Chevrolet announced Thursday that it will race the Camaro in NASCAR's Nationwide Series starting with the 2013 season.
Despite Ford's introduction of the Mustang to Nationwide racing when new body styles were introduced two years ago, Chevrolet had been mum on any intention of bringing the rival Camaro body style to NASCAR's No. 2 division.
“Our team of Chevrolet designers and aerodynamic engineers did a fantastic job capturing the great looks and styling cues of the production Camaro, while providing our NASCAR Nationwide teams with a highly competitive aero platform,” said Pat Suhy, Chevrolet Racing Oval Track Group's manager.
“For the remainder of 2012, our engineers will be busy working with our Chevy teams on wind tunnel and on-track testing to fine-tune the car in preparation for next year. It will be great to see Camaro compete on the track against its showroom competition starting with the 2013 season opener at Daytona.”
There had been no indication that Chevy had changed its mind or that plans were in place to campaign the Camaro in 2013 until Thursday's announcement.
“We have been working on this new Camaro for over a year and I am excited to have it approved by NASCAR for 2013 competition in the Nationwide Series,” said Shane Martin, program manager for Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series.
“This car has a bold look that will be reinforced by its performance on the race track.”
