I ended up chalking it up to the inherent "normal" valve train noise on these cars. That & the fuel injectors being loud. Listened carefully, read some, and had Doug from ECS lend an ear. all said normal....
Likely normal for you as well...Won't hurt to check the rocker arms though if you can, especially if your car is an 07.

Did you ever figure out what the ticking noise coming from the bottom end of your Z was? Mine is making a pronounced ticking from 1500-2500 sounds like on the drivers side coming from bottom of engine. LIke from the cam. I'll be pulling the valve covers off to see if I still have all my rocker bearings but just wanted to see if you had an update.

What day is that rental at MIR in two weeks?

Your most likely right.. But I have done this several times on the Z06. the problem I have is my other Vette has the centerforce unit and I can slide step the clutch at 7000 and it hooks ! can get confussing I suppose! Thanks..