logo
2025 Corvette ZR1 Claims 5 Lap Records at Tracks Across America

2025 Corvette ZR1 Claims 5 Lap Records at Tracks Across America

Yahoo11-02-2025
Chevrolet is out for blood with the 2025 Corvette ZR1, and on Tuesday, the automaker announced that the 1064-hp affordable hypercar has set a slew of new production car lap records at some of America's most famous racetracks.
Do note, for what it's worth, that this barrage of lap records is entirely domestic; it doesn't include the big one in Germany yet. Chevy hasn't announced or even teased a Nurburgring Nordschleife record attempt, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. For now, Chevy is claiming the following production car lap records:
Watkins Glen Long Course: 1:52.7
Road America: 2:08.6
Road Atlanta: 1:22.8
Virginia International Raceway Full Course: 1:47.7
Virginia International Raceway Grand Course: 2:32.3
All of those lap times were set with various General Motors engineers at the wheel — no professional race car drivers involved. 'From design, engineering, development, validation, to driving and setting incredible lap records like these – we do it all in house,' Corvette executive chief engineer Tony Roma said.
All of these times were set with ZR1s equipped with the track-friendly (and admittedly pricey) Carbon Fiber Aero Package and the ZTK Performance Package. The former tacks on a high-downforce rear wing, front dive planes, underbody strakes and a more aggressive front spoiler, while the latter nets stiffer springs, a specific Magnetic Ride Control calibration and Pilot Sport Cup 2R ZP tires. You won't achieve the ZR1's incredible 233-mph top speed with this high-downforce kit, but it certainly facilitates the sort of record lap times on display here.
We'll need to wait and see what other lap records Chevy vies for with the ZR1. Notably, Laguna Seca is not among the American tracks listed today – the Czinger 21C currently holds it. Ford recently put up an impressive number with its Mustang GTD by taking the American production car lap record at the 'Ring, and we see no reason why Chevy shouldn't swat back with its 1064-horsepower supercar.
You Might Also Like
You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox
Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners
The Man Who Signs Every Car
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Should the Ravens give Mike Green a fully guaranteed four-year rookie contract?
Should the Ravens give Mike Green a fully guaranteed four-year rookie contract?

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

Should the Ravens give Mike Green a fully guaranteed four-year rookie contract?

Mike Green is one of 30 second-round picks from the 2025 NFL draft still unsigned, and Adam Schefter reports guaranteed money could be the holdup. The 2025 NFL draft concluded over seventy days ago, and while most of the first-round picks and late-round picks have signed, there are thirty-second-round picks that are still unsigned, with less than a week to go before training camps kick off around the league for all 32 teams. Baltimore selected All-American pass rusher Mike Green with pick No. 59, and reports are that the former Marshall star pass rusher and 29 other second-round picks are haggling over guaranteed money on the standard four-year deal. First-round picks usually have guaranteed four-year deals with a potential fifth-year option, but up until this past April, fully guaranteed contracts weren't the norm for second-round picks. That all changed when the Texans gave Jayden Higgins, the 34th overall pick, the first fully guaranteed contract ever for a second-round pick on May 8. On May 9, the Browns followed suit, offering Carson Schwesinger, the 33rd overall pick in the second round, a fully guaranteed contract as well. Schefter reports that since then, no second-round picks have signed. Los Angeles Chargers second-round rookie wide receiver Tre Harris may be a training camp holdout and could well be the first in an unprecedented number after he did not report on Saturday -- the deadline for rookies -- NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. NFL teams have no problem colluding against guaranteed contracts, and Green could miss time entering training camp if a deal isn't reached. It's a touchy scenario for Baltimore, which had an urgent need for more explosion at the edge rusher position, so they landed the draft's most talented but questionable prospect. Last season, as a redshirt sophomore, Green led the FBS in sacks (17.0), tackles for loss (22.5), sack yardage (144), and tackles by a defensive lineman (84). His 17 sacks established a new Sun Belt Conference record.

