shopping mall Photo: Phillip Pessar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Blue
Blue, white and orange No. 00 Permatex Camaro-bodied stock car with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series decal and Landon Cassill name above the window, tilted wide-angle side view, in the garage area Photo: Zach Catanzareti Photo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Black and blue No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Nationwide Series decals
Black and blue No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet Camaro stock car with NASCAR Nationwide Series decals, front three-quarter view, on display behind a railing in a museum Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Yellow and red No. 95 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy windscreen banner
Yellow and red No. 95 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Camaro ZL1-bodied stock car with Monster Energy windscreen banner, tight head-on front view in a banked turn on track Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
Blue and white No. 42 Linksys Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal and Justin Marks name on the roof rail
Blue and white No. 42 Linksys Camaro-bodied stock car with NASCAR Xfinity Series decal and Justin Marks name on the roof rail, full side view, on track on a road course below a camera tower Photo: Paula R. Lively, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License

Did you know

  • The Camaro ZL1 won its first Cup race. Austin Dillon's No. 3 Richard Childress Racing car took the lead on the final lap of the 2018 Daytona 500, and Darrell Wallace Jr., in his fifth career start, finished second in another Camaro ZL1 for a Chevrolet 1-2. It was Chevrolet's 24th Daytona 500 win, more than any other manufacturer.
  • The Camaro reached NASCAR's second tier at Daytona in February 2013. Chevrolet had announced in July 2012 that it would replace the Impala in the Nationwide Series; it was developed with Richard Childress Racing, and its signature halo headlights are stickers.
  • The Camaro-bodied Cup Chevrolets did not win a manufacturers' title until 2021, when Chevrolet took its 40th, with 19 wins and 1,336 points, its first since 2015. It repeated in 2022 for No. 41. Ford had won the title in 2018 and 2020, Toyota in 2019.
  • The Garage 56 Camaro was NASCAR's first appearance at Le Mans since 1976, when a Dodge Charger and a Ford Torino ran there, and it marked NASCAR's 75th anniversary. Chad Knaus was project manager, and the car wore No. 24 to honor Jeff Gordon.
  • To go endurance racing, the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 gained carbon brake discs, functional headlights, aero updates and a larger 32-gallon fuel cell, and shed 525 pounds against a Cup car. Powered by a Chevrolet R07.2 5.9-liter V8, it lapped faster than the GTE cars in testing and practice, so at the GTE Am entries' request it was placed ahead of them, behind the LMP2 field.
  • NASCAR's second tier dropped Camaro badging after 2024, when Chevrolet ended the road car, though the body remains eligible under homologation rules.
Sources for these details
Camaro GT4.R racing at Lime Rock
Camaro GT4.R (IMSA GS class) Photo: Charles, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2017–present

Road racing: the Camaro GT4.R

The Camaro GT4.R, developed with Pratt & Miller off the ZL1, has raced in IMSA and Pirelli World Challenge GT4 classes since 2017.

  • Built with Pratt & Miller off the ZL1
  • IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge / GT4 worldwide
  • First win: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Pratt & Miller Engineering, the partner behind Corvette's factory racing program, developed the GT4.R off the Camaro ZL1 platform. It debuted for 2017 with a dry-sump 6.2 L LT1 V8 and a six-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox, racing in IMSA's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (GS class), in Pirelli World Challenge (GTS class) and in GT4 series internationally. Robin Liddell and Matt Bell scored its first win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Blue No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro GS-class car with IMSA Continental Tire decals
Blue No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro GS-class car with IMSA Continental Tire decals, side profile, on a wet track Photo: Barrett Sonntag, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License

Did you know

  • The Camaro GT4.R was revealed in February 2017 with an Xtrac limited-slip differential, two-way adjustable Ohlins dampers, Brembo six-piston monobloc front calipers and wind-tunnel aero: a new rear wing, front splitter and dive planes. It was built to global GT4 rules.
  • GT4.R had a head start. Chevrolet said that from 2010 to 2016 the Camaro GS and Camaro Z/28.R won 55 races, two manufacturers' championships and five driver titles in major North American competition, and that the lessons went into its latest customer-driven track car.
  • Stevenson Motorsports won the 2015 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS title with the previous-generation Camaro Z/28.R, Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis winning. Lawson Aschenbach, who drove the GT4.R for Blackdog Speed Shop, had won Pirelli World Challenge class championships in a Camaro SS in 2013 and 2014.
  • The GT4.R debuted in Pirelli World Challenge at St. Petersburg in March 2017 with Blackdog Speed Shop (Lawson Aschenbach and Tony Gaples). Stevenson's No. 57 car followed at Circuit of the Americas in May, and Liddell and Bell won overall at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 8, 2017, by 6.462 seconds over a Porsche Cayman GT4, with a McLaren 570S GT4 third.
  • Chevrolet intended the GT4.R to become a customer car. At the St. Petersburg debut its motorsports competition director, Mark Kent, said "We anticipate this being a customer car program," with the process and pricing still to be settled. The previous Z/28.R had found only one outside customer, Canada's Mantella Autosport, for a single Continental Tire Challenge season.
  • The Camaro also had a private GT3 version. Hans Reiter's Sareni United, a Reiter Engineering subsidiary founded in 2012, built a GT3 car on the fifth-generation Camaro, priced at $265,000 and entered in the Blancpain Endurance Series opener at Monza; brakes were an early weak point, and a mid-2013 update package followed.
Sources for these details
1969 Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car edition convertible
1969 Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car edition Photo: MercurySable99, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1967–2016

Indianapolis 500 pace cars

Camaro has paced the Indy 500 nine times: 1967, 1969, 1982, 1993, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016. A.J. Foyt famously declined the 1967 pace car, officially over its lack of air conditioning, then drove one himself in 2011; Roger Penske drove the 50th-anniversary SS in 2016.

