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CORVETTE TODAY #159 - Corvette News & Headlines, Early May 2023
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Jul 11, 2025
CORVETTE TODAY #159 - Corvette News & Headlines, Early May 2023 Your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett, is fresh back from the National Corvette Museum's Michelin NCM Bash. And so is Keith Cornett from CorvetteBlogger.com (http://corvetteblogger.com/) . Steve and Keith bring you up-to-speed on the latest news in the world of Corvette. Plus, they offer an overview of the Michelin NCM Bash as well. Here are some of the topics that Steve and Keith will cover next week: 1. The C8 E-Ray VIN #001 sells at Barrett Jackson for $1.1million 2. Corvette Racing results at Long Beach and Spa 3. A C8 Z06 brakes the 9's on the track
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0:00
[Music] Welcome to Corvette Today, the podcast
0:06
that talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett, MC and DJ at one of the largest Corvette weekends
0:12
in the country, Corvette Funfest, president of the Corvette Club of Kansas City, Missouri, and radio disc jockey at
0:19
the number one radio station in Kansas City for over 40 years. Here's Steve Garrett.
0:28
Thanks for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette and the only
0:34
current podcast dedicated to Corvette. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. I appreciate you tuning in. Corvette Today
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is brought to you by Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Learn
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about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most
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models, and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or
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call 833-639-4231. You can listen to Corvette today on all
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mid-engine Corvette forum.com. the forum that focuses on the new mid-engine C8 Corvette. Meet a lot of Corvette
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enthusiasts like yourself at midengine corvette forum.com. And a shout out to Corvette forum and Canadian corvette
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forum.com, welcoming Corvette enthusiasts from around the world. It's time for the latest Corvette news and
2:45
headlines with my pal Keith Cornet from corvette blogger.com. Keith is here twice per month, about every other week.
2:51
We always keep you up to date and current on what's happening with America's sports car. Keith, welcome back to the show. Keith and I are
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brushed back from the Michelin NCM Bash. That's right. We had a great weekend, man. We started off on Wednesday. We did
3:03
a plant tour. We saw the Corvette team. All the stuff that's new came out on Friday with the Corvette team's
3:08
presentation at the bash. It was a good event. We're glad to see all the friends and people there. And there are so many Corvettes out there. Boy, it was
3:15
Corvette heaven. It was It gave me a chance to geek out Corvette wise. Keith, before we get into this, Steve was the
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king of the cold starts this weekend. I saw him going out to the parking lot six or seven times a day with somebody else
3:27
in tow saying, "Hey, you got to hear this exhaust." So, he's got that Soul Exhaust on his 70th anniversary car, and
3:33
it does sound good. It really does. Soul Performance Products, sulp.com.
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It's a great exhaust. Well, buddy, let's kick things off like we usually do with production updates on the Corvette from
3:43
the Bowling Green assembly plant. Yeah, let's go. So, I'm going to talk about production and specifically the
3:49
Z06 first because the plan has really upped the output in the last few weeks. Production over the last two weeks. 252
3:55
cars two weeks ago, 280 cars last week. That's more than 500 cars. Steve and I
4:00
did that plant tour on Wednesday. And as we're watching the assembly line, it was like nearly every third or fourth car on
4:06
the line was a Z06. Yes. Last week, the team did surpass 2,000 combined Z06s. And our last count
4:13
shows approximately 2,250 units built. And that breaks down to about 1,900
4:18
regular Z06s and about almost 350 70th anniversary models. They're really starting to crank there. Regarding
4:25
Stingray production, we are looking at 31,186 regular Stingrays already built and then
4:31
we also have 3,300 anniversary editions for about 34,500 total stingrays.
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Compared to last year, Stingray production is currently trending 119% above the levels from last year. So,
4:42
they're really moving. But wait, Steve, it does get better because the Corvette team when they do their seminar at the
4:48
NCM Bash, they always show a slide. We only count what's been built. They actually can show what's been built plus
4:54
what they have in the system that's been approved for production. They are actually showing as of March 23,562
5:02
total C8s. And that breaks down to about 94% being Stingrays and 6% being Z06.
