Corvette Racing Program Manger Doug Fehan Updates ‘Corvette Forum’

We get the latest on Corvette Racing’s program amid event cancellations, the C8.R, and his own C8.

In some way or another, every reader here is impacted through day-by-day, and now minute-by-minute changes as the world comes together to confront a global crisis. At the recent SCCA event in Chicago, Corvette Forum was able to catch up with Corvette Racing Program manager Doug Fehan to get his thoughts on this ever-changing issue with an exclusive one-on-one chat.

One simple question was enough to warrant nearly an hour-long conversation with Corvette Racing’s leader: “How many fires have you had to put out this week?” It was a seemingly simple and light-hearted question but sparked a passionate reply. “You know, it has been a crazy week,” he said. “I’m not one to take a ‘sky is falling’ mentality, so I flew here for this SCCA meeting without any problem. I’m doing my part to stay extra clean, though.”

The question arose from the recent announcement from IMSA that the 12 Hours of Sebring would be pushed to November. Preparedness had already been underway for the event, previously scheduled for March 21, and now it all had to be put on hold. With more to say, and tethered to a phone charger, he offered an open chair to sit and chat for a while. We obliged.

Naturally, we were curious how a team like this makes adjustments now that they have a longer time to prepare for the next race. Interestingly, Fehan said it didn’t give them any particular advantage with the car. He claimed it is ready to go as-is. More importantly, though, he said it helps his crew.

“This crew has been at it for the better part of three years on this car and haven’t even had time to take a break,” said Fehan. “They have been at it non-stop. The car is fine, but for us, this break will provide us with a refreshed crew and I think that will be a nice advantage to have.”

With the C8.R essentially ready to go, we asked what lessons were learned at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. “While it might not seem like an achievement to those on the outside, it was a huge achievement to us on the inside: the No. 3 C8.R actually completed more miles at Daytona than any other Corvette in prior 24 hour races there,” Fehan notes.

The race itself ran with fair weather and had very little in the way to slow the progress down. In total, the C8.R clicked off 785 laps, compared to 563 in 2019, and 781 in 2018.

Car N0. 4 offered the biggest learning lesson, however. “One of the oil coolers is placed deep in the engine bay, and we later found out that one of the bolts that mount it to the block was just a bit too long,” he explains.

“The bolt, when properly torqued, bottomed out in the end of the threaded mounting hole.” That allowed the cooler to vibrate just the slightest bit and eventually fracture and fail. The same thing happened to N0. 3, but somehow didn’t suffer the same fate. He added, “because of that, the biggest learning lessons from Daytona were less about the car’s components and more about its assembly.”

When asked what they learned, and how they learned it before the season started, Fehan dove into his formal education for an answer. Majoring in Industrial Technology at Eastern Michigan University, he was accustomed to seeing weak points fail in fabricated structures. The C8.R’s flat-plane crank V8 had harmonics that provided the team with continuous challenges.

‘To have the museum built and supported by enthusiasts is amazing. There’s never been another car that has had this kind of community behind it.’

“During testing at Road America, we had these oil tanks that were welded together out of thick aluminum sheet stock, welded by guys who really know their craft,” recalls Fehan. “The harmonics from the V8 ended up making them fracture at the seams. I had never seen anything like it before!” Evidently the vibrations and harmonics were also affecting aero elements as well, as he had described the wing-stands registering failures too.

Keen readers of the IMSA rule book know that engine configurations used in race cars must be used somewhere else within the corporate range. We tried to coyly ask about future Corvette products, but that resulted in a simple statement: “We never discuss future product.” However, he did say, “If I were developing an engine to use somewhere in our production line, I’d want my motorsport division to be doing the development.” Fehan is excited about the C8 platform, though.

“If you see these people at the factory, they are extremely proud of this car. It’s their baby,” he said. Reiterating what he noted about the Corvette Racing team, the people behind the scenes at the Corvette plant are vitally important to the car’s existence, as are the enthusiasts.

“Everyone from facility management to the person who installs the ECU has tremendous pride in this vehicle,’ he added. “And then you have the National Corvette Museum. Most people don’t know that it wasn’t built by GM. To have this museum built and supported by enthusiasts is amazing. There’s never been another car — let alone another thing — that has had this kind of community behind it.”

‘If you see these people at the [Corvette] factory, they are extremely proud of this car. It’s their baby.’

Fehan couldn’t contain his excitement for his own C8 as well. So what did he buy? Well, his choice is interesting. “I have a 2LT in Torch Red and Natural interior. The only visual options I ticked were body-color exterior accents,” he revealed.

You read that right. He got a 2LT specifically without the Z51 suspension.

“The car is really just a gorgeous and naturally flowing shape. While the aero is great — and effective — I just wanted something that was sophisticated-looking rather than race car looking. Totally opposite from my old C7… And I deal with racing Corvettes all the time anyway,” he said.

His other vehicle is quite interesting, too. With a smile, he said, “I wanted to get something for everyday use and picked up an Equinox Red Line. The one with the 4-cylinder turbo. A performance shop did a tune and it’s making nearly 300 horsepower now! It went from a sporty crossover to an SUV street racer. I can’t get enough of it!”

Photos: Patrick Morgan for Corvette Forum; Richard Prince for Chevy Racing

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