Photo: Chevrolet

Those of us who follow NASCAR continually complain about how the sport hasn’t been the same since the early ’70s; when the cars driven around the track were much like the examples sitting in the showroom. But between the fuel crisis killing off muscle cars in the mid-seventies, and NASCAR regulations constantly changing for safety reasons, the sport just isn’t as cool as it once was.

A few years back, Ford and Dodge both entered the NASCAR Nationwide Series with new bodies for 2010. They weren’t the typical Fusion and Charger models that we’ve become used to in the Sprint Cup Series, but NASCAR suggested they use the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger “muscle cars”.

NASCAR fans expected GM to follow suit with a Nationwide Series Camaro, but it never happened. Until now. Just this morning we’ve gotten word through Jalopnik that Chevrolet has pulled the cover off of the 2013 Camaro SS stock car, and it’s about time. The car looks sick in in its blue with white stripe treatment, and a hell of a lot more intimidating than the current Impala version.

However, since it has no mechanical similarities with the street version of the Camaro that you can buy at your local Chevy dealer, there’s not going to be anything interchangeable from your production SS to this NASCAR version. So as much as you would like to now think you have a stock car for the street, you don’t.

So NASCAR fanboys, there’s still no point in applying stock car number decals on your Camaro. It just isn’t necessary.