Chevrolet Reveals 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Car

Chevrolet has revealed its 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup car, the Chevrolet SS, in an effort for the sport to make cars look more like their street-legal counterparts.

The Chevrolet SS will join the Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, and the Dodge Charger during next season’s race, though they won’t be exactly like the cars on the showroom floor, reports Fox News.

Ford, Toyota, and Dodge already revealed their 2013 Sprint Cup cars, leaving Chevrolet the only holdout until Thursday. The SS will come with its street legal counterpart, a rear-wheel drive sedan that was build in Australia and should hit showroom floors in the US in June 2013.

Chevy’s new NASCAR entry looks much more like the “stock” car as NASCAR looks to ditch the “car of tomorrow,” which was criticized as a move away from “stock car” racing. The new race car was unveiled on Thursday by GM North America president Mark Reuss and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

Reuss was quick to point out that the 2014 Chevy SS will certainly put the “stock” back in stock car racing. The car will make its production-form debut during NASCAR Speed Week in Daytona, Beach, Florida in February 2013. The Washington Post notes that Reuss stated:

“As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS NASCAR race car is a genuinely exciting moment for me. With the SS, Chevrolet is delivering a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR race car that is very closely linked to the performance sedan that will be available for sale.”

The Chevrolet SS will replace the Impala as the new NASCAR Sprint Cup entry from Chevy. The Impala won 152 races between 1959-1964 and 2007-2012. Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart stated of the new car:

“The new SS looks awesome. That’s the great thing, it’s back to looking like a production car again. It’s a design that I really like. It’s got the perfect blend of having a race car look, but a street car look at the same time, and that’s hard to do. No matter what you’re a fan of, you’re going to be able to pick out your favorite brand of car and see it from the stands.”

With the introduction of the Chevrolet SS into NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series for 2013, Chevrolet will also be debuting the street-legal version as the first rear-wheel-drive sedan it has sold in the US in the past 17 years.