The Future Indy 500 Pace Car Will Be Different
The 2019 Indy 500 Pace Car was the C7 Corvette Grand Sport. We discussed the model when Chevy first announced it. Now, we’ve come to realize it may be the last front-engine Corvette to be an Indy 500 Pace Car ever. With the C8 Corvette’s July debut looming it seems clear that the next Chevrolet Corvette to be an official pace car will have its engine mid-mounted.
Car and Driver first got us thinking about this. The publication discussed the fact that of the 30 Chevy cars that have been Indy 500 Pace Cars, many of them were Corvettes and all those Corvettes had their engine out front of the cabin, obviously. This means the 2019 Indy 500 marks the end of an era. The C8 Corvette will forever change not only the Corvette and Chevrolet but the Indy 500.
At this time, there is no word yet on the next Indy 500 Pace Car, but we would imagine, the C8 Corvette will at least be considered for the honor. The Corvette has served the race well as the pace car, and we suspect the C8 Corvette will do just as good of a job as the C7 Corvette has. However, it will be different, though, and the front-engine Corvette will always have a special place in our hearts.
