{"id":91231,"date":"2023-06-12T18:53:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T01:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=91231"},"modified":"2023-06-12T18:53:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T01:53:10","slug":"nascars-garage-56-wows-at-le-mans-ferrari-claims-10th-overall-win-first-since-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascars-garage-56-wows-at-le-mans-ferrari-claims-10th-overall-win-first-since-1965\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR’s Garage 56 Wows at Le Mans; Ferrari Claims 10th Overall Win, First Since 1965"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Le Mans celebrated its centenary and 93rd race in 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Goodyear and NASCAR introduced Garage 56 and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the announcement was taken seriously. After all, 2023 marks NASCAR\u2019s 75th year of operation and it is one of the most popular forms of motor sport in the world, likely second only to Formula One.<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports doesn\u2019t begin any program without proper preparation and the Garage 56 is no different. While working with its manufacturers of choice in NASCAR, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and hiring three drivers with diversity on their sides to attack The Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans that includes roads regularly traveled, the team, its partners and the Automobile Club de l\u2019Ouest (ACO, Le Mans\u2019 regulatory and promotions group) have put together a viable program that could see success.<\/p>\n

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Garage 56’s NASCAR Next Gen Camaro ZL1 was quicker than the fastest GTELM Am cars – Getty Images NASCAR photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While it\u2019s hard to certify any racing program as one that will ultimately be successful, especially a racing entity so different from the balance of the Le Mans field, Garage 56 has already shown its mettle on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. How, you ask? Let\u2019s start with pre-race activities. On Tuesday, the crack crew put together for this event won the Pit Stop Challenge competition.<\/p>\n

The five Garage 56 over-the-wall athletes, despite being the singular squad to use a manual jack, changed four Goodyear Eagle tires in 10.364 seconds, edging Northwest AMR (Aston Martin Racing) by a scant 0.12 seconds. Garage 56 finished fifth overall, just 0.3 seconds behind the top finishing team and best of all GTE challengers.<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 pit crew coach Evan Kureczka noted, \u201cIt was actually our fastest stop of the day, so I would say I was surprised, but also very pleased. You can tell the fans were very impressed with the fact that we were using a jack to jack the car up. You could see the smiles on their faces. We put on a great show for the fans,\u201d he said. The rabid Le Mans fans would have been even more amazed by the Hendrick pit-stop crew\u2019s achievements had they realized this five-man squad were working together for the first time in a competition setting. despite competing for Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 four teams in NASCAR\u2019s Cup Series.<\/p>\n

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Garage 56’s pit crew performed admirably despite never working together until this past week – Getty Images NASCAR photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fan focus for this entry was on the driving squad that featured seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button and two-time overall 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller. The trio, which managed to stay close to the top GTE class runners throughout much of the 24-hour race, were sidelined with four hours remaining when they suffered a drive line issue. Despite time in the garage area, the team returned to the track and was classified 39th overall of the 40 finishers. There were 62 total starters in this race and early monsoon conditions caused many issues and subsequent retirements.<\/p>\n

While the Garage 56 entry is not affiliated with any of the classes that race at Le Mans – it\u2019s entered as an \u201cinnovative car\u201d – the team did perform customary scrutineering, practice and qualifying, in addition to the 24 hours of racing. There were three classes running: Hypercar prototypes, LMP2 prototypes and LMGTE Am GT3 sports cars. During the dual qualifying sessions, Rockenfeller brought the No. 24 (a familiar Hendrick NASCAR Cup Series car number) Camaro ZL1 through with a lap at 3:47.976, which was quicker by more than three seconds, than the LMGTE Am No. 1 qualifier. The car\u2019s top speed in qualifying was 314.5 kph (195.4 mph), which was more than 12kph quicker than the top GT3 cars that run in the LMGTE Am class.<\/p>\n

NASCAR\u2019s Jim France, who is the company\u2019s chairman and CEO, was exhilarated by the NASCAR Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1\u2019s pace throughout the week-long race meeting. \u201cThat was unbelievable,\u201d France said after the car completed 285 laps on the 8.4-mile circuit. France has been the engine that kept this project moving forward, claiming the inspiration came from his father, Big Bill France, who brought two stock cars to The Sarthe for the 1976 edition of the Le Mans 24-hour race. \u201cThat was thousands of hours of hard work by hundreds of people that went into making this thing happen. And then the way the team and the pit crews and everybody performed all week, it was just fantastic,\u201d he related.<\/p>\n