American Talor Gooch wins LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama

time3 hours ago

American Talor Gooch wins LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama

SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- American Talor Gooch won LIV Golf Andalucia on Sunday for his second LIV Golf title in three visits to Valderrama and fourth overall on the Saudi-funded tour. Gooch closed with a 1-under 70 to finish at 8 under, a stroke ahead of Spanish star Jon Rahm (65). Rahm led Legion XIII to its third team title of the season. Gooch has a record 13 trophies – four regular-season individual wins, seven regular-season team wins, one team championship in 2022 with 4Aces and one individual championship in 2023. Abraham Ancer was third at 5 under after a 66. Bryson DeChambeau closed with a 74 to tie for 30th at 3 over.

Ford's response to tariffs birthed a pro-America campaign that outsold Toyota
Ford's response to tariffs birthed a pro-America campaign that outsold Toyota

USA Today

time9 hours ago

  • USA Today

Ford's response to tariffs birthed a pro-America campaign that outsold Toyota

On the evening of March 27, Ford Motor Co.'s marketing leaders called a meeting at World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. The country was in turmoil as the second quarter was about to start. The automaker had to do something to keep showrooms buzzing as consumers fretted over newly issued tariffs potentially pushing car prices higher. Ford already had a new ad campaign and incentive program "in the can," as they say. It was good to go. But something felt off. "This was a moment in time," Rob Kaffl, Ford's director of U.S. sales and dealer relations told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, about that night. "We were thinking: What would it take for Ford Motor Co. to shine during this uneasiness in the market both for consumers and automotive?" That night, Ford leaders would end up ditching the company's previous campaign plans and instead spend the weekend in a frenzy working up a new campaign with a message to promote the automaker as America's car company, dubbed: "From America, For America." As part of it, Ford offered all customers employee prices on most of its vehicles starting April 3 running to July 7. The "From America, For America" campaign would end up offsetting Ford's dismal first-quarter results and provide a positive light during a year in which Ford is leading in safety recalls. The campaign was instrumental in delivering a 14% gain in Ford's second quarter sales and, on July 1, Ford brand — not including Lincoln — became the No. 1 selling brand in the nation for the first half of the year selling 1,058,323 vehicles, topping its closest rival, Toyota brand, by just 550 vehicles and outselling Chevrolet brand sales by 136,437 vehicles. General Motors, which makes Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands, remained the top-selling automaker for the first six months selling 1,439,951 vehicles in the United States. Toyota and GM spokespeople declined to comment for this article. This is the eighth time in the past decade that Ford brand has taken the sales crown for the first half of the year, according to But given the circumstances and how it came to pass, this time makes it the most meaningful victory, Kaffl said. "Had we not beat Toyota, we'd still be high-fiving honestly," Kaffl said. "All of us were really proud of what we accomplished over the last 90 days. This campaign and what Ford represents isn't just a marketing campaign. It's every man and woman working tirelessly in our Michigan assembly plants and our Kentucky assembly plants. … This is the U.S. manufacturing that makes us so proud to be working for a company like Ford. To beat Toyota is the cherry on the sundae." Ford's American history: Bryan Cranston champions Ford's new philanthropy push at revived Detroit landmark 'A win is a win' The excitement at the Glass House, Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, flowed from the top down on July 2, as the company leaders digested the news. CEO Jim Farley told the Detroit Free Press in an email he was proud that the corporate team and dealer body rallied as one in a time of uncertainty for consumers. "Toyota is a tough competitor, but this is about much more than a sales race, it's about being the company Americans trust and turn to when it matters," Farley, who started his career in marketing at Toyota, said. "This was the result of a lot of teamwork, from our awesome factory teams delivering the production and launching new vehicles with quality, to our marketing team getting out the word about our 'From America, For America' employee pricing offer to the nearly 3,000 Ford dealers that serve every community across the country.' For Ford dealer Tim Hovik, owner of San Tan Ford in Gilbert, Arizona, about 15 miles east of Phoenix, beating Toyota is simply "exciting," he said. "There's a lot going on in our country right now," Hovik said. "There are few things more American than Ford. Ford has been a titan of our industrial strength for a century. I've talked to a number of dealers and it's a huge pride point for dealers to be the distribution center for Ford Motor Co. right now." But there are some who might say Ford's sales victory is not completely reflective of Americans answering Ford's call to patriotism. That's because the sales figures include commercial fleet sales. But others say, a sale is a sale and a win is a win. "These are fleet and retail combined and Ford does include heavy trucks," said Ivan Drury, director of insights at "But hey, a win is a win and you cut anything up enough and nothing matters or is anything really apples to apples?" Put another way by Ford dealer Brad Akins, owner of Akins Ford in Winder, Georgia, "A one-point win is the same as a touchdown win." The birth of 'From America, For America' On March 27, the auto industry needed a win. