The racing pedigree of stock car Camaros at Le Mans

If you think Jimmie Johnson will be the first NASCAR champion to race at the 24h of Le Mans in a Camaro, then think again. In 1981 the all-American Stratagraph racing team brought with them a highly unusual Camaro with dirt tracking roots and 3x Nascar champion Cale Yarborough to race it.
So let's take a look at the team's performance in the '81 and '82 races and find out what the '23 Garage 56 Nascar effort has to live up to.
video clip source link
pastebin.com/Pe1dT7zA
articles/info source link
pastebin.com/KpUVWTWd
Special mention to Dennis Frings' Facebook page, definitely check it out to know more about the vast amount of racing cars, including the Le Mans camaros, that literally wouldn't exist without him.
/ dennis-frings-race-car...
#camaro #lemans #nascar #motorsport #racecar #wec #imsa #racing

[@stijnpaspont]

Here's some extra fun info i just recieved after dennis frings (the man who built the stratagraph camaros) got into contact with me. First up: a correction. The le mans camaro chassis was in fact based on a pavement/ashpalt oval chassis so me calling it based on a dirt chassis was a bit of a stretch. Oops. At least oval racing pedigree stays. Billy hagan first asked a NASCAR chassis builder to make him a car he'd then aim to take to le mans. But after just one test race he parked it and never raced that car again. It just wasnt good enough. Enter dennis frings who then ended up building 3 cars for him which were alot more competitive as you can see from the video. the gen 3 camaro would only be sold starting from spring 1982. But Dennis Frings already got his hands on the body panels in 1981 thanks to billy hagans chevy connections. So they had a gen 3 camaro race car before the road car was even out yet Do check out the facebook link in the description that will take you to more frings related race cars and their interesting history.

[@thierry726]

Thank you for all those details . Here are my 1982 footage about the Camaro n0 81 in Le Mans 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@MrBeefMissile]

The thing that blows my mind is how the second LeMans Camaro was clocking 220+ on the straights, alongside the usage of D R U M B R A K E S

[@Where_is_Waldo]

I had to do a double take when I heard him say that. "Drum brakes?! Really?! What were they thinking?"

[@fxui]

Real Men

[@ItsDaJax]

I'm wondering if it had vented drums. Those were starting to be a thing as rear disc brakes were starting to come around. As horsepower started getting higher, somebody started putting out drum hats that were slotted to better cool and release generated gasses, and water.

[@kosmokat111]

@@fxui real stupid more like, if you have better brakes why not use them in a LE MANS CAR

[@c2jones]

Ironically, the Cadillac CT5 Blackwings have steel, vs carbon brakes. They insist that wasn't for cost-saving. It was because there was no drop-off in performance.

[@Sideshowleon]

Love hearing racing history that doesn't involve f1 10/10

[@leomux2004]

Same!

[@clemens.j]

I love how you casualy mention that the Camaros ran drum brakes in '81. xD

[@stijnpaspont]

As casual as they thought about it. "We got 600+ horsepower in a 1000kg car going 300+kph. Naah drum brakes will do"

[@divecolosio4988]

"Lol, it's just brakes, right? Ya know just step on it steadily but all the way down, what you think could go wrong?" :v

[@AtZero138]

Braking force and surface area.. are great..... Repeated requests... That's the Fail point of Drum Brakes... Fade..

[@ShitHappensRLY]

I really hope that Garage 56 will show some potential in stock cars and even hope that in some years we'll see a lot more representation of different racing categories in endurance racing. EuroNASCAR is here and maybe some of these folks will gain some interest.

[@stijnpaspont]

Euronascar as a support race would be sweeet

[@Gage_Brumley]

Imagine if there was an EnduroNASCAR series

[@RENO_K]

I hope to see a real upset in the current standings, imagine stock cars being just as fast

[@AtZero138]

Checking in.. since we've seen the results of the Camaro 24hrs... Le Mans attempt... Cheers from Southern California 🇺🇸...

[@jetengnexd4348]

I wish we could still see cars like this race at Le Mans, but the WEC is dead set on keeping the GT class all samey.

[@stijnpaspont]

When gt3 cars replace the GTE class cars next year we should see a new wider variety of cars. I for one cant wait for the mustang gt3.

