• Chevy Blazer EV.R NASCAR prototype debuts at Daytona 500
• 2025 Blazer EV SS serves as first electric pace car for signature NASCAR event
• NASCAR remains tied to gas-guzzling V-8s

No major racing series revels in inefficient internal combustion quite as much as NASCAR, but this year its biggest race will kick off with the silence of an all-electric powertrain—and the debut of another glimpse of its fully electric future.

The 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS won’t be racing, but it will serve as the official pace car, leading the field of gas-guzzling V-8 race cars to green flag at this Sunday’s Daytona 500, the kickoff race for the 2025 NASCAR season and the most prestigious event on the calendar.

Pace cars are used to keep the field in formation ahead of the start of the race, as well as during caution periods when cars circulate at slower speeds due to on-track hazards. A 2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle previously handled these duties at a 2015 NASCAR race, but this will be the first time a battery-electric vehicle has served as pace car at Daytona.

Due to reach dealerships later this quarter with a $61,995 base price, the Blazer EV SS is the sportiest version of the Blazer EV, boasting 615 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque from an uprated version of the dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain. Chevy says it will do 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, while Brembo front brakes and stiffer suspension tuning aim to deliver a livelier experience in corners.

Ahead of this weekend’s race, Chevy on Thursday revealed an electric NASCAR prototype, dubbed Blazer EV.R, that will make its formal debut at the event. The three-motor model has produces more than 1,300 hp combined and has a 78-kwh battery pack. The EV.R was built with chassis components lifted from NASCAR’s Next Gen chassis, and Chevy says that it’s already completed consistent laps with the EV.R at race speed—although of course it’ll be there for show only.

Chevrolet Blazer EV.R NASCAR prototype

Chevrolet Blazer EV.R NASCAR prototype

Chevrolet Blazer EV.R NASCAR prototype

This follows Ford’s unveiling of a NASCAR prototype branded as a Mustang Mach-E earlier this month. Ford’s prototype seemed to take cues more directly from the generic electric SUV NASCAR first showed in 2024. Organizers still haven’t committed to an electric racing series, but first Ford and now Chevy showing EV prototypes indicates the idea hasn’t gone away.

That leaves Toyota as the only automaker currently participating in NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series to not show an electric SUV prototype. Could a NASCAR bZ4X also be waiting in the wings?