Intended to limit the speed of competitors during a cautionary period in a motorsport event, pace cars are a great way for automakers to advertise their vehicles to the general public. Unfortunately, the pink ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’ Chevy Camaro ZL1 – which serves as the official pace car of the NASCAR Cup Series races at several racetracks – suffered a breakdown at Martinsville.
In a video captured during the NASCAR Cup event, we find the pink Camaro pace car pulled over onto the shoulder of the racetrack while the racers continue their slow cautionary lap. Immediately following the incident, it was unclear as to exactly what went down, as the vehicle appeared to be in limp mode.
Following a brief period of confusion – which was quickly remedied by a safety truck temporarily taking over pace car duties – the Camaro was pulled into pit lane to diagnose the issue. Upon quick inspection, it appeared as though rubber buildup on the tires may have caused the fender liner to be pulled out. According to a Road & Track article, a Chevy representative stated that the car’s wiring harness to the fuel pump was damaged by rubber road debris.
It’s worth noting that a back-up Chevy Camaro in the same pink livery resumed pace car duties shortly thereafter.
HAVE YOU EVER?!
The pace car needed a tow truck. 😆 #NASCAR | NBC pic.twitter.com/LL9BRAoQ4q
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 29, 2023
For background on the livery itself, this year marks the 13th consecutive year that General Motors partnered with the American Cancer Society to raise awareness and money for breast cancer. In fact, for every caution lap the pink Camaro ZL1 completes, The General will make a donation of $350 to the initiative, with up to $50,000 in total donations.
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Comments
That’s what you call bad publicity.
Pretty symbolic of modern day “gm” as a whole and their future plans.
Most people do not drive production cars on the race track and rubber debris would not be an issue.
Actual quality of GM especially Chevy has been strong and in my experience of 50 years of new GM cars , quality today has never been better!!
Agree, I bought my first new GM in 1982 (S-10) and they just keep getting better! I have three GM’s in the driveway right now, all were purchased new.
GM Garbage Motors. Grotesque manufacturing.
Much like Ford…quality is job NONE!
Really? In my 48 years of driving I have had many GM’s and Fords beginning with a 67 Mustang and my current newest vehicle which is a 2019 Equinox. I have maintained them well and didn’t abuse them. Most went past 100k miles and some to very near 200k before I sold them. In all those vehicles not one engine or transmission failure. The closest I came was blown head gasket in a 97 Malibu with 185k miles. It still ran and drove but was 15 years old and rough so sold it for $300 as a fixer. If you maintain them and treat them well, they will last a long time.
My current daily driver is a 2012 Silverado that I bought new. It just turned 85k miles and has never been back to the dealer or in the shop. Besides oil and filter changes, I have replaced the battery and thermostat myself. That’s it in almost 12 years. It is a great truck and I will likely keep it another 10 years or pass it to my grandson in 6 years when he is ready to drive.
Ford sucks always has always will
I drove a lot of Fords in the past including 5 F Series pickups and 3 Mustangs. All were good vehicles but the pre-1980’s were by far the best. I drive Chevy’s now but did also have 4 Pontiacs which I really miss.
Ram, Chrysler, Dodge is worse in my opinion. I’ve seen fleets (business) have issues all the time.
GM turns its back on Camaro, Camaro gets even, NASCAR style.
With the extremely poor visibility of the ‘new’ Camaro, it’s no wonder that the driver can’t see road debris well enough to miss it…
I have a 54 chev with a 6 in a row ready to tow and 67 nova 383 2 door hard top .the best cars I ever had…
i have always had gm since 1968.the other gentleman said if you take care of it and dont beat them which was never intended they will take care of you.i have a 1990 regal gs with 263,000 miles on it.i put a new engine in it at 223,000 same original 4t60 transmission and shifts great.that is probaly due to using mobil 1 engine and trans oil since new.i also have 2009 cobalt it was only back to dealel for 1 recall .great car.bought it new.
Just got a new 2024 High Country Silverado. Just found out that I have to have ON STAR to have a GPS. If I knew that I would have looked for another brand. Or kept my 2018 Silverado with imbedded GPS. Hate it when a company tried to squeeze every dime out of you. Last GM I buy if they keep doing this rip off
That is false, you do not need Onstar to use GPS navigation. You need a data plan to have a few of the fancy features (like speed limit sign detection) or for it to download in real time off line maps. Spreading false info like this does nothing to help your stance. Do you feel better now saying that? Please do some research next time before hand…
You can also use the hotspot on your phone for some of things to work without even having a data plan. Most people have a hotspot on their phone and don’t know they even have it for free.
If commonsense has the *real facts*, then shouldn’t he provide them in defense of Chevy/GM plan? it certainly seems obvious to me taht GM and most companies these days do everything they can (with software) to milk their customers for $$$ on an every month continuing basis. Remember when you bought a product and then you owned it? THat’s not true any more if it has software in it!! 🙁
This mishap just shows how fragile these new cars are with all their do-dads and electronics. A little road rubber shut her down!🤣🤣🤣🤣
You couldn’t find your butt with both hands. Leave car talk to those that have the knowledge, unlike you.
I doubt it was just a little road rubber. Its a race track and I can’t imagine how much rubber is actually on the track. If the bottom of the car was smooth like a race car you wouldn’t have the issue but street cars don’t have smooth bottoms a unless they are a exotic.
Race tracks can build up a LOT of rubber, especially a track like Martinsville.
They all have their problems, some can’t be avoided by meticulous maintenance, no one touches my vehicle if I can avoid it. I’ve had several GM vehicles since 1977, up until the 80’s rust was a major problem. We still have a 1978 c20 that Dad bought new, I have put fenders, hood, doors, cab corners, rocker panels, floor boards and cab mounts over the years. I’ve had the most serious issue with my 2018 GMC 2500 with a Duramax, at 50k it developed a cracked rear engine housing. I wasn’t happy about having the transmission pulled on my baby at 50k, and even more upset when I get it home the day before a 4k mile trip and on the right side there’s a 1/4” gap between the transmission and the engine! I never buy extended warranty, but luckily I did this time.
I agree, no one touches my vehicles if avoidable, especially the dealer except for recalls and warranty work. I do 95% of the rest myself. But I’m getting ready to retire so gotta get my grandson into the garage and toolboxes. My 50+ year accumulation will be his someday if he wants them.
The problem was or is that the wheel well liner is very close to the tire. The tire picks up the rubber scrubbed off from the race cars. Most of that rubber gets pushed to the top of the track or the outside
The marbles of rubber gets jammed in the tread of the pace car and then dragged on the wheel liner.
The tire rubbing on the wheel liner ripped it off the car. That in turn damaged some of the wiring under the hood.
Sure it wasn’t electric and the battery died?? Embarrassing for sure! Obviously built in a UAW plant!!
Debris on the track! Robby Gordon must have been there. You youngsters wouldn’t know anything about that.
Lol, I remember Robby Gordon. Thanks for the flashback.
“… for every caution lap the pink Camaro ZL1 completes, The General will make a donation of $350 to the initiative, with up to $50,000 in total donations.”
This pledge was before the UAW strike. Now that the strike cost GM $800M, they are finding ways to save money. LOL
That’s disgusting.
Breaking down when it’s most needed is nothing new for Camaro. Water is wet, the sky is blue, muscle cars are unreliable, who gives a damn…