The Corvette C5-R was part of a plan by General Motors and their Chevrolet brand to create a factory team to participate in grand touring races not only in North America, but also elsewhere in the world, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The hood design was changed during the 1999 season to replace the small slat vents with a large open gap allowing air to exit more freely from the front grill.

The Corvette C5-R of Canadian Ron Fellows and Americans Chris Kneifel and John Paul Jr. managed to finish the endurance event in 18th overall, 34 laps behind the class-winning Porsche.

After failures at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Riley & Scott ran a few more rounds of the American Le Mans Series to finish off the year.

The Corvette of Fellows and Kneifel, now joined by Brit Justin Bell, greatly improved on their previous result by finishing in second place overall, a minute behind a factory Viper and easily outperforming various prototypes.

Feeling that the C5-R was a capable winner anywhere, Pratt Miller ran their first full season of the ALMS and earned six class victories, including their second at the Petit Le Mans.

Corvette Racing did not return to the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2002 due to rule changes in that event's championship, but they did continue their run in the American Le Mans Series.

Prodrive did not return to the American Le Mans Series for 2004, allowing Corvette to sweep the entire season and earn their fourth straight championship.

Although Prodrive did compete at Le Mans, Corvette Racing was able to avenge their loss and add their third class victory at the event.

The British Atomic Kitten Racing squad initially planned to purchase two brand new cars in 2001, but were unable to come to a deal.

The team also entered the Spa 24 Hours later that year as part of the FIA GT Championship, and managed to finish in 18th place overall.

The team's second C5-R would run in the FIA GT Championship's Citation Cup for amateur drivers, winning three races for that category, as well as finishing tenth overall at the Spa 24 Hours.

Plans were made to use the car in the 2005 American Le Mans Series season for his Pacific Coast Motorsports squad.

For the Corvette C5-R's first full entry in the FIA GT Championship, the Belgian-Dutch GLPK-Carsport team purchased another former factory chassis.

The team earned two victories in their debut season, at Imola and Zhuhai, as well as a fourth-place finish at the Spa 24 Hours, although this result was later taken away due to disqualification.

In 2007, the Dutch Carsport Holland half of the team separated, leaving PK-Carsport to continue on their own with the C5-R, choosing to return to FIA GT.

The team also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing third in class behind a factory Corvette C6.R and Aston Martin DBR9.

2007 brought a new C6.R to the team, and both cars were campaigned in the Le Mans Series, but added the FFSA GT Championship to their season.