The ground-breaking NASCAR’s Garage 56 initiative will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb a month after the car finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans successfully.
NASCAR made its return to LeMans this year with a modified version of the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race car as a Garage 56 entry which the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) reserves for the “technology of tomorrow and beyond” of cutting-edge gear.
Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time Cup champion, Mike Rockenfeller who is a former LeMans winner and Jensen Button, a former Formula 1 World Champion all ran in the car that was a product of a partnership between NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, IMSA and Goodyear.
The backup car of the Garage 56 program will be driven up the 1.16-mile hill seven times over the course of four days by Garage 56 drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button.
This car is the same as the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that ran 285 laps on the 8.467-mile Circuit de la Sarthe in June. The car will be featured in a celebration of NASCAR’s 75-year history that will also feature numerous other NASCAR historic cars.
“The Garage 56 program has been an overwhelming success for us in further introducing motorsports fans from around the world to NASCAR,” said John Doonan, IMSA President and Garage 56 Program Manager.
“Taking the Garage 56 car to the Goodwood Festival of Speed gives us another chance to bring the world of stock cars to fans of a wide variety of motorsports.”
The Garage 56 Hillclimb schedule is as follows:
Thursday, July 13, 2:30 p.m. British Summer Time (BST) / 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) — Mike Rockenfeller
Friday, July 14, 9:10 a.m. BST / 4:10 a.m. ET — Jensen Button
Friday, July 14, 3:10 p.m. BST / 10:10 a.m. ET — Mike Rockenfeller
Saturday, July 15, 8:30 a.m. BST / 3:30 a.m. ET — Mike Rockenfeller
Saturday, July 15, 2:55 p.m. BST / 9:55 a.m. ET — Jensen Button
Sunday, July 16, 9:15 a.m. BST / 4:15 a.m. ET — Mike Rockenfeller
Sunday, July 16, 3:50 p.m. BST / 10:50 a.m. ET — Jensen Button