[@cco53587]

A lot of the issue is cost. In my opinion, GT3's success comes from balancing cost-effectiveness with still being one of the few classes today where OEMs can bring recognizable and different cars with engines and bodies of their own design, instead of building to a template or using a spec design. I do agree that sports car racing should have more room for experimental cars, but it's going to be tough balancing big GT3 and Hypercar fields with that.

[@kierenboimufc5940]

This will be good for all privateers and and racing championships. Having a chance to bring there GT3 to lemans just wish bentley would have stayed it would have done good here

[@TorvakMOS]

I enjoyed the video, thanks for making it! For those wondering about the music, it's: Sortie 1 - Ace Combat Zero Briefing 2 - Ace Combat 5

[@JK7kaye]

That car looks insane, would love to see it in a sim.

[@Tiptoetherat]

Milwaukee man here, I want to say thankyou for all the information and how in depth you went on this video. To this day you can still find Frings chassis cars racing locally at Road America and doing very well. Thankyou for giving credit to what this team was able to do, you have a new subscriber in me ;-)

[@Malachi_Marx]

I grew up in the American South watching NASCAR, late models and modifieds. As a kid, my mom would take me to tracks like Darlington SC, North Wilksboro, Bristol Speedway (Aka, the "Colosseum,") then insanity that is Bowman Grey Stadium and even twice to Daytona. It was during the first of those two trips to Daytona that I had an eye opening moment. See, the real reason we would travel was it let my mom spend a few weeks with her family at a time, which meant in the year 2000 we got down to Daytona a few weeks early and my uncle got me tickets to see the Rolex 24. I spend the whole race in the infield where he parked his camper and it was a mind blowing experience for a 11 year old kid, plus watching a Viper take the overall win? Magical. Since then, I've consumed all forms of motorsport I can, even motorcycle ice racing. Seeing a NASCAR Camaro (even if heavily modified) go to Le Mans? That was something I would imagine as a kid all the time... I can't wait!

[@AtZero138]

Cheers from Southern California 🇺🇸... I grew up watching NASCAR... My own thing...no support from family or friends hahaha.. just me... Indy Car also... At 50 now... I just like Racing.... Always will .. Your story and life... WOW.. amazing... We that know, just know...

[@SMlFFY85]

WTF possessed them to fit drum brakes to a 220 MPH purpose built Le Mans race car? This was 1981!!!

[@johncarl5505]

As with all things in life, money.

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

Oh don't worry we can make it.

[@borismcfinnigan3430]

@@johncarl5505 Doubt it. Even here in Australia the Camaro group C racers had rear discs by '81.

[@themuckler8176]

Big balls

[@cjb-ip1ok]

Love your stuff! The collection of footage and in-depth information is amazing, each video is a joy to watch.

[@thierry726]

Do you know those 1982 footage with the N0 81 ? kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@lanternsown3525]

I had no idea Cale or a Camaro raced at Le Mans you learn something new everyday.

[@charlesanzalone5846]

They made him take a physical to make sure he was in good shape to race at lemans 😂

[@thierry726]

Personal footage le mans82 ...Camaro n0 81 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@wroomwroomboy123]

Continue the production! Love your stuff!!

[@papapalpatine5735]

Completely loving your videos, sir! Can't count how many times I've re-watched them. Would love to see another video expanding on the homologation specials covering cars not listed in the first video ❤️

[@Keckegenkai]

the 70s camaros were fast down the mulsanne straight but even then they got smoked by the 935 which still has the speed record for a non prototype there iirc

[@coliimusic]

Always love your videos, Stijn! This one was a really fun one to watch, I didn't realize they used a dirt oval chassis to build that car! Glad I caught this one early haha!

[@felipelomar5388]

Hey, just discovered your channel. Your videos are really well done and very informative, but I really LOVED that you use the briefing music from Ace Combat Zero. Nice to find other fans of this banger of a game around

[@deepinthewoods8078]

Very interesting video. Despite knowing the Corvette of Henri Greder and Marie-Claude Beaumont, i had never heard of this Camaro ...

