Dale Earnhardt Jr. wonders if NASCAR could add an endurance race like Le Mans
Sunday was a historic day for NASCAR, as the governing body successfully completed the 24 Hours of Le Mans in their first running of the prestigious endurance race since 1976.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. took notice of the event, and wonders if there will ever be an endurance race in NASCAR given the evolution of the Next Gen car. Earnhardt Jr. made the case on a recent episode of his “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast
“I think it would be the coolest freaking thing — Daytona road course and you could convince me of any other track, it doesn’t have to be Daytona road course,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Let’s just say Daytona road course for the sake of 24 hours of Daytona and the experience that people know that can be. 12 hours, all of the Cup teams out there and even the Xfinity teams [or truck]. You can have 70 roughly 80 cars on the track for a 12-hour race…
“It’s definitely not out of the question to take the current Next Gen car and run a 12-hour race with it. Doug Gates will tell you it’s not out of the question from a motor standpoint… If you can accompany it with the Xfinity or the [Craftsman] Truck [Series], if that’s even possible for that series, man, how cool would that be?”
NASCAR Garage 56 Chevy Camaro completes 24 hours of Le Mans
Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro collectively driven by Jenson Button, Mike Rockenfeller and Jimmie Johnson crossed the finish line 39th after completing the full 285 laps. Button ran the first 97 laps before giving way to Rockenfeller following “Garage 56’s” first major mechanical setback.
Chad Knaus, Hendrick’s VP of Competition, described it as a “drive line issue.” The team spent one hour and 21 minutes making repairs to the car in the garage before getting back out on the race track. Rockenfeller immediately set the car’s fastest race lap yet at a 3:50.512 after changing the gearbox.
Rockenfeller remained behind the wheel for 91 laps before handing things over to Johnson for the final 97 laps. Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, said it was awesome to finish the race, though he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.
“We’re not the same category, but we are the same type of car, and our own estimations we thought we’d be mid-to-back pack of the GT cars and you use that for motivation,” Johnson said, via the Associated Press. “We were laughing at ourselves when they were changing the transmission because the goal was only to finish, and then after the first laps on track, we thought ‘Maybe there’s more for us’ and over the course of the week, we started the race with the desire to win the GT race.
“We are bummed.”