  • Nine pace-car appearances (1967–2016)
  • 1969 Z11 replica package: 3,675 built, including the race's courtesy and track cars
  • Foyt snubbed 1967, drove one in 2011
  • Penske drove the 2016 50th-anniversary pace car

1967: An RS/SS convertible in white with blue striping. See the first generation.

1969: An RS/SS 396 convertible in Dover White with Hugger Orange stripes. Chevrolet built 3,675 Z11 replica convertibles, a total that includes the courtesy and track cars used at the race.

1982: A specially prepared Z28, in the year the redesigned third generation was Motor Trend's Car of the Year. 6,360 replicas were sold.

1993: A black-and-white Z28 with multicolor ribbon graphics, in the fourth generation's first year.

2009: An SS driven by actor Josh Duhamel, a Transformers tie-in.

2010: An SS driven by broadcaster Robin Roberts; 294 replicas were built.

2011: An SS driven by A.J. Foyt; 500 replicas were built.

2014: A Z/28 driven by Dario Franchitti.

2016: An SS in 50th-anniversary livery driven by Roger Penske, whose Camaros won the Trans-Am titles of 1968 and 1969.

Silver and blue-green 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with roof light bar and Indianapolis door decals
Silver and blue-green 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with roof light bar and Indianapolis door decals, low front three-quarter view, at an outdoor car show on grass Photo: Nick Ares, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; licence plates and faces blurred Original photograph License
Silver and blue 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with Indianapolis door decals
Silver and blue 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with Indianapolis door decals, side profile view, at an outdoor car meet among autumn leaves Photo: Thomas Vogt, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; licence plates and faces blurred Original photograph License
Silver 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with blue and red lower striping and Z28 lettering
Silver 1982 Camaro Z28 Indy 500 pace-car coupe with blue and red lower striping and Z28 lettering, close rear three-quarter view, at an outdoor car show on grass Photo: Zytonits, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe with door graphics and multicolour stripes
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe with door graphics and multicolour stripes, front three-quarter and side view, in a dealer parking lot Photo: Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; licence plates blurred Original photograph License
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe, front three-quarter and side view, on display in a museum Photo: Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe
Black-over-white 1993 Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 pace car coupe, side and front three-quarter view, at an outdoor car show Photo: MercurySable99, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Orange 2010 Camaro coupe with white stripes and Indianapolis 500 pace-car door decals
Orange 2010 Camaro coupe with white stripes and Indianapolis 500 pace-car door decals, front three-quarter view, at a racetrack display Photo: Doctorindy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
White 2011 Camaro SS convertible Indianapolis 500 pace car with red stripes and pace-car door lettering
White 2011 Camaro SS convertible Indianapolis 500 pace car with red stripes and pace-car door lettering, front three-quarter view, in a museum Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License
White 2011 Camaro convertible Indianapolis 500 pace car with red stripes and soft top up
White 2011 Camaro convertible Indianapolis 500 pace car with red stripes and soft top up, side and front three-quarter view, at an outdoor display area Photo: Doctorindy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; faces blurred Original photograph License
Red 2011 Camaro SS Indianapolis 500 pace car on track, shot through the catch fence
2011 Camaro SS Indianapolis 500 pace car, in action Photo: The359, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original photograph License

Did you know

  • The seat for the early Camaro pace cars went to Indy insiders: Mauri Rose in 1967, Jim Rathmann in both 1969 and 1982, and Jim Perkins in 1993, all per the Speedway's official pace-car list.
  • The Camaro paced two Indy milestones. In 2011 it was the car for the race marking the 100th anniversary of the first 500, and in 2016 it paced the 100th Running, with Roger Penske driving the SS 50th Anniversary Edition (IMS lists it as a 2017 model) and rookie Alexander Rossi winning.
  • A.J. Foyt was a late substitute in 2011. Donald Trump was named the Camaro SS pace-car driver on April 5, but stepped down in early May after mounting criticism and a Facebook campaign, and four-time winner Foyt took the seat, 44 years after he reportedly declined the 1967 prize car.
  • The Camaro's first pace-car race ran over two days. The 1967 Indy 500 started on schedule Tuesday, May 30, but rain red-flagged it after 18 laps and it resumed Wednesday morning. Foyt won his third 500 after Parnelli Jones's turbine car coasted to a stop with three laps to go, a $6 transmission bearing having failed.
  • The 2009 pace car was the first Camaro to pace the 500 since 1993, and the first time since 2003 that the Corvette was not the pace car. The Speedway's list calls it a '2010 Chevrolet Camaro'; other accounts specify an SS.
Sources for these details