{"id":89300,"date":"2023-01-30T14:32:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T22:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=89300"},"modified":"2023-01-30T14:32:23","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T22:32:23","slug":"nascar-goes-to-le-mans-with-chevrolet-zl1-camaro-and-drivers-jimmie-johnson-mike-rockenfeller-and-jenson-button","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-goes-to-le-mans-with-chevrolet-zl1-camaro-and-drivers-jimmie-johnson-mike-rockenfeller-and-jenson-button\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Goes to Le Mans with Chevrolet ZL1 Camaro and Drivers Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chevrolet’s display of the Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 drew quite a crowd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Garage 56 at Le Mans is designated for cars and drivers who push the envelope and are not part of the categories dictated by the FIA\u2019s WEC, the Le Mans organizers and IMSA\u2019s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Oftentimes the Garage 56 entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be a car that doesn\u2019t fit in anywhere else, like Don Panoz\u2019s entry for the Delta Wing coupe or his intended Green4U 2018 program.<\/p>\n

This year, for the 100th anniversary of the summer twice-around-the-clock classic, Garage 56 will be occupied by Hendrick Motorsports, which is helping NASCAR celebrate its 75th anniversary by entering a Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, much like those running today in NASCAR\u2019s Cup Series for the second year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button will co-drive the Garage 56 entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The car, which has already been put through its paces by seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and by Le Mans overall winner Mike Rockenfeller, will also include Formula One champion Jenson Button who, as of today, has only driven the ZL1 on a simulator, but will have his first test day at Daytona International Speedway two days after the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The car will be overseen by Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, bringing back a relationship that flourished throughout Johnson\u2019s stellar career, together with the president and GM of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Andrews. Even though Johnson doesn\u2019t work officially with Mr Hendrick any longer, placing Johnson into this ZL1 for Le Mans appeared to be a natural. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more proud of this driver lineup that\u2019s going to go forward and represent this great effort,\u201d said Andrews,. \u201cWe know they\u2019re going to represent NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear and it\u2019s a great opportunity – not only for<\/p>\n

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Jeff Andrews of Hendrick Motorsports was instrumental in putting the entry together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

us but for them – and we\u2019re looking forward to our trip to Le Mans in June.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Jeff Gordon\u2019s name was proposed for the Garage 56 entry, Andrews said the former Hendrick racer was \u201creally good with the decision\u201d to bring Johnson, Rockenfeller and Button to The Sarthe Circuit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t NASCAR\u2019s first time at Le Mans; in 1976 Bill France prefaced this Garage 56 program by bringing two NASCAR teams to the race. \u201cJim France, IMSA chairman, decided he wanted to recreate that same story,\u201d noted John Doonan, IMSA president and Garage 56 project leader. It is, Doonan said, \u201ca special opportunity to put NASCAR on a global stage. He said, \u2018Let\u2019s bring a team of All-Stars together, the winningest race team in NASCAR history with 14 Cup championships, there winningest auto manufacturer in NASCAR history, Chevrolet, NASCAR\u2019s tire partner since 1954, Goodyear, and working with our partners at the ACO (Automobile Club de l\u2019Ouest, Le Mans sanctioning body), Pierre Fillon and his board have been open to the idea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jim France’s support for the sport, and his love of both 24-hour endurance races,\u00a0 is legendary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After years of turning left in NASCAR, Johnson spent the past two years racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, where he had the assistance of five-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Scott Pruett, who has also raced in NASCAR\u2019s Cup Series. \u201cScott offered to help with this and I think I\u2019ll take him up on that offer,\u201d Johnson said. He\u2019s also come close at the Rolex 24, sports car racing\u2019s midwinter classic taking place this weekend. \u201cIt\u2019s been a big dream of mine to go to Le Mans and compete, to be in Le Mans and experience what it\u2019s all about, andy to have the experience I have had here, I know how special this event is, and I\u2019m sad I\u2019m not out there today,\u201d competing in this 61st Rolex 24 race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rockenfeller, who has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall and secured a Rolex 24 at Daytona victory, has represented a number of manufacturers in his racing career. He has done the bulk of testing for this upcoming Le Mans challenge, at tracks like VIR, Sebring, Road Atlanta. It\u2019s a very different machine from those he\u2019s used to secure sports car victories, but he says he\u2019s really looking forward to the honor of driving with both Button and Johnson. He said the threesome are getting along exceptionally well. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible group of partners on this project. To be involved from day one is just a great honor, a lot of fun, and I can\u2019t wait now to share the car with these two especially young teammates.\u201d Johnson is 47, Button 43 and Rockenfeller is the youngster at 39.<\/p>\n

