Yea, I've seen quite a few really nice (that is, fast) third gen track cars. The thing is they all seem to take pretty extensive modification in order to make decent power. One thing I found frustrating during my recent car search was how few of them seemed to be equipped with manual transmissions. Maybe you'd swap that out too, but the 6 speed gear box coupled to the LS1 seems a bit more capable.
Do you still have the third gen? You should run it in NASA's American Iron series or something