The mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette Z06 has served as the official pace car at the Daytona 500, the first race in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series. Through the weekend, it was also joined by a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado pace car, as well as a 2023 Chevrolet Camaro pace car.
Finished in an Elkhart Lake Blue paint, the mid-engine Chevy is quite stylish, with black-painted wheels and a black stripe flowing across the sleek bodywork. You might even notice that this particular model sports the Z07 performance package, with a prominent carbon fiber rear spoiler, carbon ceramic brakes, grippier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires, and more track-focused goodies.
With a 5.5-liter LT6 V8 engine at the back, the range-topping Corvette Z06 produced 670 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque, which is a record-setting achievement in many ways. It’s also more powerful than the Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car (pictured: bottom) that it shares so much commonality with.
Even so, the Z06 is still outmuscled by the NASCAR vehicles, which boast outputs of over 750 ponies. Not to mention the weight compared to that amount of power. Still, the beautiful Elkhart Lake Blue Chevrolet Corvette Z06 was a bit of eye candy to start the 75th NASCAR season.
Chevrolet Corvette Z06: Details
While the Corvette Z06 may be outpaced by the vehicles of NASCAR, it’s still a superb vehicle and one that can beat Porsche and Lamborghini supercars around a race track. When taking on the Lightning Lap at VIR, the Z06 with the Z07 package stopped the clock in an extremely impressive 2:38.6. That time made it the fastest naturally aspirated car to participate in Lighting Lap and the fastest American-made car to participate, and the fastest sub-$200,000 car to do so as well.
That means it outpaced cars like the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and the Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica, which maintains its naturally aspirated 8,500 RPM V10 while foregoing drag-inducing wings and canards that we see on the Porsche and Corvette. So for $141,855 USD, about $35,000 above the base price, you could own a car that can hold its own against some well-known sports car/supercar brands.
Image copyright Steven Pham, Muscle Cars & Trucks.
