A Duesenberg Model A driven by Fred S. Duesenberg awaits the chance to pace the 1923 Indy field.
With the Indy 500 just around the corner, it seems like a good time to peer back through the misty haze of time at all of the interesting pace cars and pace car drivers that have led the field at the brick.
Of course there are the obvious ones: Fred S. Duesenberg, co-founder of the automaker by the same name, driving a 1923 Duesenberg; American racing legend Barney Oldfield driving a Marmon 6 in 1920 and a National Sextet in 1922; Three-time F1 champ Jackie Stewart driving a 1979 Mustang; Carroll Shelby driving a turbocharged four-cylinder Chrysler LeBaron in 1987 and a Dodge Viper in 1991.
But there have also been some surprising and downright baffling selections of drivers and vehicles as well as interesting combinations of the two. For instance, there was Louis Chevrolet, having quit the car company that bears his name because of philosophical differences with Billy Durant, driving a Chrysler Imperial 80 in 1926; Elaine Irwin-Mellencamp, supermodel and wife of Heartland rocker John Cougar Mellencamp, driving, of all things, an Oldsmobile Bravada SUV in 1991; and John Callies (whom we had to Google to learn about), one-time manager of Pontiac’s Motorsports Division, driving a four-cylinder Fiero in 1984.
This year, as reported in Hemmings e-Weekly issue 41, Emerson Fittipaldi is pacing the field in an ethanol-fueled Z06 Corvette which, at least for race fans, is a welcome change from the parade of celebrities, athletes and retired U.S. Army generals that have been leading America’s most storied race for the past few runnings.
For the full timeline of cars and drivers, check out the Indianapolis 500 Web site.
(This post originally appeared in the May 15, 2008, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)