Jenson Button describes the overwhelming reaction to NASCAR's Garage 56 car in Le Mans
Formula 1 legend Jenson Button was overwhelmed by the reaction from those in attendance to NASCAR’s Garage 56 car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“The sound blew everyone away, this meaty V8,” Button said Tuesday, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “When you passed someone, they were cheering. When we rode around under the safety car, we waved at the fans… There was an uproar when the car drove by.
“I think it’s like the childhood love for racing. For me it was Ford versus Ferrari. But anything you would have on the wall that reminded you of why you fell in love with racing. That’s what this car represented at Le Mans. A car that just made you feel like a kid again… Gigantic V8 with that loud sound, and how quick it was.
“The lap times didn’t matter as much. But I think it was the presence of the car, the sheer sound and size, that really made people interested. Granted, this was just one car going around, and not the action-packed races you see in Cup, but you can get people interested in this.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro collectively driven by Button, Mike Rockenfeller and Jimmie Johnson crossed the finish line 39th after completing the full 285 laps on June 11. It was the first time since 1976 that NASCAR opted to run Le Mans, the most prestigious endurance race in the world. Button ran the first 97 laps before giving way to Rockenfeller. Rockenfeller remained behind the wheel for 91 laps before handing things over to Johnson for the final 97 laps.
Jenson Button advocates for NASCAR to run race in Europe after success of Le Mans
Button came away so impressed, he’d like to see NASCAR take advantage of the excitement the car brought to the race this year with a race in Europe as soon as possible.
“I do think it can be big and doing a race next year would be great,” Button said. “We have to get the jump on what we did at Le Mans. I think it has such a big following, it created so many memes, I saw the craze on social media.”
NASCAR CEO Jim France, who brokered the deal to get the Next Gen stock car in this year’s Le Mans, came away thrilled with the performance of the entire crew. This one certainly meant a lot to France as his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought NASCAR to Le Mans twice. Both times, however, the car failed to finish the race.
“That was thousands of hours of hard work by hundreds of people that went into making this thing happen. And then the way the team and the pit crews and everybody performed all week, it was just fantastic,” France said. “I hope my dad and my brother are somewhere up there looking down and smiling but the goal when we set out was to try and finish the race running at the end and not be last. And we accomplished that.”