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump announced he was imposing a 25% tariff on all imported vehicles and imported automotive parts to take effect on April 3. Given that most vehicles made in the States use parts from suppliers abroad, the move almost guaranteed car prices — no matter where the vehicle was made — would rise to offset the added costs of tariffs. Ford was confident on one front: It has the largest manufacturing footprint in the United States of any automaker, importing just 21% of the vehicles it sells here. GM, on the other hand, imports 46% of the vehicles it sells in the United States. According to last year GM led imports bringing in about 750,000 vehicles for sale in the United States, mostly from Canada and Mexico. Japan-based Toyota was second with 657,000 vehicles imported. Still Farley had concerns about the tariff's impact. In a memo sent to the Ford workforce on March 27, which was obtained by the Detroit Free Press, Farley wrote, "While Ford supports the president's vision of building a stronger auto industry and manufacturing base in the United States, the situation is dynamic and the impacts of the tariffs are likely to be significant across our industry — affecting automakers, suppliers, dealers and customers." On top of that, Ford's U.S. sales in the first quarter came in 1.3% lower than the year-ago period. Ford reported a 5% decline in total revenue for the quarter. And, despite continued moves to improve quality in recent years, Ford continues to lead the industry in the number of safety recalls it has issued this year. So that night, Ford's leadership rethought its planned April sales campaign, seeking to guarantee a win. "We were talking about things like during 9/11, right, when Ford came out at the time with 0% financing and GM obviously did the same thing," Kaffl said. "That was a time when the U.S. industry could be there for the consumer. It was just collectively: How do we get that message out there that we are the largest U.S. manufacturer, the most American manufacturer out there?" The idea of "From America, For America" was born. In its TV spots, an announcer asked, "Which automaker employs the most hourly autoworkers in the country? Ford. Which automaker assembles the most vehicles in the country? Ford. That's not a coincidence. It's a commitment. And, now at this unprecedented moment in automotive history, who benefits from Ford's commitment to America for over 120 years? You." In case you missed it: Ford's April sales, led by pickups, surged 16% ahead of tariffs Working through the weekend With Farley signing off on it, the next 72-plus hours became a whirlwind. 'We went into full execution mode working through the weekend, Friday through Sunday, in the office to pull together the offers, playbooks for dealers, the marketing team getting behind it, making sure we were aligning the production that was getting released and have the inventory to back it up," Kaffl said. When it came to inventory, Ford was in a good place. At the end of March, Ford's gross day supply of inventory, which includes the inventory at dealerships as well as vehicles that are in-transit to a dealership, was a robust 74 days, Kaffl said. Days' supply is a measure of the number of days it would take at the current sales rate to deplete available inventory. The auto industry typically considers 60 days to be a healthy rate. The marketing team had to coordinate with Ford's manufacturing teams to ensure the flow of products made it out of factories to dealerships smoothly. Ford had a new Expedition and Lincoln Navigator coming, too, so it was crucial those launches rolled out amid this program, Kaffl said. Farley goes to Ford dealers for reaction By early the next week, Ford was ready to unveil the campaign to its dealers. "They presented it and we loved it," said Eddie Stivers, president of Stivers Automotive Group in Atlanta and chair of the Ford National Dealer Council. "This was the quickest mobilization of a marketing plan that I can remember. They pulled it together over a weekend. It was a quick hard shift and they executed it at a high level." Stivers, who owns five Ford stores across Arizona, Iowa, Alabama and Georgia, has been a Ford dealer for 31 years and said this was the best sales and marketing campaign he can remember because it removed the apprehension for consumers out of what was coming in terms of new car prices. "Consumers were concerned," Stivers said. "They didn't know what would happen with pricing. It provided transparency and provided clarity in an unclear time. And it resonated with consumers. Since 9/11, this is the most patriotic