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.
From leading the race in 2005 to setting the pace in 2021.
Please help us welcome @DanicaPatrick as the driver of the @TeamChevy Corvette Stingray pace car for the 105th Running of the #Indy500 on May 30.
Full Details: https://t.co/eMOmARYxqO#ThisIsMay | @GainbridgeLife pic.twitter.com/1lJHjedA7r
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 19, 2021
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).