5:08
The last time we hit more than 40,000 cars was 2016. And so with all the supply chain issues and other factors in
5:15
play, it doesn't seem like we're building a lot of cars, but I would say the production team is just doing a fantastic job of cranking them out. So
5:21
yeah, we are really moving there. Just real quick, the other Z06 news that we had is that there was another round of
5:27
allocations to dealers in April. According to some of the dealers that we spoke with, they were very pleased with the counts that they received and we
5:33
actually heard dealers getting Z07s as well. And that was the other thing too is the dash. You know, we saw more Z07s
5:39
than I've ever seen in one place before. They are really moving. I'm proud to say that. Yeah, that was really, really great
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news. Now, to me, the bad news from Bowling Green assembly plant, Keith, Bowling Green assembly director Kai
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Spandandy announced his retirement during the bash. Yeah, boy. That came out of left field.
5:56
No one expected that. you know, he's just doing his presentation going through what happens at the body shop and the plant and then at the end he
6:02
showed a slide with all these pictures on it and he said, "Well, I got some news to share and that he took that
6:07
buyout that was offered earlier this month." Right? So, July 31st will be his last day and I
6:12
got to tell you, Kai was a rockar during his tenure. He was with us for eight years and if you think about all the
6:18
stuff that's happened, we had the major expansion of the plant. We built the paint shop. Then they complete retoled
6:24
the plant and reconfigured it for the C8 Corvette. And then there was COVID and supply chain issues. And if that's not
6:30
enough, remember when that tornado hit the Corvette plant causing a fire on the roof? Oh, yeah. His steady hand is going to be missed
6:36
for sure. GM has named his replacement. His name is Raymond Theralt. I believe that's how you spell his last name.
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Therald. Raymond has served as assistant plant director at Spring Hills engine plant and he's also served as quality
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manager and quality operations director at different posts around the world. He's been to China. He's been to a
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couple other international facilities. Currently, he's a senior manager EV supplier integration, which again kind
7:00
of gives you a foreshadow of where we are headed with electric vehicles in the Corvette. He's got some big shoes to
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fill, but we are anxious to meet him and we do welcome him to the Corvette assembly plant. Absolutely. I guess it's onward and
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upward. We're sorry to see Kai go, but congratulations on his retirement. Yeah, he's going to have fun. And his
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wife took the buyout as well. They've got family in Bowling Green. I think some kids still in school. He's going to
7:23
be sticking around. And of course, he's still the chairman of the board for the NCM. That term goes to the end of the
7:29
year. And then the current chairman always serves as the past chairman once the new person comes in. So, he's not
7:34
going anywhere. We're still going to see him at events, but he's only going to be a civilian this time, not part of the team. Right. Also, in other news, Keith
7:40
Barrett Jackson sold the first VIN number one to Rick Hendrick for $1.1
7:45
million. Yeah. You know, like they always do. They introduced the new car and then they offered an opportunity to get VIN
7:52
one through a charity auction at Barrett Jackson. This one was at Palm Beach. And like you said, not surprising anyone is
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that Corvette dealer and NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick bid 1.1 million for the rights to build the car anyway he
8:03
wants. Who wants to bet it's going to be black. Yeah, exactly. Another bidder actually then donated
8:09
50,000 on top of it. So the total get for the car was 1.15 million. And this was a charity auction with the proceeds
8:15
going to a organization called Donor's Choose. Taj talked about this a little bit in his seminar. They actually make
8:22
micro donations directly to teachers and classrooms across America. It's like writing a mini grant. You send it off to
8:27
these people and their average donation is only around $300. With the fact that they pulled in 1.15 million, this
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charity auction should keep them busy for quite some time. Yes, absolutely right. And that was a really good thing for sure. This is
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going to create a lot of controversy, Keith. GM is going to be phasing out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for a
8:46
subscriptionbased system. Do we know when that's going to start? I'm cringing, Steve. I know. We understand that this is really
8:53
targeting the EVs and future EVs. We're not sure when this is going to happen, this changeover, but it's one of the
8:59
stories that we wrote about last year is that GM thinks they can make like 25$26 billion in additional revenue simply
9:05
through subscriptions from new car customers. I want to slam my hands on the desk and say it's wrong. You buy a
9:10
car, you own the whole car, right? Not the ability to unlock it for even more money. Like I said, it seems
9:16
primarily targeted to EV buyers. As if we need another reason to oppose EVs, right? GM VP of software. He said, here's how
9:23
you can kind of think about it. When an owner of a Chevy Blazer EV routes to an EV charging station, the vehicle's
9:29
native software can begin warming up the battery so it's primed for a faster charge. That's what they're calling like a
9:35
holistic integration that's currently unavailable through CarPlay and Android Auto. I think about BMW. I think they
9:41
were charging like $200 a year to have a heated steering wheel or seats and stuff like that. Nobody wants subscriptions.
