GTP Cool Wall: 1997 Hendrick Motorsports "Chevrolet Monte Carlo" #24 Jeff Gordon "T-Rex"

  • Thread starter Thread starter White & Nerdy
  • 51 comments
  • 6,333 views

1997 Hendrick Motorsports "Chevrolet Monte Carlo" #24 Jeff Gordon "T-Rex"

  • Total voters
    110
  • Poll closed .
Azure Flare
That article is usefull at being absolutely useless at saying anything about the car.

It had a custom suspension setup, aerodynamically shaped floor pan, and totally redesigned chassis. The car was later seized by NASCAR for use as an educational tool.
Click to expand...
Most of what you just said is in the article....
It had a custom suspension setup
Click to expand...
Trained eyes in the Cup garage quickly fell on the car when it was rolled out at the Concord track. Some things were readily apparent."The valence was pretty high up off the ground," Stump said. "You'd walk down and see all the (other cars') valances 3 1/2 or four inches off the ground and this one was 5 1/2 or six inches. These guys in the garage are professionals and they would have noticed."

Despite sitting higher off the ground, when the car went through turns the opposite happened. "It was built to `land' in the middle of the corner to get all of the possible aero benefits, getting it as far down in front as possible and keeping the rear end up," Stump said.
Click to expand...

aerodynamically shaped floor pan
Click to expand...
"I got back there and saw that car, looked underneath it and everything," Hendrick said. "I said, `There's no way you're going to get to run this car.' "All the Hendrick crew chiefs got regular updates on Stump's team. Evernham, long a champion for the R&D effort, showed keen interest.
Click to expand...
So much attention was being paid to it. When we'd pull the wheels off of it people were looking up under it. I had a feeling, and when the race was over I kind of knew there would be some moaning."

Moaning was an understatement.
Click to expand...

and totally redesigned chassis.
Click to expand...
Stump is still reticent to talk in great detail about the car. "I don't want to give away the whole farm," he said. In general terms, it began with bigger frame rails that made the chassis more resistant to twisting forces as it went around the track.Close attention was paid to how much parts weighed. The distribution of weight and how that impacted the car's characteristics also went through intense scrutiny.
Click to expand...
The car was later seized by NASCAR for use as an educational tool
Click to expand...
And this isn't even correct on your end. It states they came and inspected at Hendricks' shop & then introduced a half-dozen rules afterwards. It was never seized, else this below wouldn't have happened.

It was said that the car was turned into a show car and never raced again. The truth is the chassis was used in the 1997 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon finished fourth.

T-Rex, or what's left of it, is on display at the Hendrick Motorsports museum in Harrisburg.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should actually read through entire thing before criticizing it 1/4th way into it.
 
Last edited:
One of those rare things, a NASCAR that I actually give a **** about.
So it's just uncool for that.
 
*shrugs* It's a race car, it's a NASCAR car on top of that AND it's a Monte Carlo?

The road car would be seriously uncool.. can we get a lower option for this?

In saying that, I won't bother voting - as ever I think including race cars on this wall is ridiculous =/
 
UrieHusky
*shrugs* It's a race car, it's a NASCAR car on top of that AND it's a Monte Carlo?

The road car would be seriously uncool.. can we get a lower option for this?

In saying that, I won't bother voting - as ever I think including race cars on this wall is ridiculous =/
Click to expand...

By the way this car has as much in common with a Monte Carlo of that era as DTM Merc has with it's "supposed" road going counterpart. In other words...nothing it's not a monte carlo at all just a sticker to play pretend.
 
OriginalCheezIt
An ultra-dominant car driven by an ultra-dominant driver for and ultra-dominant team. If this hadn't been banned, there's no telling what NASCAR would have become. Surely something more exciting than what we have now.

Subzero.
Click to expand...
It's still the same thing, only the cars changed. You americans mostly watch these cars going the same left rurn, but I guess it's alright since those cars have probably 1,000HP or something, going 230MPH on insane oval tracks. Used to like NASCAR. But it's boring for me now.

