Doug Fehan Returning to New Role With Corvette Racing

Steven Cole Smith
·3 min read
Photo credit: Icon Sportswire - Getty Images
Photo credit: Icon Sportswire - Getty Images

  • Doug Fehan led Corvette Racing to 14 team championships, 13 manufacturers and drivers championships and 113 race wins in more than two decades as the team's program director.

  • Fehan was let go by General Motors and replaced by Laura Klauser as Corvette Racing boss in December.

  • The former program director will return in a new role as a brand ambassador beginning with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear in June.

After being relieved of his duties the week before Christmas as the program manager for Corvette Racing for all its 25 years—a move that surprised the sports car racing world—Doug Fehan is back in the Corvette fold.

He will serve in the role as a brand ambassador for 2021, starting with the team’s appearance at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. Fehan will debut in his new role as part of Chevrolet’s activities on Belle Isle during the June 11-14 joint weekend for the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and then at multiple races thereafter.

Photo credit: Rick Dole - Getty Images
Photo credit: Rick Dole - Getty Images

At Belle Isle and additional Corvette Racing events, Fehan will interact with Corvette customers and Corvette Racing fans at various Chevrolet promotions such as the Corvette Corral and Chevy Racing’s marketing display. Corvette owners invariably pack the Corral with their cars in support of Chevrolet’s two-car IMSA WeatherTech GT Le Mans class, and Fehan had long been an integral part of the activities.

“This is a welcomed opportunity to help continue taking the Corvette brand forward,” Fehan said. “We have a lot of exciting challenges ahead, but the competition engineering team is well-equipped to continue taking the legacy of Corvette Racing into the future. That’s evidenced by the win at the Rolex 24. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing all our fans during the 2021 IMSA season.”

Fehan was named program manager of Corvette Racing in 1996 with the team debuting with the Corvette C5-R in 1999. In 22 seasons with Fehan, Corvette Racing won 14 Team championships, and 13 Manufacturers and Drivers titles to go along with 113 race victories including eight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It also is the only team to achieve 100 wins in IMSA. In 238 races, the two Corvette Racing teams finished first and second 63 times.

Fehan worked with the team to develop and race three additional generations of racing Corvettes: the C6.R, C7.R and the mid-engine C8.R, which made its competition debut in 2020 and swept the IMSA GT Le Mans championships. Each race car served as development platforms for technology transfer to Corvette production cars, culminating with the C8.R and the 2020 Corvette Stingray.

Corvette Racing will head to Belle Isle with the lead in the GTLM standings, thanks in large part to a 1-2 class finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The WeatherTech Championship race weekend on Detroit’s Belle Isle Park was initially set for June 5-6 in order to avoid a conflict with the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following week.

But with Le Mans postponed until August, it opened the door to shift the WeatherTech Championship race and merge the two event weekends. IMSA’s top-tier series started racing on Belle Isle in 2007, with the only breaks in action coming in 2009-11 and again last year due the coronavirus pandemic.

The shift means that the GT Le Mans cars will race in the event in a non-points capacity, so the two Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs will be able to compete in their home race, with General Motors headquarters at the Renaissance Center in plain view a couple miles away. It will mark the first time since 2008 that the IMSA Corvettes will race on their home track.