For the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chevrolet will field a new version of the Camaro. On Thursday, Chevy’s motorsport division revealed the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, the most powerful edition of the Camaro to date.
“The ZL1 1LE is the highest performer within the Camaro production-car lineup,” Chevrolet Performance and Motorsports Vice President Jim Campbell stated. “We took lessons from the production car and applied them to the new 2020 Cup car.”
The ZL1 1LE replaces the ZL1 that has been in use since the 2018 season. In the ZL1’s first year, despite winning the season-opening Daytona 500 with Austin Dillon, the Chevy camp struggled to find success as they won just four races – Chase Elliott won the other three – and finished last in the Manufacturer’s Championship. Although Chevy is still at the bottom of that standings in 2019, their win count has increased to seven with three races remaining, including a three-race win streak in the summer with Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, and Kurt Busch.
Cosmetically, the ZL1 1LE features a different nose and hood shape from its predecessor. Fox Sports‘ Bob Pockrass tweeted a comparison photo of the two, presuming the changes will improve aero:
With the NextGen car started for arrival in 2021, the ZL1 1LE will be Chevrolet’s third and final entry in the Generation-6 era. From 2013 to 2017, they fielded the SS that went on to win the 2013 and 2016 Driver’s Championships with seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson and three consecutive Manufacturer’s titles from 2013 to 2015; Chevy had been riding a 15-year manufacturer streak.