Except for tracks that have more variety. Watskins Glen or whatever that track is spelt. That's something. But if all the tracks has some mroe variety such as smal fast zig-zags and right turns otehr than the left-turn thing which many mock about it, then I could care more about it. That is, still with turns that the cars will still go fast.
 
LivingWithGames
It's still the same thing, only the cars changed. You americans mostly watch these cars going the same left rurn, but I guess it's alright since those cars have probably 1,000HP or something, going 230MPH on insane oval tracks. Used to like NASCAR. But it's boring for me now.

Except for tracks that have more variety. Watkins Glen or whatever that track is spelt. That's something. But if all the tracks has some mroe variety such as smal fast zig-zags and right turns otehr than the left-turn thing which many mock about it, then I could care more about it. That is, still with turns that the cars will still go fast.
Click to expand...

Today's NASCAR Sprint Cup cars have close to 900 HP, and while they might could hit speeds close to that on Daytona or Talladega, with the restrictor plates that take them down to about 500 HP (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.), they can only touch 205 MPH.

That, is coming from someone who lives in Tennessee and doesn't give a rats-ass about NASCAR.

Oh, and I corrected the track name for you. Hopefully, you won't make that mistake next time. ;)
 
LivingWithGames
It's still the same thing, only the cars changed. You americans mostly watch these cars going the same left rurn, but I guess it's alright since those cars have probably 1,000HP or something, going 230MPH on insane oval tracks. Used to like NASCAR. But it's boring for me now.

Except for tracks that have more variety. Watskins Glen or whatever that track is spelt. That's something. But if all the tracks has some mroe variety such as smal fast zig-zags and right turns otehr than the left-turn thing which many mock about it, then I could care more about it. That is, still with turns that the cars will still go fast.
Click to expand...

Many mock it cause they're ignorant to it. Also the fastest they've gone is mostly during test doing about 215-218mph, Indy cars are closer to 230 around ovals.
 
Serious Uncool, not just because it's a race car, but 90's NASCAR wasn't very exciting and I don't really think Jeff Gordon is cool.
 
Capt Air
Whats wrong with Nineties Nascar?

Sub zero from me though. Huge Gordon fan and was brought up with Nascar around the house.
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with 90's NASCAR, it's just uncool. This is the Cool Wall where we vote on how cool something is. You seem to have voted based on how much you like the car. We don't have a like wall, but we do have a cool wall. This is it.

Nineties NASCAR is uncool (what we're talking about in this thread) because...

A) It's a race car and automatically has no place on the cool wall.

B) Has a reputation for being adored by rednecks and for turning left a whole bunch.

C) Because NASCAR in the 90's was the source of shirts like this...

$_1.JPG


and this...

il_340x270.587298001_8fk9.jpg


and this gem...

$T2eC16F,!ykE9s7tw!lgBRtfFcT6ZQ~~60_1.JPG
 
Joey D
Serious Uncool, not just because it's a race car, but 90's NASCAR wasn't very exciting and I don't really think Jeff Gordon is cool.
Click to expand...

While I agree with the Gordon sentiment 90s nascar was actually quite good, and sadly very dangerous. Also it was the era of close battles between several teams rather than 2 or 3 like now. Didn't have the Chase (ratings grabbing, championship altering BS) like we do now and as the past few seasons have shown we can do without and still have a close ending.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
While I agree with the Gordon sentiment 90s nascar was actually quite good, and sadly very dangerous. Also it was the era of close battles between several teams rather than 2 or 3 like now. Didn't have the Chase (ratings grabbing, championship altering BS) like we do now and as the past few seasons have shown we can do without and still have a close ending.
Click to expand...
I don't like the first part (My avatar should say my sentiment on Gordon for those who don't know me), but the second part is spot on 👍
 
Nascar died after 2004 for me. I like everything up to that point.
 
Fascinating look at how poorly written the NASCAR rulebooks were in the 90's, but nothing more than that. Basically, a throwaway one-time unfair advantage..
 

Latest Posts

Back