General Motors chose to demonstrate the performance credentials of its new fifth-generation Corvette through factory-supported racing, departing from the "in-name-only" Corvette GTP approach of the 1980s. Michigan-based Pratt Miller was selected to build and develop the cars, with Riley and Scott assisting for an initial season.
Regulations required elements drawn from production Corvettes, so Pratt Miller used heavily modified road car mules to develop the powertrain. The finished race chassis shared only basic structural elements with the road car. A firewall behind the driver's seat eliminated rear visibility; large rear diffuser and wing, front splitter, and hood vents distinguished the car aerodynamically. Pop-up headlights gave way to fixed, protruding units.
The C5-R initially ran a 366 cubic inch (6.0-litre) V8 derived from the production LS1. This was replaced mid-1999 season with a 427 cubic inch (7.0-litre) unit built by Katech Engine Development, which remained the standard powerplant for the car's entire career.
Eleven C5-R chassis were constructed between 1998 and 2004; ten were used by Corvette Racing directly, one built for privateer sale, and a twelfth frame served as a test mule for the successor C6.R.
The C5-R's debut at the 1999 24 Hours of Daytona produced an 18th-place overall finish, 34 laps behind the class-winning Porsche. Results at Sebring also disappointed, but by the following year Pratt Miller had assumed sole control of the program. At the 2000 Daytona, the #3 Corvette of Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel, and Justin Bell finished second overall, ahead of numerous prototypes. The team earned its first class victories at Texas and the Petit Le Mans later that season.
The 2001 campaign brought a breakthrough: the C5-Rs outlasted the prototype field at Daytona to claim the overall win, with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also driving one of the entries. Corvette Racing ran their first full ALMS season, collecting six class victories including a second Petit Le Mans win. At Le Mans, the C5-R claimed its first class victory, finishing eighth overall.
Dominance deepened in 2002. Corvette won nine of ten ALMS events — their only loss coming to the Prodrive Ferrari — and secured a second consecutive Le Mans class win. The 2003 season brought a serious challenge from Prodrive's Ferrari 550 GTS, which won the last four ALMS rounds including Petit Le Mans, yet Corvette Racing held on for a third championship by four points. Ferrari also ended Corvette's Le Mans streak in 2003, the year the event coincided with the Corvette's 50th anniversary.
With Prodrive absent from the 2004 ALMS, Corvette swept the entire season for a fourth straight championship and avenged the previous year's Le Mans defeat. In total, the factory C5-Rs claimed 31 ALMS class victories, three Le Mans class wins, and one outright Daytona victory.
The first C5-R customer was Belgian Patrick Selleslagh, whose Selleslagh Racing Team (SRT) entered the Belcar championship from 2003. After building form over two seasons, SRT dominated the 2005 Belcar series with five wins including the 24 Hours of Zolder, taking the overall championship. The team subsequently competed in the French FFSA GT Championship and FIA GT Championship.
American Tom Figge purchased a former factory chassis for the 2005 ALMS season under the Pacific Coast Motorsports banner, though the team struggled against other privateers and withdrew mid-season. The Belgian-Dutch GLPK-Carsport outfit ran a C5-R in the 2005 FIA GT Championship with notable results, winning at Imola and Zhuhai. French endurance racer and Olympic skiing champion Luc Alphand purchased an ex-factory chassis for the 2006 Le Mans Series, earning a class podium at Le Mans itself behind a factory C6.R and an Aston Martin DBR9.
The C5-R established Corvette Racing as a top-tier factory GT program and validated the fifth-generation Corvette's performance credentials against established European rivals including Dodge Viper, Porsche, and Ferrari. Its record of four straight ALMS GT class championships from 2001 through 2004 remained an enduring benchmark. The program's success provided the technical foundation and team structure that allowed the successor C6.R to maintain Corvette Racing's competitive position without a major rebuilding period.