Since his departure from full-time Formula One competition after the 2016 season, Jenson Button has made known his interest in other forms of motorsport. The 2009 Formula One champion with the Brawn GP team that eventually morphed into Mercedes AMG, Button won the 2018 Super GT Series championship with Naoki Yamamoto and boasts plenty of sports car competition on his CV, starting with the 1999 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium. He\u2019s driven in the Race of Champions six times and participated in eSports races from the start of the pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

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Jenson Button gets his first laps in the ZL1 Tuesday here on Daytona International Speedway’s road course.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now he\u2019s going to Le Mans to occupy one of the three seats in this Garage 56 entry. With Jordan Taylor, who races for Corvette Racing in IMSA\u2019s GTD PRO class coaching him, Button foresees a smooth transition to driving this NASCAR machine. His sense of humor intact during the introduction of the driving trio, Button said, \u201cThis is a total surprise. I was on the way to Disneyland and took the wrong road! After finishing my F1 career,\u201d he said, \u201cI have been looking for new challenges. This is definitely another challenge, to work alongside these two. As you can see, there\u2019s some good banter here with Jimmie dreaming that he\u2019s the youngest. I think it just shows that the teamwork we will need to go to Le Mans and to perform as we would like. I think we can achieve something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jimmie Johnson can cross Le Mans off his bucket list this June.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new NASCAR Next Gen race car, about to enter its second season, is a far different animal than the most recent Cup car that Jimmie Johnson has raced, so his first recent test of the Chevrolet ZL1 indicated a learning curve. \u201cIt\u2019s a much different vehicle than what I remember,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cFrom the driveline perspective and shifting, just the general feel, the attitude of the car, I\u2019m mot used to the cars running so nose up, and now with the underwing on the car and trying to charge the underwing itself for downforce, it\u2019s just a different animal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very thankful I got those laps. It did feel foreign, but it felt a hell of a lot closer to home than driving an Indy car,\u201d Johnson stated. \u201cWithin six laps I was right there on pace with the guys, so that was nice to be back at home. With this car, we\u2019re making every effort we can to really carry the NASCAR DNA over to Le Mans. That\u2019s really the design and the intent for this program. Even that big V-8 engine, everybody in France is going to love hearing that thing scream down the straightaways,\u201d Johnson said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All three drivers have expressed their interest in competing in an LMDh and\/or Hypercar in the future, once their Garage 56 adventure is complete. For all three the adventure is one they\u2019re all looking forward to. It was Doonan who had the crowning word: \u201cThe organization that Rick [Hendrick] and his whole entire organization have put together, it\u2019s unbelievable to have Chad Knaus and Greg Ives involved in this. You couple that with what Chad and Jimmie accomplished over 15 seasons, seven championships, 83 wins, twice here on this stage in 2006 and 2013, unbelievable. Then you go on to Mike Rockenfeller, Le Mans winner, unbelievable endurance sports car experience. Then you add in a world champion from Formula 1, it\u2019s exactly what the vision was to put NASCAR on a global stage and bring drivers from so many different disciples like you\u2019ve seen in NASCAR Cup.<\/p>\n

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Mike Rockenfeller, a Le Mans overall winner, has been doing much of the development work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMike ran twice last year at Watkins Glen, the Charlotte Oval; Kimi Raikkonen at Watkins Glen and on and on and on, and the list keeps growing. In the end,\u2019 Doonan emphasized, \u201cour hope is to put NASCAR on a global stage. We\u2019ve already learned a lot about this car and what might be able to be applied to the Next Gen Cup car. Just this week, based on the work Rocky (Rockenfeller) has done in the sim, Jimmie has done in the sim, Jenson has done in the sim, there were components we\u2019ve tested on the Garage 56 car that were tested in Phoenix, that might be applied for short track racing or road course racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen here on Tuesday,\u201d Doonan concluded, \u201cwe\u2019re going to fire up headlights, working headlights, working taillights. No more stickers! We\u2019re really excited about that, to help maybe bring some things from this project that could be applied and again, it\u2019s all about putting NASCAR on a global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garage 56 at Le Mans is designated for cars and drivers who push the envelope and are not part of the categories dictated by the FIA\u2019s WEC, the Le Mans organizers and IMSA\u2019s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":89302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3470,5029,22],"tags":[952,1986,39,9530,2920,435,395,9529,3186,9531,127],"class_list":["post-89300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-racing","category-event-coverage","tag-24-hours-of-le-mans","tag-camaro-zl1","tag-chevrolet","tag-fia-formula-one-world-championship","tag-fia-world-endurance-championship","tag-hendrick-motorsports","tag-imsa","tag-jenson-button","tag-jimmie-johnson","tag-mike-rockenfeller","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/JJ-Rocky-JB-min-e1675117922595.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-nek","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89300"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89328,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89300\/revisions\/89328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}