9:47
I'm telling you that right now. And this is going to blow up in their face again. But we're kind of at their mercy until people say no to it. I don't know what
9:54
else to do when you're saying there's $26 billion on the line. Absolutely right. Now, a couple stories about the -ray. We did see some updates
10:01
on the visualizer online, didn't we? Yeah. You know, I've been building these religiously, generally on a Saturday night with my favorite adult beverage, a
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good Kentucky bourbon. So, I was on like a late Saturday night. You know, I like the color match. I'm looking at the
10:13
color match like the blue badge, maybe blue seat belts, playing around with the blue Corvette letters on the back. So,
10:19
when I went there, those Elcart Lake blue Corvette letters were gone and instead they added edge red letters. So,
10:25
now we have edge red, torch red, arctic white, and then of course the chrome and the black. Not a big change, but again,
10:31
it just shows they are currently adding. And I did ask if we're going to see Corvette letters maybe in the new Riptide Blue, in which case I was just
10:38
told to stay tuned. We'll see about that. But, you know, the other changes we saw in the visualizer include the
10:43
welcome return of the engine appearance package for the coupe. And then Chevy has also added that visible carbon fiber
10:49
engine bow, that X brace with the Jake logo in the center. You can play with that now on your visualizer builds as
10:55
well. I saw that Xrace and it's in carbon fiber. Got me thinking, buddy. It got me thinking.
11:00
I hear you. It's an easy install. Absolutely right. I'm just thinking about it. I don't know. We'll see what
11:06
happens. I think it's gonna happen, Steve. That's my thought. You know me and carbon fiber, buddy.
11:13
Also, what else do we learn about the -ray for 2024 at the bash? First of all, the -ray is just such a
11:18
great car. There was more news in addition to the -ray. So, let's kind of jump into that first because it's the
11:24
NCM Bash is where we always learn about new content coming for the Corvette. Of course, the -ray being the big news. So,
11:29
you know, obviously introducing a new model is the big news, but they also have other new content out there for the
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Corvette team. The team said one of the biggest things that they did was they introduced a new engine appearance
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package for convertibles. Right. Chevrolet has been seeing all these convertible hardtop owners wanting to see their engines when they lift their
11:47
tanu covers. They were constantly asked about this feature. So, once again, they have delivered a factory available option for customers. So, if you think
11:53
about when you raise your title cover, you got that black regular heat shield in there. Mhm. They've actually cut a window to so you
11:59
can see the top of the engine. I don't know the measurements exactly, but it's roughly 14 in or so square. They said it
12:05
was actually the largest size that they could fit in there. It's been fully validated to their standards. It's got
12:10
silver heat shielding on the bottom of it to keep the heat from rising up. So, when you do have your convertible top down, it's being well protected. Right.
