Corvette paces 101st Indy 500

The specific variant given the honour was a 2017-model Grand Sport coupe, which is powered by a 343kW LT1 V8, matched to an eight-speed auto transmission with paddle shifters, electronic LSD, asymmetric wheels (19-inch front, 20-inch rear) and magnetic ride control suspension, but fitted with specific stabiliser bars and springs for pace car duty.

Corvette options fitted to the pace car included the carbon fibre ground effects package and Z07 package, which consists of carbon ceramic-matrix brake rotors and high-performance tyres. Chevrolet says that Grand Sports equipped with the Z07 package can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds and run the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds.

“Chevrolet is proud to once again pace the Indianapolis 500,” said Steve Majoros, marketing director for Cars and Crossovers. “The Corvette Grand Sport’s performance capability and motorsports heritage make it the perfect choice to pace the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
For the record, a Corvette first paced the Indy 500 in 1978, 25 years after the model was introduced. Since then, Corvettes have paced the event in 1986, 1995, 1998, 2002, every year from 2004 to 2008, then 2012, 2013 and 2015. To date, no other model, from any manufacturer, has paced the Indy 500 as often as a Corvette.

Famous drivers of the pace car Corvette from those years include racing heroes Emmerson Fittipaldi, Jeff Gordon and Parnelli Jones, as well as the likes of Chuck Yeager, Morgan Freeman and, controversially in hindsight, Lance Armstrong.