[1]The release of the 2014 Corvette Stingray [2] has been one of the biggest automotive marketing campaigns in quite some time – if not the most hyped car release of, well, ever. The GM marketing machine has been working quadruple-time to make sure that everyone knows the new Stingray is coming, and those of us in the performance-car world who care about such things have been sucking up the info like a Dyson vacuum cleaner sucks up dog hair – we simply can’t get enough.
Road & Track Magazine [3] got their hands on a Stingray and some of Tony Stewart’s time simultaneously, and decided that it would be a great idea to let ol’ Smoke make some smoke at the expense of the Stingray’s 19-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport run-flat tires. Of course, this car is most likely a pre-production press unit that has been used and abused by other magazines prior to Stewart arriving in the driver’s seat, but that doesn’t hurt the show one bit.
[4]Stewart absolutely annihilates the tires, bouncing the car off the rev limiter for what seems like forever, in his quest to put on a good show for the fans. Despite the massive Brembo calipers squashing on platter-sized 13-inch front brake rotors, the power of the car simply pushes it across the asphalt until the rear wheelspeed finally overcomes the push and allows the front tires to hold.
Stewart had the chance to do something many of us gearheads will never have the chance to do – pilot a C7 without the fear of breaking it, as this episode took place at GM’s Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan. The only question is, would you do the same if somebody else was paying for the tires?