By Ryan Palencer
SPEEDWAY — Tradition is something that is very important to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That also holds true for the pace car.
Since 1911, there has been a pace car for the Indianapolis 500.
Officials from Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway teamed up Friday to unveil the 2010 model — the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“It’s a beautiful car. It is very striking,” said Jeff Belskus, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation. “We appreciate Chevrolet and their involvement with the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I think they hit a home run with this vehicle and we are looking forward to having it.”
For Belskus, the excitement is mounting and the countdown has begun for the 2010 race.
“We are extremely excited,” Belskus said. “It’s a fun car and it’s a good value. It’s a great opportunity.”
The partnership is a long-lasting one between Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“At Chevy, we have had an opportunity to pace the Indianapolis 500 21 times over the history of the race,” said Jeff Chew, marketing manager for Chevy Racing. “That is a pretty incredible number. We have designed some very cool pace cars over the years.”
Belskus is also pleased with the relationship.
“We have had a long and great association with Chevrolet,” he said. “We appreciate that association and are glad that we are able to continue it.”
Chevrolet used past experience to compile this year’s car.
“This year’s car is very special,” Chew said. “It’s somewhat of a play on prior year’s cars.”
The 2010 Camaro pace car offers an inferno orange metallic paint scheme with white diamond racing stripes that are on the top of the car from the front to the rear.
“We didn’t have to modify the car at all,” Chew said. “It has 400 horsepower and an automatic transmission. All told, the Camaro is a perfect choice to be the pace car of the Indianapolis 500. It does great in our show rooms and it’s performed well on the track.”
With all of the accessories on the car, Chew pointed out that one thing was missing.
“There is no light bar on the top,” he said. “We had our designers integrate an in-cabin light system to keep the lights of the car very clean and true, but it still has a fully integrated strobe system that allows it to fulfill its pace car duties on the track.”
The car will now be featured at the Indianapolis Auto Show, where it will be on display for the duration of the show. Following the race on May 30, the car will take it’s place in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
