Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson will have a new look in 2013.

On Thursday in Las Vegas, Chevrolet unveiled its newest offering for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. And it's sharp.

The manufacturer has elected to drop the Impala as its Sprint Cup car, and instead will use the new Chevrolet SS that will closely resemble the showroom model.

"Having cars that look more like the production models is long overdue, and definitely a proud moment for Chevrolet and all of our teams in NASCAR," Stewart told Autoweek in Las Vegas on Thursday. "It's going to be a big boost for our series next year. As technology and competition grew, I think teams got away from the core of what it was all about, and it was about individual manufacturers building cars that competed on Sunday with the idea that it would sell more cars on Monday. I think this is a step back in the right direction."

Powered by a small block V-8 engine, the rear-wheel drive performance sedan is Chevy's latest entry in the Sprint Cup Series. It will officially debut on track during the 2013 SpeedWeeks in Daytona, Fla.

The new race car looks a lot like the all-new SS performance model, which will debut early next year.

“As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS NASCAR race car is a genuinely exciting moment for me,” GM North America President Mark Reuss said. “With the SS, Chevrolet is delivering a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR race car that is very closely linked to the performance sedan that will be available for sale, ensuring that our most loyal enthusiasts will have the opportunity to experience the same thrill every day on the open road that our race car drivers enjoy on the track on race day."

The Chevrolet SS is the next in a long line of famed nameplates that Chevrolet has campaigned in NASCAR. It replaces Impala, which scored 152 wins from 1959-64 and 2007-12.

“We are looking forward to another exciting year of NASCAR competition and expect that the new SS race car, with some of the most skilled drivers on the circuit behind the wheel, will distinguish itself on the track,” said Jim Campbell, GM's U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.

The Chevrolet SS will be a derivative of the award-winning global rear-wheel-drive architecture that spawns performance vehicles like Chevrolet Camaro and Holden's upcoming VF Commodore. The limited-production version of the Chevrolet SS will be a 2014 model and will arrive in dealer showrooms in late 2013. It is the first time in 17 years that Chevrolet will offer a rear-wheel-drive sedan for sale in the United States.

Chevrolet has long used the SS (Super Sport) designation on high-performance models of some of its most enduring nameplates. The SS designation first appeared in 1957 on a Corvette prototype race car built under the guidance of Zora Arkus-Duntov with the plan to enter it in the Le Mans 24-hour race.

The first production vehicle to be offered with an SS optional package was the 1961 Impala–453 were built with the performance upgrades, which included a modified chassis and suspension, power brakes, a steering column-mounted tachometer and unique wheels and tires. The SS designation returned to the Chevrolet lineup in 2010 with the debut of the fifth-generation Camaro.

Chevrolet has 702 victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, more than any other manufacturer. Fonty Flock earned the manufacturer's first win on March 26, 1955, at Columbia, S.C. Five-time series champion Jimmie Johnson achieved Chevrolet's 700th victory earlier this month at Texas Motor Speedway.

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