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Jim France and Rick Hendrick watch the Garage 56 come to the checkered flags – Getty Images NASCAR photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI hope my dad and my brother are somewhere up there looking down and smiling,\u201d France declared, \u201cbut the goal we set out was to try and finish the race running at the end and not be last. We accomplished that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 owner, Rick Hendrick was concerned that the program might not be as strong as it needed to be. \u201cThe last thing I\u2019d want to do is for us to come over here and fall on our nose,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom the very beginning with Chad (Knaus) and Greg (Ives), I said we\u2019ve got to do this right. We don\u2019t spare any expense.\u201d Knaus, who worked with Johnson on his championship teams was ecstatic to reach the end of the race intact: \u201cI feel like we had already captured the trophy right when they dropped the green flag. The thing I\u2019m most proud of is that this wasn\u2019t really anybody but a few people\u2019s full-time job. Everybody accepted this task as a passion project and something that they wanted to participate in. And when you get people like that put together, you can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s goal was to perform race stints in all situations Le Mans might offer. The weather dictated his stints and he got to run in daytime, at night and in the wet. He was designated the final driver to bring the No. 24 Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the checkered flags. \u201cMy heart is full,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cFor all the reasons we know – coming here with NASCAR, Hendrick, Chevrolet, Goodyear. Many of the people here working were on different teams that I won races and championships with. There were so many familiar faces, to have this experience was just off the charts. My bucket is full. I\u2019m really happy,\u201d he said post-race. \u201cThe fan reception, whether it was at the parade, or on the cool-down lap just now. Even the corner marshals were going nuts. Everything was just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Garage 56’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was a crowd favorite – Getty Images NASCAR photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Le Mans is like that. Everyone does get involved and the fans, the corner workers, everyone cheers as the survivors make their way to the twin checkered flags and then to parc ferme. The front straight, where the victory podium takes place, becomes inundated with humanity who cheer for the overall victors, the class winners and every team on the podium.<\/p>\n

Mike Rockenfeller, whose familiarity with the track and with the race made him the obvious candidate to perform most of the testing and simulation work, started the race for the Garage 56 entry. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to finish the race. That was priority number one,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s something I will look back to later on with my kids, and it will always be high on my memory in terms of high level races I did. It has been such a great team, not only my teammates but everybody on the team. The full journey, I mean, what can I say? I made a lot of friends. And I think we did a good job!\u201d<\/p>\n

The inclusion of Button might have been a head-scratcher for some who didn\u2019t know that the Briton has been racing endurance competitions since leaving F1. While he only ran 97 laps during the 24-hour race, \u201cTo take their Cup car and turn it into an endurance car for Le Mans, it\u2019s staggering,\u201d he said. What amazing people! They\u2019re the best in the business and I\u201dm proud to be working with these guys. It\u2019s difficult,\u201d Button admitted, \u201cbecause there\u2019s so much emotion. We\u2019re all tired. And this is it. You know what I mean – this is it! This is the last time this car is racing, so it\u2019s kind of sad, but then you just got to think about living in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Corvette Racing earned its ninth and final win in GTELM Am – Corvette Racing Richard Prince photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ferrari\u2019s 499P Hypercar won the overall race from Toyota, which has had quite the run at Le Mans the past few years, earning five consecutive race wins before being toppled. For the Italian marque, 2023 marks the first time Ferrari has logged a Le Mans win since 1965, when its drivers weren\u2019t even a blip on anyone\u2019s radar screen. The victory puts them third on the all-time list behind Porsche, which has 19 overall wins and Audi with 13. The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar and the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hypercar were the sole entries to complete 342 laps; the third-place Cadillac Racing No. 2 V-Series.R LMDh (GTP) prototype from Chip Ganassi Racing was a lap down.<\/p>\n

The other two classes in this race, LMP2 and LMGTE Am, won\u2019t be part of next year\u2019s race, which gives the No. 34 Inter Europe Competition Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 team and Corvette Racing\u2019s C8.R, which earned its ninth and final victory as a factory squad, bragging rights forever. Many LMP2 teams are coming to IMSA next year; sports car racing will revert to its status as a customer class in 2024, when both Ford (Mustang GT3) and Chevrolet (Corvette C8.R) will produce customer cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Goodyear and NASCAR introduced Garage 56 and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the announcement was taken seriously.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":91237,"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","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3470,5029,22],"tags":[952,9745,1579,9748,358,9744,9280,435,9091,9059,9747,9746],"class_list":["post-91231","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-automobile-club-de-louest","tag-cadillac","tag-corvette-c8-r","tag-corvette-racing","tag-ferrari-499p-hypercar","tag-garage-56","tag-hendrick-motorsports","tag-hypercar","tag-lmp2","tag-oreca-07","tag-toyota-gr010"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023-Le-Mans-logo-min-e1686621171982.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-nJt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91231","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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91231"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91253,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91231\/revisions\/91253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}