Look, it is an overwhelming rush of people hailing the GT500 as the be-all-end-all of pony cars. I loved the improvements they made on the '11 and '12 to make it a much more balanced, and potent, car. The power the GT500 puts out is astonishing. Nuff said.
BUT, I'm trying to point out that while the GT500 is no slouch, it doesn't handle like the ZL1. That's all. And for the gulf of power that the GT500 has over the Camaro, it is very impressive that the Camaro's handling can close that gap on a race course.
As for 99% of racing, I was at the SHO Convention. There was just as much road racing as there was drag strip. And if you're driving to a national meet, you're going to want to do it in the ZL1 more than the GT500 if it's more than a few hundred miles. And all those curvy roads in between will be more fun.
Even with these cars, racing is a small part of the owner experience. Unless you like to bench race. THAT's the 99% of the racing that's done with these cars...