Corvette Culture

VIDEO: Pitting the C7 against the C8 at NCM Motorsports Park

Scott Kolecki··
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The 2021 Corvette Stingray at the NCM Motorsports Park. Try driving one - its an experience you'll never forget.
The 2021 Corvette Stingray at the NCM Motorsports Park. Try driving one - its an experience you'll never forget.

Comparing the C7 and the C8 Stingrays on the NCM Motorsports Racetrack

On August 19, 2021, I traveled (along with my brother Joe and best friend Cliff) to Bowling Green, Kentucky to compare my 2016 C7 Corvette Stingray Z51 against the new, mid-engine Stingray on the NCM Motorsports Park Racetrack.  I had the unique opportunity to track my own car and then immediately get behind the wheel of a 2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Stingray and run it around the track as well.  The objective?  To identify the similarities (and differences) between these two cars really are and to determine whether the C8 is really that much of an upgrade over the earlier C7 model.

Our day at the track started poorly. My buddy Cliff and I had decided to track our pair of C7 Corvettes (for reference, Cliff has a 2015 Stingray 2LT coupe) during a shared lead-follow session.  On our drive from Nashville, Tennessee to Bowling Green, Kentucky, we ran into progressively deteriorating weather conditions, culminating in a pretty steady downpour of rain by the time we arrived at the track.   Discouraged but not deterred, we approached the sign-in desk determined to get our cars out on the track – weather be damned!  Fortunately, the storms that were moving thru the area were expected to let up with more promising weather following behind it.

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