[@stijnpaspont]

Same here, pretty much every video i make starts out with me going "ooh, what's this?" There's a decent amount of stuff i know off, but only on surface level. Once you start digging around it always gets better. It's like a treasure hunt.

[@thierry726]

Here is my personal footage during le Mans 82 focusing on Chevy Camaro n0 81 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@landonmurray3814]

Dirt racing is still one of my favorite motorsports Feels so much different than everything else and is such a feel it out style

[@modelrestorations]

Great content and video! Thanks for putting this together.

[@zerocool5395]

As an owner of several 3rd and 4th gen F-Bodies, I had no idea a 3rd Gen Camaro raced at Le Mans. Such a cool racing story. Also great video, you've got my sub. Cheers from Chile!

[@effisjens1776]

So... There are diecast model of BOTH camaros! Saw these today at a model convetion in the province of Antwerp! Spark also made a model of the Renault 5 you made a video on! The guy that sold them (i didn't buy these) was lovely to talk to. As enthousiastic as me about this car, and i told him i learned about said camaro from you! Influence is starting to show!

[@stijnpaspont]

Sweet!

[@hank1556]

You will get 100k in no time if you keep this up, excellent stuff sir

[@Amb0ss]

I can't believe he hasn't got 100k already. Honestly this channel is such a hidden gem - such high quality, informative videos; genuinely one of the best motorsport channels without a doubt.

[@himmelhero]

Amazing video as always Stijn you always cover some interesting aspects of racing that aren't really shared keep it up :)

[@christopherc7075]

I love the sourcing of high-quality footage for this. It looks like you even used a bit of Japanese footage at one point at around 5:57 !

[@Where_is_Waldo]

Well sir, this was a great video... and based on your comment section I can safely assume this is your usual standard of quality. I don't have time to watch more right now but I can confidently decide to subscribe because I know I want to watch more from you. keep it up!

[@halfwaytobedlam3234]

always a great story, thank you

[@salvador_mano4x4]

Stijn man! You do good stuff!! Never Heard of these cars

[@seantaylor2683]

This was a really cool video. Also props for using Ace Combat music

[@JoshuaC923]

Very cool history, it's going to be cool to see Nascar back at Le mans

[@brianwhit1646]

quality of your videos is so good man love them sm

[@jerrycorley5095]

I was there for that. It was also the introduction of the Z28E for Chevrolet on Friday night. What a party that was. Gene Felton was a good friend.

[@thierry726]

Old n0 81 original footage back in le Mans 82 😊..no ear plugs 🥁 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@-OokySpooky-]

3:07 THE OLYMPIA CHARGER!!! That thing stiiiilll haunts racetracks to this day! Who ever owns it still works on it and takes it out to SPA and other stuff every now and then. You can watch in cab videos of it racing here on youtube. He doesn't get on it very often bc of what it is, just kinda let's it circle the course and gets yelled at a lot by the euro tribe for being a bad driver or something - but evvvvery now and then under the right pressure and on the right turn he kinda gets the taste of blood and opens it up full tilt. Goes from being a really cool video of a mopar ripping it up to a horror film we're you are the monster. Go check it out

[@charlesmullenax4448]

Excellent video. Btw, I hear that Ace Combat menu music in the background.

[@ryangold8517]

I have a suggestion for a new video, it is known that Jimmie Johnson was one of the drivers for the garage 56 camaro at le mans but what many don't know is that wasn't his first time in endurance racing, he once raced in the DPI class at the Rolex 24h as a one off appearance, I think it would work since you've looked at Lando noris and Dale Earnhardt Sr and how they competed at the Rolex 24h.

[@Jeffgordonfan24hesthegoat]

Epic more American cars in Europe plzzzz

[@utvpoop]

Glickenhaus tries hard, and now Cadillac will

[@thierry726]

Old footage n sound ...🥁 Hagan Camaro n0 81 . Le Mans 1982 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWfQfIWqjpuoobMsi=0Qu6X-hSTCbWqYQ0

[@DavE-FM545]

Good job. 👍

[@rscamarolover]

Thank you for this awesome info / video. As a camaro owner/driver/addict I enjoyed it. 3rd gens are my love and what I drive

[@Threxer]

You immediately got my attention with the Ace Combat music.