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We don't have any pricing on this yet, but it's called the ZZ3 instant appearance package for convertibles. And
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when you order that, you'll get the see-through panel. And then you'll also get your choice of the silver or edge
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red engine covers. That's the very first one. I think that one's going to go a long way. People are going to like that. They're going to like the fact that it
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comes from the factory. It's fully validated and all that stuff. There is an aftermarket solution out there that's
12:40
a polycarbonate that shows off the whole engine bay. I mean, that one really opens up. People will have some choices
12:46
out there now. They can go aftermarket or they can go with the factory option. I like them both. I wish they would just
12:51
cut a hole in the hatch so you could see from the hatch all the way through the window into the engine bay on the
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hardtop convertible. It wouldn't be surprising, you know, as they come out with a higher performance models that we might see some additional
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changes that would include that. I'd say stay tuned for that because if you're going to offer a $200,000 sports car at
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some point, you're going to have everything that people wants in it. I'm hoping. I hope so, too. So, we also have in
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addition to the engine appearance package, Chevy announced three new wheels for the C8 Stingray. So, we have
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two designs that are basically it's a split spoke wheel. One of them is offered in satin graphite with a machine
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edged and then there's also a bright machine that looks like a polished wheel. That's a new design there. And
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then they also came out with a new accessory wheel. It's a 15 spoke bright polished accessory wheel. The nice thing
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is with sales being roughly 94% Stingray, it's good to see that they're constantly putting out new content for
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Stingray owners there. Another change we have for 2024 are the racing stripes. We kind of touched on this earlier this
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year because again, we've been seeing these new additions to the -ay visualizer and a lot of times they include content that's going to be
13:57
available across the model lineup for the C8 in 2024. One of the first things that they've done for these racing
14:03
stripes is they're changing the design. The new design is really a copy of the -ay blue racing stripe which is tapered
14:09
at the front of the car and then it ends on the rear deck. So you can see that as a template. They're very nice. You know
14:14
the ones they start at the corners or the edge of the front fascia and they go all the way back over the spoiler and
14:22
then down underneath the license plate to the top of the rear fascia. So it's a much cleaner design. I think it looks
14:28
better, especially if you do put those letters on the back. They look really nice. And then another stripe design that we touched on was they have these
14:34
carbon flash stripes that have these colored accents on the outside. And those accent colors are blue, yellow,
14:41
orange, red, and silver. So yeah, you can really color code your car. You know, you match the seat belts. You
14:47
know, if you do an orange car, you can do orange seat belts. Another update is obviously we talked about this again,
14:52
the new standard safety features coming on the car, right? They include automatic emergency braking, forward
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collision alert, front pedestrian braking, follow distance indicators, and I did not know this was coming, but they
15:04
had it on the slide. It's this Intellibbeam, the auto highbeam assist. So, basically, if you're in a rural area
15:11
or you're driving at night, there's not a lot of traffic, your high beams will go on automatically and then when it
15:16
senses a car coming at you, it it lowers them to the regular. That's really handy. I had a rental car that did that. I'm like I was kind of like blown away
15:22
by it. I'm like, this is a great feature, you know? So Corvette's going to get that as well. And then the last
15:27
change for 2024 is that when you put your Corvette in different driver mode selections, you know, you have those
15:33
animations that come up on the screen there. They've got some new ones for that. I guess they're a little bit better of a
15:39
quality. They're newer. They do this animation thing. So, a new look for the driver mode selection there.
15:44
That was really neat. Of course, you know, you were talking about the high beams thing. I had that back in my 1960
15:49
white Cadillac buddy. It was called an electronic eye and it sat in the middle of the dash and it sensed cars coming
15:56
and going and you can automatically turn on those high beams. The electronic eye from my 1960 Cadillac and that was back
16:03
in 1975. It was my grandparents car. Right. So, what you're saying is it took us 60 years to get it, but hey, we're
16:10
we're glad to have it. Just like fashion, technology comes around, buddy. Well, you know, there was that discussion about the automatic start
16:16
stop feature. They talked about that earlier. Who wants it? They do the whole who wants it, everybody raises their hands and no one raises their hands for
16:22
automatic stop start, right? We're getting it anyway. But it's only on the -ay that we're getting that by the way.
16:28
It's not going to the auto stop start's not going to be rolled out to the entire lineup at least yet. It's just a result
16:33
of the fuel economy ratings that they've got to get to. Every little bit helps. I guess it does. Those are really the content changes for
16:39
the 2024 Corvette. That's true. And by the way, if you don't want to use the stop start, there is a button to turn that function off,
16:45
so don't worry about it. And a lot of the other stuff you can turn off too, I believe, from the menu selectors. Right. Well, buddy, let's take our first
16:52
break. When we come back, it's Corvette racing and Corvette Rumors. That's coming up next on Corvette today. We all
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And now back to Corvette Today with your host and my husband Steve Garrett.
