NASCAR and Chevrolet

Stock car racing is perhaps the oldest form of motorsports. Unlike more specialized events such as open-wheel racing that require expensive purpose-built vehicles, a stock car race uses the same types of cars that can be bought off any dealer’s lot. Because of this, it is no surprise that Chevrolet, one of America’s largest automobile manufacturers, has a long history with NASCAR, America’s largest stock car racing organization. But what is the story of Chevy cars in NASCAR?

Today, Chevrolet fields a vehicle based on the Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE and has more NASCAR wins to its name than any other manufacturer. However, things were not always this way, and Chevrolet actually had a late start in the world of NASCAR and used a wide variety of different vehicles over the years. Some of these cars were short-lived but had an outsized impact on the sport, while other cars kept racing for decades throughout numerous generations and rule changes.

Perhaps surprisingly, given Chevy’s large market presence and current standings in the sport, Chevy cars were mostly absent from the early days of NASCAR. While the less regulated nature of the sport back then meant that drivers were free to choose almost any car they desired, Chevy models made few appearances in the winner’s circle. Champion drivers who preferred GMC cars mainly stuck with now defunct brands such as Oldsmobile and Pontiac rather than Chevrolet. Chevy sought to rectify this for the 1957 series when it introduced the iconic Chevy “Black Widow.” This car was built by the Chevy subsidiary SEDCO (Southern Engineering and Development Co) on a 1957 Chevy 150 utility sedan, which happened to be the lightest car that Chevrolet offered. Equipped with a cutting edge 4.6L fuel-injected engine, the Black Widow performed so well that it led to NASCAR instituting a ban on fuel injection that lasted all the way until 2011.

The Racing Bans

However, the stunning success of the 1957 season would not be repeated. The 1950s saw a number of highly publicized crashes that killed and injured scores of bystanders and led to a public pushback against racing. In order to forestall potential government legislation against high-performance cars, in 1957 the Automobile Manufacturers Association agreed to ban automobile racing and cut off factory support for NASCAR teams. While this ban did not last long and manufacturers soon returned to pushing the development of high-performance cars, it did undercut Chevy’s promising entry into the NASCAR scene. Unfortunately, Chevy’s second attempt followed an almost identical trajectory.

Finally ready to reenter the stock car world, Chevy prepared for the 1963 season by building what has come to be known as the “1963 Mystery Engine.” Officially designated the 427 Chevrolet Mark II V8, this engine generated around 540 horsepower and was built for NASCAR. When installed in a 1963 Chevy Impala, set new records and inspired a legend that lives on to this day. But before this engine could fully live up to its promise, Chevy’s NASCAR dreams were again blocked by politics. This time it was not safety that was the problem, but antitrust laws. Together, the divisions of GMC had cornered over half of the American automobile market, and the Federal government was looking at breaking up the company. In order to avoid this, GMC took drastic measures that included shutting down all racing activities. Once again, Chevrolet would be confined to the sidelines.

Take Off

It was not until 1970 when Chevrolet finally returned to NASCAR in full force with the brand new Chevy Monte Carlo. Although factory support for teams was still off-limits, this powerful new car was available to anyone with the money and soon began racking up wins in the hands of skilled drivers. In 1975, Chevrolet again stepped up its game with the Chevy Chevelle Laguna S-3 and its distinctive aero nose. Although the Chevy Chevelle was already a popular choice for stock car racing, the 1975 Leguna variant proved so dominating that it only lasted three seasons before NASCAR changed the rule book in 1978 to force it out of the competition. But although the Chevy Chevelle Laguna disappeared, the Chevy Monte Carlo continued to put up stellar performances.

However, by this point, NASCAR was moving away from its stock car roots, and the race cars were often significantly modified from their stock forms. This was particularly noticeable when the Chevy Lumina briefly took over from the Chevy Monte Carlo in 1989. While the NASCAR version had a mighty V8 engine and rear-wheel drive, the version sold to the public at Chevy dealerships was powered by a much smaller V6 engine and was front-wheel drive. But while the highly modified Chevy Lumina performed acceptably on the track, by the early 1990s, the Chevy Monte Carlo was back in production and was again the company’s NASCAR favorite. However, like the Chevy Lumina, the stock version of the new Chevy Monte Carlo was a V6 front-wheel drive car. Further, rule changes meant that specially engineered fiberglass body panels and enhanced aero were now allowed, meaning that the race car shared little more than its general shape with the production vehicle bearing the same name.

The Modern Era

Modern NASCAR vehicles have almost entirely left their stock car roots, and with the 2007 introduction of the fifth generation “Car of Tomorrow,” every manufacturer shared the same exact body design. While Chevrolet originally continued to use the Chevy Monte Carlo as its NASCAR entry, the closing of that production line meant that in 2010 it transitioned to using the Chevy Impala instead. And although the stock Chevy Impala SS did have a V8 engine, it was a four-door sedan while all previous Chevy NASCAR vehicles had been two-door coupes. However, Chevy was not alone in this change, as Toyota’s fifth-generation NASCAR vehicle was based on the even less sporty four-door Toyota Camry.

Fortunately, this low point in NASCAR designs was short-lived, and when the improved sixth-generation car was introduced for 2013, manufacturers could again model their cars after their production designs. For Chevrolet, this meant dropping the Chevy Impala and instead basing its new race car on the rear-wheel drive V8 Chevy SS. While the stock version of the Chevy SS was still a dramatically different vehicle from the NASCAR Chevy SS, this was the first time since 1989 that both variants of the vehicle shared the same shape and layout. And when the Chevy SS left production in 2017, Chevrolet turned to the iconic Chevy Camaro to be its new NASCAR model.

Given that the stock Chevy Camaro is already a real performance vehicle with two doors, a powerful V8 engine, and rear-wheel drive, it is actually rather surprising that Chevrolet did not decide to use it for NASCAR much earlier. However, as the saying goes, “better late than never” and Ford has also since followed Chevy’s lead by replacing the Ford Fusion with the Ford Mustang. This leaves only Toyota with a race car based on a family sedan, although it has begun using the new Toyota Supra for the lower level Xfinity series races.

While NASCAR is set for another shakeup when the new seventh-generation car makes its debut for 2022, the one thing that we can be sure of is that Chevy cars will remain on the cutting edge of the sport.