[@smoggyimpala9934]

I hear the Ace Combat music used in the back. Love it! Childhood game.

[@mikejohnson5900]

What a great story - thank you for telling it! Good job on the video as well.

[@nomiguda]

Excellent video mate, keep it up. One day we'll need a new background track, but for now it's fine.

[@villedocvalle]

Drum brakes at Le Mans!? Wtf were they thinking!?

[@samueldowney2806]

Thanks for telling the story of this interesting piece of history.

[@cuv41]

the first IMSA GTO Camaro at Le Mans was the Mo Carter Camaro in 1980

[@noivern8869]

Upvoting for the ace combat soundtrack

[@tedzehnder961]

Since 1976, Racing in American series have developed into more sophisticated platforms when they realized getting beat in the market place by Germany and Japan wasn`t gonna go away by itself.The old adage "Race On Sunday Sell On Monday" race fans that watched NASCAR, liked the speed and noise and banked circle tracks gave them that while seeing all the up close action and maybe a wreck or three. NASCAR raced over 40 times a year compared to less than a dozen in Europe at the time so fancy, expensive, well designed cars were more or less out of the question, crashing gets expensive.The small group of guys from NASCAR were out of their league back then where street courses and racing for more than 3-4 hours never happened.If US Auto companies want to go racing they can be competitive.It`s not that corporate America can`t design superior equipment it`s just that they want to sell as many cars to as many people at the cheapest and easiest way possible. That`s what happens when accountants run a car business and not engineers.

[@MachineintheMonkey]

I agree mate, I love many forms of Motorsport but NASCAR is my favourite because it relates more to the common man and who doesn’t love the sound of a pushrod small block singing at 9500 rpm! Bye the way I’m from the Deep South… Australia 🇦🇺 👍

[@ShawnMcClurg]

Excellent video, very informative!

[@zenius-oo5ez]

This video was fanominal mate. Great as always(:

[@bobg3034]

Very nice vid on the Camaros history!

[@ehlani6677]

THE KING IS BACK

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

Unbelievable 🤯🤯 i never heard that dirt track car was used(more then twice)in le mans as this is an achievement worthy to be remembered for all time and yet no one cares about it 😤😤anyway thanks for the video so see you later bye now.

[@thedon-e6514]

Adding a comment to feed the algorithm! Thanks for the entertaining vid. I love watching stuff I didn’t know about!😄

[@noahwheeler1176]

Great video. High quality content!

[@henrymorse9939]

really well done video, great work

[@rocketman1058]

we want more videos like this...

[@stijnpaspont]

And i'll continue to provide more videos like this

[@samclarke653]

Who goes to Le Man's with drum brakes?!!

[@tjakra21]

Ace combat zero theme song :)

[@Das_Ratsel_956]

Garage 56 looks pretty promising imo with the nearly identical GTD lap times at Daytona the Garage 56 Camaro looks like it might have a shot against the GTE-AM cars

[@mauroantoniocorradoauditor5968]

Seems plenty of Motorsport channels love to use ace combat soundtracks as a background. That sits extra well with me

[@The52car]

I know Gene Felton ran his (much older) dirt Camaro at the Daytona 24Hr once before. Now I'm imagining some one running dirt late models at Le Mans in iRacing...

[@mikeupton5406]

Going to have to find out about that Charger at Le Mans.

[@WinstonPinetorum]

Wow what a great video!

[@SonicBoone56]

Amazing video

[@alsa4real]

Awesome video

[@alexander1485]

Nice video.

[@henryjohn2218]

Finally about this car

[@ernetoescobar-vy7uf]

De argetina✌

[@utvpoop]

It's not a true stock car because it has real lights :)

[@charlesanzalone5846]

When nascar brought Torino and Mopar to lemans in the 70s, the event changed the fuel to be used that the motors were not built for,not enough time to ship new motors and the motors had a melt down

[@superbrit3845]

The reason that they ran drum brakes was because American Motorsport Engineering was 20 years behind the European entrees.

[@headsetlucky13]

You have left the engagement area

[@davos4wdadventures]

Great story.thank u

[@jakeward7703]

Look up Dennis Frings Race Cars and you can see more information on the Le Mans cars and also the short oval cars he built.

