2023 Corvette Highlights this Gallery of Indy 500 Pace Cars2023 Corvette Highlights this Gallery of Indy 500 Pace Cars

See how pace cars for the Indianapolis 500 have evolved over the decades from pre-race parade cars to serious speed machines.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

May 24, 2023

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The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Indianapolis 500 pace car.Penske Entertainment: Chris Owens

The pace car for the Indianapolis 500 has evolved dramatically over the decades, from a ceremonial parade car seemingly meant to show off its occupants to a serious performance machine intended to participate in race starts and restarts following caution periods.

For most of the history of the race, any domestic automaker could provide the pace car. For many years, the racing engines, like the race cars, were not necessarily affiliated with any specific brand. In recent decades, carmakers apply their brand to the engines in the race cars, so they don't want competitors leading the field of cars to start the race.

In one interesting twist, after pacing the race in 1976, Buick was motivated to become an engine supplier for the race cars!

The variety of brands, which once included the likes of DeSoto, Plymouth, Pontiac, Mercury, and other dead brands, has dwindled in recent years. Finally, Chevrolet inked an exclusivity deal after the Dodge Viper GTS served as the pace car in 1996.

Chevy has mostly alternated between Corvettes and Camaros since, with appearances by the SS sport sedan and the SSR retro pickup truck mixed in. Corvette has paced the race 20 times since its first appearance in 1978, and 2023 is the 7th-consecutive year of the 'Vette leading the field of Indycars to the green flag to start the race.

Click through the photo gallery for a look at some of the surprising variety of Indy 500 pace cars over the years.

 

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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