If you've been reading any car mags recently, you're aware that this the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Indianapolis 500. Autoweek has a special section on their website:
http://www.autoweek.com/section/indy100However, I don't think they've posted one feature from the May 16 print issue -the list of all pace cars and their drivers. Here are some notable ones:
* Carl Fisher drove the pace car in the first 5 races, years 1911 through 1915. And yet, he still looks so young!
* The 1923 pace car was a real Duesie ... driven by Fred Duesenberg
* 1925 - WWI Hero / Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Rickenbacker 8.
* 1926 - Louis Chevrolet drove a Chrysler Imperial.
* 1932 - Edsel Ford, in a Lincoln.
* 1946 - Henry Ford II, in another Lincoln
* 1975, 77 and 85 -- James Garner, in (respectively) Buick Century, Olds Delta 88, Olds Calais. These days, he looks much older than Carl Fisher. Must be the cars he drove.
* 1979 - Jackie Stewart - in a Fox body Mustang!
* 1984 - John Callies (aka Neal Harrington) in a Fiero.
* 1986 - Chuck Yeager, in a Corvette
* 1987 - Carroll Shelby, in a Chrysler LeBaron (wonder if Lee Iacocca was riding shotgun)
* 1999 - Jay Leno, in a Monte Carlo
* 2001 - Elaine Erwin Mellencamp (John Mellencamp's soon-to-be-ex) driving an Olds Bravada (glorified S-10 Blazer).
* 2002+ -- all Chevys (one SSR, two Camaros, the rest Corvettes) Nobody's bothered to actually WATCH the race in the last decade, so no harm done.
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