This was a Chevrolet lover’s dream drag race: A 1965 L79-powered Corvette facing off against a 1970 LT1-equipped Camaro Z28. If you watch closely, you can see the Camaro leave just a heartbeat ahead of the Vette. In the first 100 feet or so, he holds a slight advantage over the Vette, which isn’t hard to understand, given he’s got ten more horses under the hood. After that, the Vette’s weight advantage became evident. Either way, Chevy wins.

At the end, it’s all Vette racing through the traps. The Corvette wins with the respectable time of 13.321 seconds at 103.01 mph. The Camaro tripped the lights just slightly slower, with an elapsed time of 13.529 seconds and a top speed of 101.33 mph. To say this was close is an extreme understatement. It’s doubtful whether the human eye alone could have said who won.

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Specs. 1965 Corvette L79 vs 1970 Camaro Z28.

The L79-powered Vette is one of only 4,716 built in that year. The 327 cubic-inch small-block Chevy puts out 350 horses. The Camaro, as stated, is a 1979 Z28, one of 8,733 built, and has an LT1 350 cubic-inch V8 under the hood that puts out 360 horses.

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Burnouts!

It would definitely be awesome to see these two cars pitted against each other on a road course, where the Vette’s weight advantage wouldn’t be quite as advantageous. It’s fun to imagine whether its aero-profile would also prove to be an advantage or a hindrance somewhere like Road America or Sears Point.

The Mid-Michigan Motorplex holds numerous sponsored and unsponsored events throughout the year. It’s a world-class motorsports complex that caters to gearheads of all flavors. Upcoming events include the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags, held  the weekend of September 18 and 19. The weekend of the 26th and 27th the track plays host to the Street Tire Shootout Reunion.

See you at the track!