[@sharptoothtrex4486]

Always try your best even thinking AWD Volkswagen's as a next alternative for LeMans racing with LeMans engines and transmissions as if Volkswagen Bugs and Beetles need customization fitting these engines in the rear..

[@ronaldvanbeekveld8398]

Maybe talk about McCall chassis

[@KittyPurrfect100]

NextGen56 Camaro needs to be at 24 Heures du Daytona in 2024 somehow

[@RobertEHunt-dv9sq]

e Excellent video on USA MUSCLE. Thanks for posting. Very informative. That corner at Arnage where they stuffed the Camaro in 1980 is the slowest turn on the circuit at about 80 mph. You need all of the brakes and more after coming out of the Indianapolis complex. 747 aircraft brakes could not have stopped that Camaro.

[@markmartin2819]

who the FUCK doesn't replace the drum brakes on a 600 horsepower race car? That's asking for disaster

[@haydenanthony4982]

Great video!! You mixed up the names in the second half of the video. Billy Hagan and Gene Felton were the two driving the 81 camaro that got second in class. Brooks wasn’t in that car

[@epiphonium]

um what part of that car is stock ?

[@xNeo64]

But the question still remains Will the nascar camaro actually be competitive or will it just be an obstacle for the other drivers?

[@stijnpaspont]

during testing it has apparently passed the corvette c8 gt3 that was also on track testing. now i don't know how much that matters since gt3 pace is still different of GTE pace. we'll just have to wait for the first rollout at le mans.

[@dalelumina3]

do u think that if the new camaro does well nascar might send more oval racers next time?

[@stijnpaspont]

I doubt it. But maybe they will for the 100th edition of the race in a couple of years. (This year its the 100 year anniversary but only the 91st edition)

[@Whin556]

This is by far my favorite channel now

[@94nolo]

Bad ass video and story

[@toweringhorse2054]

You still see these 2nd Gen camaro dirt track cars rolling around rural WV dirt tracks

[@cartoonfan959]

maybe update the video ??

[@muselibarnless]

3:39 oh... that aint good, do they keep the weird chassis alignment(?) too, or is this an eera before those

[@adr1uno638]

Doesn't the Garage 56 run in it's own categorie, apart from the GTE cars ?

[@stijnpaspont]

yes it does, its just expected to be on the same pace as a GTE car

[@tyreksimmons4167]

Camaro my beloved

[@jakesshopandtracktalk1835]

They’re not really racing with them being a Garage 56 entry. But Button, Johnson, Rockefeller? That’s just plain cool. Honestly I am happy that NASCAR just wanted to join the party due to the historic nature of the event. I’m not an endurance racing guy or even a NASCAR guy too much. But that’s cool in my mind too. Is it as cool as somebody looking at a dirt super late model and saying: let’s build one for Lemans? No lol. Not even at all a little bit.

[@lavawolf666]

will be awesome, a shame that is not a real camaro, this time, i got a question will be in a particular class, or just run with no class like a guest, can not win, an the results are void , the only class close to a nascar car by rule book are the LMP, but that not fair for the car, an the GTE are street derived cars, thing that the this camaro is not

[@aliassmithandjones9453]

drum brakes are fine as long as you never use them

[@MarkVV045]

Dennis Frings Built Asphalt Late Models , NOT Dirt Late Models, showing Dirt Late Models makes No Sense

[@59vaughn]

Damn...they sure knew how to screw up a cars look..😖

[@mitchellsteindler]

DRUM BRAKES....DRUM BRAKES

[@stijnpaspont]

Just imagine if they failed at the end of the mulsanne straight instead. Would have been a catastrophe

[@km6832]

I'd like to think the nascars failed at lemans because they ran them at their normal rpm limit instead of a lower rpm to save the engine.

[@23GreyFox]

Drum brakes in 1981? No wonder it didn't work.

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

Well it was a cheap option over the disc breaks but look how it turn out after 81 le mans for them had to go disc the very next year.

[@dirtmudsnowandwater]

Ugh man i love seeing yeehaw heehaw honky tonk engineering in the seemingly high brow hemisphere of le mans