Corvette to pace 2019 Indy 500

A 2019 Corvette Grand Sport will lead the 33 Indy starters to the green flag for the 103rd running of the Great American Race this coming 26 May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Chevrolet is honoured to lead the way for the 500 once again,” said Steve Majoros, director of Chevrolet passenger car and crossover marketing. “The Grand Sport is a particularly excellent choice as its wide body and aerodynamic features are steeped in racing heritage.”

The Grand Sport’s standard drivetrain of an LT1 6.2-litre V8 engine and 8-speed paddle-shift auto is unaltered for pace car duty – a package that puts out 343kW and 630Nm, with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of under 4.0 seconds and cornering capability of 1.2g.

Other features on the MY19 Grand Sport include a dry-sump oil system, 19-inch front/20-inch rear aluminium wheels, Magnetic Ride Control suspension and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes.

The Pace Car is finished in Long Beach Red Metallic Tintcoat paint and unique GM Design Indy 500 decals, with a ‘Carbon Flash’ painted ground effects package, competition sports bucket seats and a performance data recorder.

The choice of a Corvette to pace the annual Memorial Day race – again – is hardly surprising, as General Motors has had the rights to pace car duty since 1997, with Chevrolet being the exclusive pace car supplier since 2002.

Including this year, Corvettes have paced the Indy 500 sixteen times in total, including five straight from 2004 to 2008, and the 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 events.

In the lead up to this year’s race, Chevrolet are also supplying 33 Corvette Stingrays as “official cars” for dignitaries and for use in the IPL 500 Festival Parade in the lead up to the race. Normally, different Chevrolet models have been used for the parade and pace car duties, so this year marks the first time since 2007 that a Corvette has filled both roles.

While past Corvette pace car drivers have included Jeff Gordon, Emmerson Fittipaldi, Parnelli Jones, celebrity chef Guy Fieri and, controversially, Lance Armstrong, the driver of the 2019 Corvette Grand Sport pace car had not been confirmed as this issue went to press.