Corvette Forum Caravans to the National Corvette Museum

A day before the big silver anniversary, Corvette Forum visited a Corvette caravan from Ohio at Kentucky Speedway.

Late August 2019 is a time to remember for all things Corvette. Just after Corvettes at Carlisle wrapped up, droves of America’s beloved sports car rolled out from every corner of the United States to converge upon the 25th anniversary of the opening of the happiest place on Earth: the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

I, too, decided to make a pilgrimage to the museum, landing in nearby Louisville to pick up my car, then head off the next day to one of the major NASCAR tracks in the Southeast, Sparta, Kentucky’s Kentucky Speedway. It was there I would meet up with a Corvette Caravan coming in from Ohio.

“I just found out about the Caravan last year,” captain Christopher Rosewell tells me. “I bought my Corvette last August; it’s a ZR1. There’s a registry for ZR1 owners, and I was messing around, trying to figure out when the ZR1 gathering was at the Museum, and it popped up [about the] Corvette Caravan.”

Rosewell checked out the Corvette Caravan website to find the captain for his group, only to learn it didn’t have one. This prompted a call to the national chapter, ultimately leading to Rosewell becoming the Ohio caravan captain. He then began preparations for the 2019 caravan to Bowling Green last September, which included a stop at the 1.5-mile tri-oval located just 45 minutes southwest of Cincinnati.

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Once inside the meeting room and after signing the waivers, there was a drivers’ meeting, where each caravan participant was given the lay of the land. Drivers would go out in groups of five to six Corvettes led by one of the track’s pace trucks, all would follow in a single line (no passing allowed) behind the truck, and no speeds above 90 mph. Of course, being able to drive a Corvette on the same tri-oval as NASCAR greats Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson is its own reward, no matter the restrictions.

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After the briefing, it was time for the caravanners to flex their respective Corvettes’ muscles around the high banks of Kentucky Speedway.

I opted to grab a ride aboard one of the track’s pace trucks following behind a group of ‘Vettes, mostly consisting of C5s and C7s (I didn’t see a C1 or C2 in this particular caravan, but I can only imagine what it would be like to see those cars give it all they’ve got).

One of the most memorable things happened while I was waiting for that ride in the pace truck. One of the participants had asked if I wanted to ride in his Corvette, which I certainly wasn’t going to pass up. Thus, I found myself in the passenger seat of a C6 Grand Sport in metallic gray, owned by a veteran Marine named Dan who hailed from just outside of Columbus, Ohio, in a town called Ashville.

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“We’ve actually been [Corvette Caravan] members for 15 years, but this only our second caravan,” Dan said. “I had an older Corvette, and [my wife] didn’t really like riding in it because of the fumes and everything. I sold that, and then we got a 2004. And ever since we had the 2004, we’ve been trying to stay involved with it as much as we can.”

While waiting in line to hit the track, I let slip that I’d never driven a Corvette before, having only ridden in my dad’s 1979 C3, very cool in green with t-tops and functional side pipes.

‘I thought there’d be a little more horsepower [to the C8]. I’m excited that it’s mid-engine. And they made it affordable. That’s one of the best things Chevy’s ever done.’

Thus, Dan offered me a chance to pilot his Grand Sport around Kentucky Speedway. I couldn’t pass that opportunity up, either, so I found myself doing around 80 mph through the turns for a handful of laps, feeling every corner through my arms. I can only imagine having to do so at twice that speed for several laps.

“I thought there’d be a little more horsepower,” says Dan when asked about the upcoming C8 Corvette. “I’m excited that it’s mid-engine, because Corvette’s wanted to do that for a long time. I’m excited that they finally [did it]. And they made it affordable. You can’t touch a Ford GT or touch a Viper, [but] you can go get a mid-engine Corvette, the base model, and have an awesome car for around $62,000. That’s one of the best things Chevy’s ever done: make that car affordable for people.”

“I’m not a fan,” Rosewell counters. “However, I want to see the [C8 Corvette], touch it, sit in it. I did pass one on the highway the other day on its way to Carlisle, so I took some video; it was an ugly brown color. I don’t know if it was just the color or the car itself, but I guess I’m kind of a traditionalist, an originalist. I’m not sure that I agree with General Motors trying to chase the Ferrari, Lamborghini, European mid-engine, Ford GT40 customer.”

No matter the feelings on the next era of the Corvette, there was plenty of love on full display for the all-American sports car on the 1.5-mile tri-oval in northern Kentucky. I can’t wait to see the first C8s take on their first Corvette Caravans next year, no matter where they come from.

‘I did pass [a C8] on the highway… I don’t know if it was just the color or the car itself, but… I’m not sure that I agree with GM trying to chase the Ferrari, Lamborghini, European mid-engine, Ford GT40 customer.’

Until then, here’s a nice gallery of the big day out at Kentucky Speedway with the Ohio Corvette Caravan.

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Photos and video for CorvetteForum by Cameron Aubernon 

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