The C7.R was officially unveiled at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The car completed its first testing appearance at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in camouflage ahead of its public reveal in January 2014. Development reflected the established pattern of the Corvette Racing program — the road car and race car were developed in close parallel, with the production C7 incorporating lessons from the C6.R program. The road car's design subsequently influenced the C7.R's exterior lines, particularly the aggressive aerodynamic treatment carried over from the Corvette Z06 and ZR1 variants.
The C7.R entered a twelve-car GTLM field across eleven races. A strong mid-season run produced four consecutive victories — at Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park — though no further wins followed. The #4 Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia accumulated sufficient points to finish second in team standings, while the Garcia-Magnussen pairing claimed the drivers championship with 125 points, narrowly ahead of BMW's Dirk Muller and Joey Hand. The third drivers' championship position went to Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the sister Corvette.
A reduced field of ten teams competed across ten events. Corvette Racing opened the North American Endurance Cup with victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. The C7.R scored its first Le Mans class win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, the #64 car of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Jordan Taylor taking GTE-Pro honours — Corvette Racing's eighth victory at the circuit overall. Achieving Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans victories in the same season represented endurance racing's unofficial triple crown. Neither Corvette improved on third place for the remainder of the domestic season, leaving the C7.R third in the final standings behind Porsche and BMW.
Updated aerodynamics, including a revised diffuser, were introduced to comply with revised Group GTE regulations. At the Rolex 24, a photo finish between the #3 and #4 Corvettes produced a class 1-2, the two cars separated by 0.034 seconds. The #4 car then added a 12 Hours of Sebring victory. Performance at Le Mans was less impressive — the Corvettes qualified last in GTE-Pro and finished seventh and tenth in class. Domestically, the #4 Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia swept the WeatherTech Championship GTLM title including the drivers, teams, and manufacturers awards and the North American Endurance Cup. Corvette Racing also recorded its 100th overall program victory at Lime Rock.
Four Ford GT entries raised the competitive stakes in a twelve-team GTLM field. The C7.R responded with victories at Sebring, COTA, Long Beach, and VIR. The #3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller won the drivers, teams, and manufacturers triple — a repeat of 2016's championship sweep.
Nine teams contested GTLM in the C7.R's penultimate season. Ford GT and Porsche each won multiple rounds; the #4 Corvette earned a single victory at Long Beach. Despite the lack of wins, the #3 car of Garcia and Magnussen accumulated eight podium finishes from eleven races, enough to edge the #67 Ford GT for the team championship by six points. The result represented a third consecutive manufacturers title — a "three-peat" built on consistency rather than outright pace.
The final IMSA season for the C7.R saw neither factory car reach the top step of the podium. The aging platform was being superseded by the C8.R in development. The #3 Corvette placed second three times and third three times across eleven races, tying the Porsche #911 for second in the final GTLM standings.
The C7.R's six seasons produced four consecutive WeatherTech Championship manufacturers titles (2016-2019 sweep, plus earlier domestic success), the endurance triple crown in 2015, and a further Le Mans class win as part of its GTE-Pro campaign. Its consistent points-scoring approach — exemplified by the Garcia-Magnussen pairing's multiple championship finishes built on reliability rather than raw speed — characterised the maturity of the Corvette Racing program. The C7.R was retired as the program transitioned to the C8.R for 2020, continuing an unbroken line of factory Corvette GT racing stretching back to 1999.