NASCAR ready to make some noise with Le Mans special entry

LONDON : Lovers of rumbling V8 engines and American stock cars will be in for a treat at next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, when NASCAR is set to join the French endurance race in marking two big anniversaries.

Le Mans celebrates its 100th birthday in 2023 while the U.S.-based NASCAR organisation turns 75.

The announced plans are for a modified NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, run by Hendrick Motorsports with Goodyear tyres, to take the "Garage 56" entry at Le Mans for innovative cars outside the main grid.

NASCAR's last appearance at the Sarthe circuit in northwest France was in 1976 with a Dodge Charger and a Ford Torino brought over by late founder Bill France Sr.

"We have a huge opportunity here," John Doonan, president of the Daytona Beach-based International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Garage 56 programme manager, told Reuters on a visit to London for a BlackBook forum.

"The car has a very distinct sound and that’s going to captivate the fans for sure...especially down the Mulsanne Straight."

There is a lot more in play, however, than noise and motorsport milestones.

NASCAR - the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing - is looking to attract new fans far from the old stereotypical white, conservative "redneck" crowd in the southern United States.

In February, it successfully held an experimental exhibition race on a quarter-mile track inside Los Angeles' Memorial Coliseum.

Next year it will hold a Cup Series street race in downtown Chicago for the first time.

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Doonan said NASCAR president Steve Phelps had said the series, still pre-eminent in North America despite declining attendances and viewing figures in recent years, would try to do some different things and Le Mans was another example.

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