Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Next Gen NASCAR Racer Takes on More Realism

This Camaro ZL1 NASCAR racer looks almost like a real Camaro ZL1!

Like Toyota, which pulled the sheet off its new Camry Cup car, Chevy is sharing images and details of its latest Camaro NASCAR racer. As before, the NASCAR Cup Series Camaro wears ZL1 branding—a nod to the 650-hp Camaro model of the same name you can walk into a dealership and buy today. As with other Next Gen NASCAR designs, the new Camaro Cup car now looks a lot more like those ZL1s at Chevrolet dealerships nationwide.

Chevy's NASCAR entrant wears a newly symmetrical body (previously, NASCAR racers' bodies were asymmetrical, optimized for a life spent turning left), and rides on more modern chassis bits. The rear suspension is now an independent design, and the steering is handled by a rack and pinion setup; you'll also notice the wheels are much larger than before—they've jumped in diameter from 15 inches to 18 and wear less chubby looking (thus more normal-appearing) tires—and are now made from lighter aluminum, not steel.

As much as Chevy touts these improvements as more closely tying the NASCAR racer to the production Camaro ZL1, the bow-tie brand's NASCAR entry really shares the majority of its important bits with other Next Gen racers, including those from Ford and Toyota. Granted, since most modern cars share these modern component designs, Chevrolet isn't exactly being hyperbolic. Thing is, NASCAR racers, until now, have been archaic beasts, with solid rear axles and four-speed manual transmissions.