When
the Corvette factory contracted Pratt & Miller Fabrication to build and
race their new C5-R racecars, the Corvette community celebrated. The last
time a factory Corvette raced was in 1957. Pratt & Miller brought a wealth
of racing experience that helped them form this new team, which debuted their
new Corvettes at Daytona in 1999. As the season progressed, their racing performance
improved at each race. Over the winter racing break, the team tested extensively
and expectations were high that the cars were now ready to beat the Dodge
Vipers.
At the 24 Hours of Daytona, Corvette almost did the unthinkable,
coming within 30 seconds of beating the Viper and winning the Daytona 24 Hours
overall! Instead, Corvette Racing had to settle with a second overall and
second in class, the best Corvette performance in decades.
