2023 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car to be Unveiled May 9th

The 2022 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car. (Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment)

One of the many traditions that take place during the Month of May leading up to the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 is the unveiling of the official pace car for the race.

There is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 at 2 P.M. ET at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to unveil the Official 2023 Indianapolis 500 pace car.

In attendance and scheduled for remarks at the press conference will be IMS President J. Douglas Boles, former Indianapolis 500 driver and team owner Sarah Fisher along with Strategic Marketing and Operations for Chevrolet Motorsports, Todd Christensen.

The Indianapolis 500 race first introduced a pace car starting all the way back in 1911 when the Stoddard-Dayton model car from The Dayton Motor Car Company. Over the years there have been numerous styles of make and models named the official pace car of the race from Chrysler to Studebaker to Cadillac, Ford, Buick, Lincoln, Oldsmobile, Dodge, Pontiac, and more.

Even though Chevrolet was first introduced as the official pace car of the race back in 1948 with a Fleetmaster Six driven by Wilbur Shaw, they have been the official pace car of the 500-mile race since 1998 when the Chevrolet Corvette was used as the pace car driven by Parnelli Jones.

A Star-Studded History

There have been a large number of celebrities who have been the pace car for the race:

  • Talk Show Host Jay Leno (1999)
  • Actor Morgan Freeman (2004)
  • Gen. Colin Powell (2005)
  • Lance Armstrong (2006)
  • 1989 and 1993 Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi (2008)
  • Actor Josh Duhamel (2009)
  • Sports Personality Robin Roberts (2010)
  • 4-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt (2011)
  • Famous Chef Guy Fieri (2012)
  • Michigan Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh (2013)
  • 3-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti (2014)
  • NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon (2015)
  • Owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Roger Penske (2016)
  • NBA Player Victor Oladipo (2018)
  • NASCAR Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2019),
  • Former IndyCar and NASCAR Driver Danica Patrick (2021)
  • Former IndyCar driver and team owner Sarah Fisher (2022).
Featured Image Credit: Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment

Share:

More Posts

Send Us A Message