A League of Their Own – The Corvette Challenge

The Corvette Challenge came about because the C4 was too good for Showroom Stock Racing.

Blame the Corvette’s engineers for making the C4 too good. Out of the gate, it dominated Showroom Stock racing. In its first race at Ohio’s Nelson Ledges in June 1984, it qualified second before opening up a commanding lead. The new Corvette put on a masterclass, dominating with its combination of exceptional performance and fuel economy. Unfortunately, after nine hours it ran into mechanical problems and limped to a 24th place finish.

From there the Corvette went on to win every race for the next three years. In fact, it finished first, second, and third in most races and usually occupied the top ten spots. It got so bad the Corvettes were like the Harlem Globetrotters of Showroom Stock racing. Eventually, the Sports Car Club of America/SCCA decided it had to do something and banned Corvette from racing.

Enter the Corvette Challenge

To placate the Corvette teams, the SCCA partnered with Chevrolet to create the Corvette Challenge. They scheduled a 10 race season which coincided with major CART and Trans-Am race events. Then they ordered 50 cars to participate.

Each team chose an identical stock Corvette. Ordered with the B9P option code the cars received the Z51 Performance Handling package with a manual transmission. All of the cars were benchmarked within a 2.5 percent variance and the engines were sealed so they couldn’t be tampered with. From there Chevrolet added a roll cage, racing seat and harness, and onboard fire suppression. Upgrades to the suspension were minor but included Bilstein shocks, Dymag magnesium wheels, and racing brake pads. Out the door, each car cost around $48,000 which included the $33,000 Corvette list price and $15,000 in safety modifications.

The first race was held in Dallas on May 1, 1988 and quickly proved to be a hit for fans. Because the cars were evenly matched the deciding factors in most races were driver skill and the size of their cojones. Drivers went head-to-head, driving aggressively in all-out sprints to victory. Today it’s still unclear if Chevrolet made more money off the advertising for the Corvette Challenge or from supplying body panels and spare parts.

The Corvette Challenge returned in 1989. This time the Corvettes received more race modifications like larger roll cages and straight exhaust. The series became more popular, drawing larger crowds, more viewership, and becoming more like a full-fledged racing series.

End of the Line after Two Years

Unfortunately costs increased to match a full-fledged race series causing Chevrolet to pull the plug at the end of the season.  Chevrolet rounded up all of the cars and sold them off as used cars through its network of dealers. Back then, a used racecar held the same appeal as a day-old tuna sandwich. But the ex-Corvette Challenge cars proved to be an exception. Drivers snapped them up for other racing events including the amateur class of SCCA racing. And to this day, old Corvette Challenge cars are still competitive, racing in SCCA GT class, with some additional minor modifications.

Collectors also bought Corvette Challenge cars which steadily appreciated in both interest and value. The car in these pictures is from the 1989 series. Driven by Dave Hutchings and originally sponsored by Hutchings Chevrolet of Alaska, the 89 car recently sold at a Mecum auction in Indianapolis. With just 3,144 miles on the clock, it still features all of its original equipment, right down to the Dymag wheels.

Not many cars can boast their own race series, let alone one that’s still relatively affordable. When they turn up, most Corvette Challenge cars change hands for around $40K. Expensive enough to maintain but still cheap enough to drive. Best of all, unlike some race cars, you can drive these Corvettes on the street.

Photos: Mecum

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