19:20
Thanks once again for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette. Brought
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to you by Wheelcraft. Spring is here and you want your Corvette looking its best. Dress it up with bright chrome or black
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chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PBD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels
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or do a wheel exchange and you get a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com or
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call them at 833-639-4231. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is
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Keith Cornet from corvette blogger.com. We keep you current and uptodate on everything Corvette. In segment number
19:56
two, we always talk Corvette racing and Corvette rumors. First, let's start with racing. Keith, let's talk about the
20:02
results at Spa. And the IMSA team finished number two at Long Beach, didn't they? Yeah. You know, the teams are actually
20:08
doing quite well, especially the WC team, the World Endurance Championship. They had victories at Sebring and Portoo
20:14
in Portugal. And the team then went to the 6 hours of spa and although they did not win the next best result to a
20:21
victory is finishing second. That was a great news. So not only did they finish second but there was a bop update. So in
20:27
the WC the winning team from the previous race had an additional 45 kg of
20:33
what they call victory ballast added to the car. That's something that's really different than we see in IMSA. They were
20:38
down into 12th place or so. You know there's like 14 cars in this class over there. It's not just they're racing themselves or three other cars. There's
20:45
14 in the class. They came back from 12th place. Mickey Catsburg, I guess, just drove the pants off that car. You
20:51
know, he had a guy behind him. He was able to keep him behind him even though he was faster. The Corvette had that victory ballast on it. And by even
20:57
coming in second, we increased our championship lead from 31 points to 39 points. We currently have 82 points
21:04
compared to the second place team, the number 83 Ferrari, which only has 43.
21:09
So, we're in good position right now. And again, the next race is coming up at Lemon. The team's just doing fantastic
21:15
over there. And I wish we could have seen it. You know, they were racing on Saturday when we were at the bash. And I I told one of the museum people, I said,
21:22
you know, you should have really thrown that up on the screen somewhere. Maybe offered a watch party. That would have been fun for people to come and go and
21:27
see a race going on in the theater while it's happening in real time. Maybe next year if there's a conflict like that, we
21:33
can see that again. As we talk about the IMSA team earlier this month, Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia, they finished
21:39
second at Long Beach. That really helped with the points too because I think we were finishing like fifth with both Daytona and Sebring. That gets us some
21:46
much needed points there. We're behind, we're actually running in third in class right now in the championship points
21:51
behind Lexus and the AMG Mercedes. We'll see Corm Racing's Insta team back in action on May 12th through the 14th at
21:58
the WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Secika. So that's always a good course for us. That's a fun racetrack to watch.
22:04
Let's go Jake. We're expecting some good results there. We'll keep it going. That's right. And this is a racing story
22:10
even though it's not Corvette racing. We talked about Will Farmer in our last news and headline show. He broke the
22:15
nines with his 2023 Z06 and Amelia is right behind him. So it looks like the
22:20
Z06 drag wars are starting, doesn't it? Exactly. Yeah. The good news is we are seeing competition heating up for that
22:26
world record. And the funny thing is the Corvette seems like the car was never really designed to be a drag car. It's a
22:32
track weapon, you know, it's a scalpel for the track, but yet all these people are going out and doing the quarter mile times with it. As you said, Will Farmer
22:38
became the first driver to hit the nines with a quarter mile time of 9.986 seconds at 135 miles an hour. His mods
22:46
on that car were drag radials on the back. He put skinny tires up on the front. That track that he was on was
22:52
highly prepped. I mean, it was so sticky you could just hear it gripping the tires as he was backing up after staging
22:57
the car. So, he ran 9.986. And then, not to be outdone, Amelia Hartford is back with her Z06. you know,
23:04
she might name the car Nemo because it's orange and white. That's kind of a name she's floating out there. So, she put a
23:11
nitrous kit on her car and then drag radials and then she took out the passenger seat. They lightweighted it as
23:17
where they could and then she ran a 9.988 seconds at 140. So, she's actually got
23:24
the fastest trap time, but she missed Will Farmer's record by two 100ths of a second. So, that's how close we are
23:30
right now. You can bet that we're going to see some improvements hopefully from both drivers because this is where it gets fun and we don't know who else is
23:36
going to get into the mix there, but there'll be somebody out there saying, "Oh yeah, we'll watch what we can do." The drag wars for the Z06 are on and
23:43
they are fun. It's going to be on like Donkey Kong. Right. Right.
