In March, NASCAR announced it planned to take its new Next Gen stock car, which debuted in the Cup Series this season, to the Le Mans 24 Hours as a Garage 56 entry in 2023.
“I was actually at Sebring when that (announcement) happened. I had zero notice,” Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson said Tuesday. “Candidly, I was a little bit disappointed that as a stakeholder and as a partner to NASCAR that neither ourselves nor Ford were alerted to this.
“Unfortunately, they are an active competitor in the sport and they are going to take some form of a derivative of the car that we race every Sunday to Le Mans. And it’s going to require arguably hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of testing.
— Motorsport —
David Wilson was “disappointed” not to have a heads up on the NASCAR/Hendrick Le Mans announcement. Wilson says Toyota and Ford have expressed their “concerns and displeasure” about the event. While a fan of the idea, want it to be “fair” in terms of competitor getting track time
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 17, 2022
See previous: The entry will be a modified version of the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race car and is a collaboration of NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, IMSA, and Goodyear. Further details, including technical elements of the car and the team’s driver lineup, will be announced at a later date. NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports Announce Pursuit of Garage 56 Entry at Le Mans