Garage 56 stood as a bold alliance among Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR, Chevrolet, IMSA, and Goodyear, first unveiled in 2022 at Sebring International Raceway. As the Camaro thundered through the French countryside during its 24-hour trial at Le Mans, collecting grime and grit along the way, Hendrick Motorsports’ project manager fought the urge to return it to showroom polish, knowing the dirt told a better story.
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By the time the checkered flag fell that summer in 2023, the win of turning a concept into reality was visible. For those who toiled behind the curtain, preserving that climactic moment became a mission of its own.
Now, nearly two years since Garage 56 crossed the finish line at Le Mans, Prime Video is set to release a documentary capturing the essence and aftermath of the venture. American Thunder features racing icons Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button, and Mike Rockenfeller, though the true star remains the No. 24 Chevrolet, an ironclad warrior that covered 2,413 miles.
During a recent sit-down with Leigh Diffey, Jeff Gordon joined Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus to reflect on the audacious endeavor and NASCAR’s groundbreaking entry into endurance racing’s most storied battleground. Gordon recalled the moment that crystallized the project’s impact on the global stage.
“This is what blew me away about Jim [France], and still today is that he said that was going to happen. Like he said, ‘They’re not just going to see us, they’re going to hear us.’
“And he goes, ‘And I think that’s going to be amazing. I think you’re going to, you know, see a reaction like you’ve never seen.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, you know, I was thinking these super light, fast sports cars, high downforce, they got to be more impressed with that…'”
According to Gordon, the defining moment came as engines fired on race day. He said, “I think the best reaction was the day of the race. Everybody’s leaving the grid, the cars are about to fire up. You know, drivers start your engines and they all fire up and you don’t hardly hear them.
“And then 100,000 people, however many are sitting on that front straightaway, all cheered. And I think that was Jim’s moment. And I think Rick’s [Hendrick] as well, the moment was like, ‘Yes, this is what we came here for.'”
For NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France, the journey was the fulfilment of a dream long in the making. He tapped Hendrick Motorsports, to reimagine a stock car built for American speedways into a machine capable of surviving 24 relentless hours on foreign asphalt.
With a driver lineup of such impressive racers, the crew poured 18 months into building a car that could go the distance. And it did. Despite losing over an hour to a driveline failure, the Camaro muscled its way through 285 laps of the 8.4-mile circuit, finishing 39th in a 62-car grid and running shoulder-to-shoulder with GT class leaders for most of the race.