23:48
Also, we saw Jordan Taylor looking for another NASCAR seat. Is he getting away from Corvette racing?
23:54
Well, there's Truth and Comedy, as they say. He did this video. It's a bit for Dale Junior's podcast in which he was
24:00
inquiring about another NASCAR opportunity and then cuts over and there's Rodney Sandstorm in the background saying he wants to run an
24:06
oval. But that was a comedy bit. However, the Corvette racing driver did share a photo
24:12
on social media showing him climbing into another NASCAR racer and doing another test. So, there could be more to
24:18
this story than him just out there having some fun with it. Interesting. Well, we'll have to keep watching that and see what happens
24:24
there. Right. In the rumors section, Keith, there's a partnership with GM and Samsung. They're building a $3 billion
24:30
battery plant that may power an electric Corvette and Camaro. Yeah, this this is interesting. You
24:35
know, they've done three battery plants already with LG. They're now switching and doing one with Samsung. There are
24:40
different style of batteries. We asked one of the team members about this at the Bash and they said, you know, for the most part, this is just kind of PR.
24:47
You know, they don't exist yet. It's just on paper, but this is a battery that is more like the Tesla cells, which kind of look like
24:53
the AA batteries that are all grouped together, okay? As opposed to the larger pouch batteries that GM has been using with LG, like in
25:00
the Bolt. And the reason the Corvette Camaro are being discussed is because these Samsung batteries, they're more
25:05
modular, so you can put them throughout the chassis as opposed to doing like that skateboard design that we're seeing
25:10
with the GM Ultium. We are years away from this stuff. Who knows what's going to happen there. This battery stuff is
25:16
always changing. what they're talking about building today might certainly change in three, four, five years anyway. It's just something to watch. I
25:23
wouldn't be too worried about at this point, but they're moving forward the EV lifestyle and it's coming whether we like it or not.
25:28
Yeah, $3 billion is a lot of zeros, buddy. Yes, it is. All right, our final rumor. Was the
25:34
existence of the Corvette SUV all fake news? You know, this comes from our friend Mandy over at Muscle Cars and Trucks,
25:40
who's appeared on the podcast before. Sure. And he's got some pretty decent sources, especially when it comes to this EV stuff. and he's saying there's
25:47
no Corvette SUV coming. It's mostly because of the design. They can't get really everybody on board. So, Car and
25:53
Driver had put out this story a couple weeks back saying that Chevy is working on a Corvette SUV. However, it's going
25:58
to be with an internal combustion engine first as opposed to being an EV. We went and looked at Chevy's current SUV
26:04
offerings and there are seven of them. So, where would you fit this model anyways and then if you count the two Bolt models, there's nine SUVs on that
26:11
Chevrolet.com tab that says SUVs. It's going to be interesting to see where it happens. Manny does say they are working
26:17
on a EV Corvette sedan which may come in 2025 or 2026, but he says, "Yeah, the
26:22
SUV for the Corvette is fake news." Wow. Well, it's car and driver versus muscle cars and trucks.
26:28
Right. We'll see what happens. But like I said, you know, Manny's had some good scoops over the years. I'm kind of rooting for him actually.
26:34
Absolutely. You know, Manny knows his stuff. That's why he's on Corvette Today with us for sure. Yep. Well, buddy, let's take our final break.
26:40
When we come back, it'll be the lighter side of Corvette. Up next on Corvette Today.
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And now back to the only current podcast on Corvettes, Corvette Today with your host, Steve Garrett.
29:14
Hey, thanks once again for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette, brought
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I'm your host Steve Garrett. With me is Keith Cornet from corvette blogger.com. Don't forget if you want a deeper dive
29:49
into any of the stories we cover, you can always go to corvetteblogger.com. In our final segment, we always talk
29:55
about the lighter side of Corvette. Keith, I had to laugh at this first story. We saw a C8 Z06 get delivered
30:02
with a Stingray badge on the back. Not the traditional cross flags. Oops.
