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Jan 04, 2024

The organizing body behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Each year, that group welcomes a team to Le Mans to participate in its "Garage 56" program, an exhibition class created in 2012 to encourage technical innovation. This year, the invitee is NASCAR. The clash of worlds between the V-8 NASCAR experience and the world of European endurance racing is sure to be fascinating. Scroll through to see the details.

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Chevrolet's naturally aspirated 5.9-liter V-8 gets minor valvetrain and piston changes to increase durability. Output is unrestricted, around 670 horsepower, and a revised cooling system lowers running temperatures in hopes of keeping the V-8 going for 24 hours.

Stock cars race on lighted tracks, so stickers replace actual headlights. To put in real lights required modifications inside the nose and tail to make room for wiring and additional cooling vents.

Along with the road-course Cup-spec wiper, the G56 car gets a heated windshield to prevent fogging since the cockpit isn't sealed. The G56 car retains the left-side window net, making driver changes a gymnastic performance. "If we put doors on," Thomas says, "then we lose some of the stock-car relevance."

Instead of a shift lever, the five-speed transaxle is operated via paddles, reducing the physical toll on the driver.

A black light in the interior illuminates the seatbelts and buttons on the dash to help speed pit stops.

A Bosch radar system alerts the drivers to faster cars approaching from behind. A meter shows the distance and changes color based on the speed differential of the approaching car.

Le Mans mandates a telemetry system that logs data and transmits it to race officials.

The unequal-length control arms are similar to a standard Cup car's. Four-way adjustable Öhlins dampers feature external bump stops instead of internal travel limiters and weigh two pounds less. The redesigned suspension uprights allow more airflow to the brakes, which are no longer iron discs but carbon-carbon rotors with titanium hats. Ceramic wheel bearings shed weight and reduce rolling resistance.

It might look like a standard Cup car, but extensive use of a carbon/Kevlar weave reduces its mass by some 240 pounds, for a 2960-pound total.

Safety regulations required Hendrick Motorsports to mount the fuel tank—normally in the rear of a Cup car—amidships in a horseshoe configuration around the gearbox and encased in carbon fiber. The tank holds 32.0 gallons, 12.0 more than a Cup car.

Le Mans–spec dive planes, a taller rear spoiler, and a bespoke carbon-fiber splitter and rear diffuser generate twice as much downforce as the Cup car's intermediate aero configuration (one of four used in the series).

Goodyear developed special Eagle race rubber for Le Mans. In dry conditions, it's a staggered 365 section-width up front and 380 in the rear. In the event of wet weather, the G56 car will ride on a square, 365-wide setup, as the Cup car does in all conditions.

Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.

Formula 1 champion Jenson Button.

Seven-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson.

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