Chevrolet races the Impala SS nameplate in NASCAR’s two top series, Sprint Cup in Car of Tomorrow identity (Class A in the iRacing service) and the Triple-A stock car Nationwide series (iRacing Class B) in more traditional technical specification, essentially identical to the pre-Car of Tomorrow Sprint Cup cars.

As raced in the Nationwide Series, the Impala SS has a lower greenhouse and sits closer to the ground. It lacks the COT front splitter and has the traditional rear spoiler instead of the COT wing and Gurney flap.

Many NASCAR Cup drivers who also compete in the Nationwide Series find the latter-spec cars to be a bit easier to set up and to drive, which makes it a good intermediate stepping stone between the Camping World Truck Series and the Sprint Cup, particularly when it comes to mastering the art of racing in high-speed packs on 1.5-mile and longer ovals.

The Nationwide Series traces its roots back to NASCAR’s earliest days and the Sportsman division, first listed in the NASCAR rule book in 1950. Over the years the series has gone through a variety of names – Late Model Sportsman, Busch Grand National, Busch and now Nationwide – and the technical specifications have varied so that the cars were at times very different from NASCAR’s top series and at others (until the advent of the COT, for instance) virtually identical. NASCAR plans eventually to implement a new set of tech specs for the Nationwide Series, but for the time being the Class B Impala SS represents a chance to experience the pre-COT Sprint Cup car.