Chevrolet is probably the most popular brand in NASCAR. But still, they are running a discontinued car, and it’s strange. The Camaro has been discontinued for just about two years now, yet they’re still racing with it. And with the 2025 NASCAR season creeping up, GM hasn’t dropped any hints about introducing a new car. It’s like they’re stuck in limbo. They seem to no longer have a “Win on Sunday and sell on Monday” mentality. 

For the OEMs, NASCAR is more than a sport. It’s a space to showcase your product and drive up sales. And why it worked was because fans felt connected. For say a Camaro owner, the car in his garage is out there winning races. Or even for people who aspired to buy that car someday, it played a huge role. So, for Chevy to race with a car that they themselves don’t wanna produce is sending a wrong message. And fans are demanding a change! But Chevy is not paying heed (not in 2025 at least).

Chevy to run as Chevy in 2025

The Camaro made its way into NASCAR in 2018. Just a month before the season kicked off, Chase Elliott was running test laps in the ZL1. Post which he had said, “From the public eyes standpoint, I don’t know how you could not identify the Camaro with the Camaro on the street. It looks the same. I think that is something to be very proud of from Chevrolet…Job well done from that standpoint.” Back then, the Camaro was introduced as the Chevrolet SS went out of production.

And GM, making the switch, had admitted that the primary goal was getting fans to think of Chevrolet when wanting to buy a new car. And it can’t be that when you run a defunct car. Recently, Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass has revealed no changes for Chevy in 2025. In an X post, Pockrass wrote, “Chevrolet can run the Camaro for the time being in NASCAR and they will just brand the car as Chevrolet this year. Still, TBD what brand it will use in 2026 and beyond. But it doesn’t have to change yet (obviously would want to since it is no longer in production).”

Maybe Chevy could bring the Corvette? Time will tell. However, one reason why they have been running a defunct car for 2 years now could be to keep the Camaro brand image alive. When announcing the shutdown, they did talk about bringing it back in the future. Chevrolet’s VP Scott Bell had confirmed it, saying: “While we are not announcing an immediate successor today, rest assured, this is not the end of Camaro’s story.”

Top Comment by Clare Mathews

If G.M. wanted to quit making a decent Chevy, they should bring back Pontiac

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Debate

However, they also spoke about the next Camaro being electric. And we don’t think the NASCAR landscape would be ready to run electric cars in 2026. And while we get the nostalgia for the Camaro, Chevy needs to bring a change like they did with the SS. And this might be hard for die-hard Chevy fans to hear, but GM could look into replacing the brand with a different one. Apparently, some fans already have a pick!

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Fans want the Cadillac!

We don’t know if pulling Chevy out entirely would be a smart move. After all, it’s iconic to NASCAR. Across all three series, they have won 81 Championships so far (43 in the Cup alone). Some of NASCAR’s greatest drivers made their name with a Chevy. Be it Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, or Tony Stewart. But, it seems like fans are ready for a change. One fan wrote, “I think it’d be sweet if GM brings in Cadillac in as the racing brand. You’d have F1, IMSA, WEC, and maybe IndyCar would change their branding too.”

This is true, Cadillac is a hot topic currently in motorsports. Especially since they are gearing up to be the 11th team in the 2026 Formula One season. And another fan echoing the same emotion said, “GM has really been pushing the Cadillac brand in the rest of the racing world. It seems like the obvious choice. The Blackwing would fit the model I feel like.” The 2025 Blackwing is a good suggestion. Imagine the CTS-V running on the NASCAR ovals, that could be interesting to watch.

And maybe the fan’s demand for Cadillac is aimed at seeing something new and fresh in NASCAR. As one fan wrote, “Cadillac, time to step up.” But the big question is if Cadillac is a good fit for the stock car racing fans. If the point is to bring back ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday,’ it might not be a great fit. NASCAR fans probably wouldn’t resonate the same way with Cadillac as they do with a Chevy.

So, answering a fan’s query, “So do they make the switch to Cadillac next year?” It seems unlikely that it would replace Chevy. Maybe we’d have both! Cadillac could come in as a fourth OEM, and Chevy continues to run the Camaro until another Chevy car can replace it. And one fan has just the name for it.  He wrote, “Just do Cadillac, just rebrand it and call it the “Chevy Cadillac.”

What are your thoughts about having a Chevy instead of a Cadillac? Share with us in the comments below.