Michael Accardi 
When ignition switches are flipped during Speedweek at Daytona International Speedway in February of next year, here will be a new Silverado in town. Chevrolet officially unveiled the new 2022 Silverado RST NASCAR Truck Series pickup ahead of Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway down in Virginia.
2022 Chevrolet Silverado RST Is Going Racing In NASCAR
The redesigned 2022 Chevrolet Silverado RST NASCAR Truck Series racer will show up in Daytona next year with a front end that apes the updated bumper and grille featured on every trim level of the newly updated production Silverado for the 2022 model year.
“We’ve been racing the Silverado model exclusively in the NASCAR Truck Series since its inception in 1995,” said Dayne Pierantoni, Chevrolet Motorsports program manager. “We’ve worked hard to enhance the features of the current race truck to continue to closely align with the production vehicle.”
Statements like that are always funny considering there’s obviously nothing remotely similar between the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado RST that rolls of the assembly line, and the 2022 NASCAR Silverado RST that’s mostly handbuilt in race shops littering the North Carolina countryside.
While the production truck uses Chevrolet’s fantastic 6.2-liter naturally aspirated L87 hooked to GM’s 10L80 transmission, the package is good for 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque which can be had through just the rear wheels, or all four if necessary. The NASCAR Silverado RST uses a 6.5-liter Illmor NT1 engine, which is derived from Chevy LS architecture, runs Holley Dominator EFI, and is paired with a 4-speed manual gearbox. Horsepower is officially listed as ‘lots’.
There’s no 13.4-inch diagonal touchscreen and configurable digital cluster in the race truck. In fact, the 2022 NASCAR Silverado RST will still run old-school analog gauges, with the truck series not yet required to use the more modern digital dash like the Cup cars.
The Silverado is actually the most successful nameplate in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history. Since the series began in ’95, Chevrolet has amassed 256 victories, 10 Manufacturers Championships, and a series-topping 14 Drivers Championships.