time I can remember. The feel of the country is pro-America and 'From America, For America' is resonating with the public." Sales across his stores rose 25% in the second quarter compared with the year-ago period, Stivers said. He expects sales to be up for the first half, too, across his Ford stores, on the second-quarter sales strength. At Akins Ford in Winder, Georgia, located about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, the campaign pumped up second-quarter sales by 11%, most of which were new customers turning in imports and other brands, to buy Ford SUVs and pickups, owner Brad Akins said. The campaign made Akins Ford the No. 1 selling Ford dealership in the nation, unseating Livonia, Michigan-based Bill Brown Ford by selling 153 more vehicles in the quarter than Bill Brown Ford did, Akins said and Ford confirmed. 'The biggest thing we heard from customers was that they didn't hear price increases," Akins said. "In our market, it really stifled out the message of an increase and brought about the better message of value.' As the campaign rolled out, Farley and the senior leadership team took to the road for the second annual "dealer engagement tour," Stivers said. Over six weeks, Farley visited with a third of Ford's 2,800 dealerships, spending half a day with various dealers in Ford's five regions in an 'intimate setting' asking them, 'what should we do next?' Stivers said. 'There was a lot of great input. Jim took copious notes and based on the television (advertising) that's already in rotation it was a collaborative process," Stivers said. The most recent ads Stivers is referring to were launched in mid-June. They are a series of provocations at other American auto manufacturers. Ford references the 2008 financial crisis to declare itself the most American among its local competitors — GM and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), without naming them specifically. In the ad, Ford employees working in factories say that if other car companies "were like us, they would have said no to the taxpayer bailout and added thousands of American jobs." During the financial crisis, GM and Chrysler both benefited from federal bailouts to keep their companies afloat. Ford declined a bailout. Instead, it borrowed $6 billion from the Department of Energy and had mortgaged many of its assets before the crisis, including its famous Blue Oval logo. As the Free Press previously reported, Ford said it is the only manufacturer among the Detroit Three to increase hourly jobs in America since the recession, adding 4,500 jobs, while GM has gone from 78,000 in 2007 to 47,000 today, and Stellantis has gone from 45,000 pre-recession jobs to 38,800 hourly workers today. GM and Stellantis did not comment on that report. Stivers attended the meeting with Farley in the Southeast region and said, 'it was a frank, intimate and private and positive conversation with leadership. They care enough to engage with their dealers. This was a conversation on how we become better in a manufacturer-dealer relationship and serve the customer better.' 'Tough to stop a freight train' For that reason, Stivers said he has no doubt Ford will have a strong third quarter, noting, "It's tough to stop a freight train flying down the track and that's what it feels like to be a Ford dealer." On July 8, Ford is expected to reveal a new campaign to replace its employee pricing in "From America, For America." Kaffl said it will keep Ford's sales momentum going in the second half. He wouldn't reveal details of the new campaign, only to say, "We're trying to answer maybe a different type of consumer need or pain point they have to buying vehicles. We're still finalizing plans.' Stivers said he has seen the new campaign and said it will be a "robust" program. But some analysts aren't optimistic. David Whiston of Morningstar said the employee pricing campaign juiced up demand for Ford. He said it also helped that Ford has some "desirable vehicles as well" to drive sales. "I don't expect the momentum to continue at the same pace after the promotion ends ... and I don't expect Ford to stay ahead of Toyota unless they continue discounting in some form," Whiston said. Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, agreed, saying: "This was a step in the right direction for Ford. Still heavy lifting ahead with headwinds." But Ford has new vehicle variants coming to spark buyer interest. The F-150 Lobo, a performance street truck, hits the market in the third quarter. Ford will also add the off-road trim level, Explorer Tremor, to that SUV lineup. 'The cars are the stars. I think our product lineup is set up for it," Kaffl said. "There's been ups and downs in the industry but there is still a really healthy retail industry that's out there. So with our stock position, the product lineup we have and the soon to be announced third quarter program … I think if this program resonates the way we think it will, the way employee pricing did, I think we'll have success in the third quarter.' Ford has already started increasing new vehicle production for the second half in anticipation for strong sales momentum, he said. Besides, Kaffl said, nothing makes him happier than to beat analysts' predictions. Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store