The Corvette C7.R was officially unveiled at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The car had already conducted testing in camouflage livery at the Rolex Motorsports Union event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca before its details and livery were revealed on 13 January 2014. In 2016, updated aerodynamics including a new diffuser were fitted to comply with revised Group GTE regulations introduced that season.
In its debut season the C7.R competed in a field of twelve cars across eleven races. The car won four consecutive races mid-season — Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The number 4 Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia accumulated sufficient points to finish second in total team points for the season. By season's end, Magnussen and Garcia placed first in the Driver Championship with 125 points, ahead of the BMW pairing of Dirk Müller and Joey Hand, with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner third in the other Corvette.
The 2015 season opened with two victories in the North American Endurance Cup: a class win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and another at the 12 Hours of Sebring, both driven by Jan Magnussen, Ryan Briscoe, and Antonio Garcia. Neither Corvette bettered third place for the remainder of the season, with the team finishing behind the Porsche 911 RSR and BMW Z4 GTE in the championship.
The standout result of 2015 came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the number 64 Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Jordan Taylor won the GTE-Pro class. It was Corvette Racing's eighth class victory at Le Mans. The result also completed an unprecedented triple: Corvette Racing won the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same calendar year, endurance racing's unofficial triple crown.
For 2016, the C7.R received its aerodynamic update and opened the year with a GTLM class win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the two factory cars finishing just 0.034 seconds apart. The number 4 car of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler won the 12 Hours of Sebring in the GTLM class. The team performed poorly at Le Mans, qualifying last in GTE-Pro and finishing seventh and tenth in class. Nonetheless, the number 4 Corvette went on to win the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class, sweeping the drivers', team, and manufacturers' titles along with the North American Endurance Cup. Corvette Racing also marked its 100th overall team victory with a first-place finish at Lime Rock.
Twelve teams competed in the GTLM class in 2017, including four Ford GT entries. The C7.R won at Sebring, COTA, Long Beach, and Virginia International Raceway. The number 3 Corvette driven by Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller won the drivers', team, and manufacturers' championship — a repeat sweep of all titles for Corvette Racing. The number 4 car of Gavin, Milner, and Fässler took second in all three standings.
The GTLM field reduced to nine teams for 2018. Of eleven races, the championship was split broadly between Ford, Porsche, BMW, and Corvette, with the number 4 Corvette earning the team's only first-place finish of the year at Long Beach. The number 3 Corvette, despite not winning a race, accumulated enough points to edge the number 67 Ford GT for the team championship by six points — a third consecutive manufacturers' crown. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen secured eight podium finishes from eleven races, a consistency that had become a hallmark of Corvette Racing's GTLM campaign.
The 2019 season was the final year of IMSA competition for the C7.R, with the platform approaching the end of its competitive life. Neither factory Corvette achieved a first-place finish across the eleven-race season. The number 3 car finished second three times and third three times, earning enough points to tie the Porsche 911 RSR for second place in the GTLM standings.
The Corvette C7.R competed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2016. It was retired following the 2019 IMSA season and replaced by the Corvette C8.R, which used the mid-engine C8 generation as its base. The C7.R's six-season campaign produced four consecutive manufacturers' championships from 2016 to 2018, a Le Mans class victory in 2015, and the triple crown result that same year — widely considered the high point of the programme. The car was replaced by the mid-engine C8.R from 2020.