30:07
Yep. Oops. We did it again. So, if you think about it though, since February of
30:12
2020, when production started the C8 Stingray, there's been over 100,000 of them built. And it was only last fall
30:18
that the Z06 was added to the mix. So, with that many cars being produced, sometimes these things kind of do happen
30:23
in the assembly process. Obviously, they're found incorrectly during the quality reviews that happen before the cars are shipped out. But occasionally,
30:30
sometimes these do make it out of the plant. There was that one story we ran back in 2020 about a car was delivered with a two-tone boomerang. Had the body
30:37
color on one segment and then the carbon flash on another segment. Right. We never really saw pictures of this,
30:42
but we heard some guy got a competition seat and a GT2 seat baby. Oh, wow. And then our friend Al Fuller,
30:48
he had a convertible with the body colors. His top vent on his convertible came with a carbon flash, which wasn't
30:54
supposed to happen. But again, these factory defects are interesting. And so it kind of makes you wonder. What was kind of interesting about this was that
31:00
this new Z06 owner, of course, he has a YouTube channel, so he was documenting his delivery. Now, he picked up the car
31:06
at a Texas dealership, but nobody notices the incorrect badge. They missed it at the plant. They missed it at the
31:11
dealership, and the new owner didn't notice it either. So, there was no actual reaction to seeing an incorrect
31:17
badge on there. We can set the tone that the real dilemma for this owner is, do you take it off for the factory correct
31:23
look or do you keep it on and show off the factory mistake and have a fun story to tell about it? I don't know what I
31:28
would do, Steve. What would you do? I would probably leave it on just for the conversation piece.
31:33
Yeah. Obviously, you have people going up and saying, "Why do you got a Stingray badge on your Z06?" You say, "Hey, it came from the factory that
31:39
way." Maybe put both on, buddy. Yeah. Okay. Right. one in front of the other or you could angle that stingray
31:46
tail so it then points to the V and the cross flags. Yeah, I would put the cross flags underneath the Stingray logo.
31:52
I don't know about that. Well, that's just me, but you know me. I like carbon fiber, too. Yeah, so we've been told and soul
31:58
performance exhaust. And Soul performance exhaust, that's for sure. Also, we had a great thing. Chevy Myway had a Corvette expert session that
32:06
featured the Ronfellow's Corvette performance driving school at Spring Mountain. Yeah. So, when you buy a new Corvette
32:12
Stingray or Z06, Chevrolet will give you a voucher to attend the two-day Roninfellows performance driving school,
32:17
Corvette owner school, and it's just $1,000. So, you think about all the stuff that goes in. You're driving their
32:23
cars. You're learning all kinds of vehicle handling on their skid pad, and then you're out on the track and lead
32:29
follow events. It's one of the best things that you can do in a Corvette. This video by Chevrolet goes over all
32:34
that program, and anybody who's attended it says it's just a fantastic experience. Z06 class is going to start
32:40
soon. We'll have those dates here coming up shortly. But if you've already picked up your Z06 and 2,000 of you have, you
32:46
should be calling the Ronfellows Performance Driving School right now. You'll need your VIN and go ahead and let them know that you are interested in
32:52
taking their class and they'll show you what they've got as far as availability goes. Good thing to happen. You know, most of us have been through the course
32:58
over the last few years. A lot of Stingray owners have done it. You can imagine the new Z06, how much fun that's going to be.
33:03
Yeah. And when we saw Todd and Bailey at the National Corvette Museum's bash, they said that they were now booking for
33:10
August. So, make sure you get in there really quick because we're at the beginning of May and they're already
33:15
booking for August. So, you've got quite a gap there from when you call as to when you get actually into the school
33:21
itself, right? And you have actually a year from the date you take delivery to use that thousand voucher. So, don't let it go to
33:27
waste because just a lot of fun. Plus, everything you learn out there about driving translates just to driving on
33:33
the streets and your normal everyday driving. You pick up some really good skills. It's a lot of fun. It's Top Gun for a Corvette. Go out and
33:40
do the school. Absolutely. Savage Geese also explored the limits of the Z06 and they raced it against the
33:46
GT3 from Porsche. Yeah, Savage Geese. They really put out some great content and there's no
33:51
hyperbole or any kind of exaggerations or clickbait. It's really a long form
33:56
video that really goes ind depth to whatever they're talking about here. They go through comparisons and contrast
34:03
of the Z06 and the GT3. Not really pitting them against each other, just saying here's what one has, here's what
34:09
the other one has. So, they go through the design of the interior and the exteriors. They talk about mechanical impressions, what the equipment is on
34:16
the car, and then they do some driving with the car and show kind of what each offers. What I liked about the video is
34:21
then they put a professional driver in for lap times of both cars. And then a final analysis is offered at the end. Of
34:27
course, one of the guys from Savage Geese, Jack, he is now a Z06 owner. And so you might have a little bit of bias,
34:32
I get, but that's to be expected. Am I right? Yes, absolutely. It's a great video. Go check it out.
