On the weekend of March 14 Minnesota-based Team Braunschweig traveled south to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to participate in the World Racing League’s season opener. This event is marked as seeing the very first Corvette participate in a competitive race at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park.

According to Matt Peterson “That was kind of the reason we did it. We were kind of on the fence about coming, but we saw that a Corvette had never been raced here, so we’re like ‘we’ve got to do it.’ ”

While racing at the event, Team Braunschweig garnered a best time of 1:50.481, and posted a best speed of 65.17 mph but only mustered a runner-up finish. Photo Credit: Miranda Pederson/bgdailynews.com

Their C5 was the only Corvette in a field of 22 teams racing in the GP1 class. The World Racing League decided to have its first event of the season at Bowling Green, due to the location.  League president Joey Todd said, “The location is really good, because the southeast is a good market. It bridges the gap between the Southern states and the Northern states.”

Although the Motorsports Park is a 3.1-mile long track, competitors were a little disappointed that they were only racing on two miles of it. Though the trip from Minnesota was a long one, and this was Peterson’s first time at the Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park, he loved the facility, and said he’ll definitely be back next year.

This may have been the team’s first appearance at the CMMP track, but it was actually the team’s fourth WRL race. It came after they made a third-place finish at Texas World Speedway in December.

In a comment about what Peterson thought of the World Racing League events, “The biggest thing about these events is the people. The people are fantastic.”

The track at the Corvette Museum Motorsports Park is a total of three miles. The World Racing League event only used two miles of the track, but those two miles allow racers to experience what is called the Mulsanne Straight, that leads into the Mulsanne Kink and Corner.