Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE is an American automotive model manufactured by Chevrolet. The Camaro is currently fielded in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Since 2014, the Chevrolet SS has been the face of GM in NASCAR's top-flight series. The SS may be dead, but Chevy is far from finished with NASCAR racing. Today in Detroit, the automaker finally revealed the replacement for the SS, the 2018 Camaro ZL1 NASCAR Cup Car. GM Executive Vice President of Global Product Development Mark Reuss was joined by seven-time champion and Chevrolet and Monster Energy Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson at the car's reveal. The new car has hit the track next February at Daytona.

Like most NASCAR vehicles, this Camaro shares only a passing resemblance to the road-going sports car. It looks more like a Camaro than the SS did with its road-going twin, but it shares bones with every other car on the track. Under the hood rests a 358-cubic-inch (5.9-liter) 90-degree pushrod V8 making in the neighborhood of 900 horsepower. Like the engine, the tube-frame chassis and much of the bodywork is shared with the competition.

This isn't the first Camaro to race in NASCAR, though it's the first time the ZL1 moniker has graced the car's livery. A similar Camaro SS races in the lower-tier Xfinity Series. As fast as these two may be, we still prefer cars with closer connections to what we see in showrooms, like the new Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.

Next generation
Chevrolet will switch to the Camaro ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, replacing the Camaro ZL1, which made its series debut in 2018.

Camaro ZL1 1LE -- based on the fastest, most track-capable production Camaro ever – will make its competition debut next February during Daytona Speedweeks, which opens the 2020 NASCAR season.

“The ZL1 1LE is the highest performer within the Camaro production-car lineup,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports. “We took lessons from the production car and applied them to the new 2020 Cup car.”

Chevrolet engineers optimized aerodynamic performance by employing an array of tools, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), simulation, and reduced-scale and full-scale wind-tunnel testing.

Camaro ZL1 1LE joins the Team Chevy family of racing Camaros already competing in NASCAR Xfinity Series; NHRA Funny Car, Pro Stock and Sportsman classes; Michelin Pilot Challenge GS Class; and Pirelli World Challenge GTS division.