34:38
Savage Geese on YouTube. And we had a little bit of drama, Keith. The NC originally banned the -ray from
34:44
any competitive events and then they reversed it and the Corvette team was emphatic about it at the bash.
34:51
Yeah, this is our second oops story of the show. The Corvette forum was the first to highlight a change to the NC's 2022 2023
34:59
competition handbook. They found it back in November. It was changed, but it is before the -ay was announced. This rule
35:05
change banned all EVs and hybrids containing lithium type batteries from competitive events over fears of safety.
35:11
And the rule also stated, this is insult to injury, that even if you show up at an event just as a participant or as a
35:17
spectator, they must be parked 30 ft minimum from structures and other vehicles, which again, really
35:22
ridiculous. So, prior to the uh reversal, we were talking about it with Corvette product manager Haron Charles,
35:29
who said they discussed it with the NC and that it was all a misunderstanding. He said the rule change was passed
35:34
before the -ay was revealed. Chevy engineers maintain that the battery packs in the era are very safe for
35:40
competitive events. Harlon points out that these same types of performance hybrids are currently racing in the top
35:45
classes at IMSA and Lemons. Anyways, we actually heard directly from Deb Howard, the NC president. She sent out a
35:52
statement to us saying that they had adjusted the rules to allow for the inclusion of hybrid vehicles in NC
35:57
events. The rule was originally intended only to apply to electric vehicles and that they say that the Corvette -ay will
36:04
be allowed to compete. After all, it is the quickest Corvette in the C8 lineup. That's right. And by the way, if you
36:10
don't know what NC is, it's the National Council of Corvette Clubs. Our final story, Keith, this was awesome. I was
36:16
glad to see this. It got a big round of applause at the bash. The Corvette is named the coolest thing made in the
36:22
state of Kentucky. Yeah. So, this was a bracket competition put on by the Kentucky Association of
36:27
Manufacturers. And so, they asked people to vote for the coolest thing made in Kentucky. And the Corvette made its way up to the finals where it faced off
36:34
against the Smucker Company's Creamy Gif Peanut Butter. You know, as much as we love a good PB&J sandwich, peanut butter
36:41
just quite isn't as cool as a Corvette. So, America's favorite sports car won that competition. Over 20,000 votes were
36:47
cast. The Chevrolet Corvette reigned supreme in the state of Kentucky. That's awesome. Well, buddy, thanks for
36:52
being back on Corvette today. It was fantastic as always hanging out with you at the Bash. We will see you in two
36:58
weeks, my friend. Boy, we had a great time together. Of course, all of our friends were out there. They always say when you go to
37:03
the bash, the first time you're out there for the car, the second and third times you're always out there for the people because it's just so much fun.
37:08
You see all these old friends and I don't know who said it, but all my friends are Corvette owners, you know. Absolutely.
37:13
Everything's kind of worked out in life, but it's a great great event, great fun. And good to see you, Steve.
37:18
Absolutely. It was great to see you, too, buddy. And you know, you're right. If you're a car person, some of your closest friends are car people, and
37:26
that's what we've done with Corvette. Absolutely. Thanks for listening to Corvette today. And please be sure to tell your family,
37:31
friends, and other Corvette enthusiasts about the Corvette Today podcast. And thanks to our sponsors, Wheelcraft. Want
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to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Visit wheelcraft.com to learn about their
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38:19
with Steve Garrett. If you'd like to contact Steve with any thoughts on the podcast or ideas for guests on Corvette
38:25
Today, you can email him at stevegared djgmail.com.
38:30
That's Steve Garrett DJ@gmail.com. Garrett has two Rs and two T's. Or
38:37
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38:44
Thanks again for listening to Corvette today.
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