Tag Archives: Pace Car

[VIDEO] IndyCar Drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett Take a Lap at Road America in the C8 Corvette Pace Car

[VIDEO] IndyCar Drivers Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett Take a Lap at Road America in the C8 Corvette Pace Car

This weekend the NTT IndyCar Series is racing at Road America for the REV Group Grand Prix and the pace car for the event is a Red Mist 2021 Corvette Stingray. Over the last few IndyCar races, we’ve taken notice of the pre-race coverage by the IndyCar series on social media that features a veteran driver taking a rookie around the track in the Pace Car. While we believe the idea is that the drivers will be discussing the track, inevitably they end up having a conversation about how nice the new Corvettes are.

We previously shared the drive prior to the Indianapolis 500 that had Juan Pablo Montoya and Felix Rosenqvist in the cockpit with JPM saying “I love this car” as they made their way around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Today’s Pace Car drive prior to the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America featured drivers Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett with Sébastien getting “the much more fun side of the car” according to Dalton as they make their way out on the track. The great thing about Road America is how fast it is with the sweeping corners and long straights, and the IndyCar driver doesn’t disappoint in allowing the Corvette Pace Car to stretch its legs on the track. Right away both drivers comment positively about the car with Sébastien commenting on the “nice grip.” Bourdais also comments on how the “mid-engine makes a big difference” and says “it’s a cool car…I like it,” while Kellet comments how he likes the Great Wall of Buttons and the layout of the cockpit.

As they wrapped it up, they talk about the sound of the Stingray as the engine is just behind them and what a “feisty” sound it made during the hot lap.

Source:
NTT IndyCar Series / Twitter

Related:
[VIDEO] Juan Pablo Montoya Loves the 2021 Corvette Stingray Indy 500 Pace Car
[PICS] The 2021 Corvette Convertible is the Official Pace Car of the 105th Indianapolis 500
Take a Lap in the 2021 Corvette Convertible Indy 500 Pace Car with IMS President Doug Boles

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[VIDEO] Check out the Corvette Pace Car and Other Behind the Scenes Action from the Daytona 500

[VIDEO] Check out the Corvette Pace Car and Other Behind the Scenes Action from the Daytona 500

Even though a Chevy didn’t win during Daytona’s just-concluded Speedweeks, the company still had a big presence at the many events.

Chevy vehicles – ranging from the Silverado 1500 RST to the Camaro ZL1 1LE to the C8 Corvette Stingray – served as pace cars for, respectively, Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series, and Sunday’s Daytona 500.

All of those vehicles were finished in the same shade of Rapid Blue with unique black, white and red pace car graphics, and a just-released video from Chevy offers fans a chance to see these vehicles up close as part of a promotion for Chevy MyWay.

[VIDEO] Check out the Corvette Pace Car and Other Behind the Scenes Action from the Daytona 500

That’s a new online service launched by the company to allow customers to find out more about Chevy products through a live stream video chat with sales representatives. To promote the launch of that service, Chevy and Daytona officials took part in a 17-minute video that provides a lot of good information about Chevy’s history at the track, the pace vehicles, and more.

We found the most interesting segments to be with Kip Childress, assistant series director, NASCAR Cup Series, and Jim Campbell, vice president of Chevrolet Performance and Motorsports.

Childress had the responsibility – and pleasure – of serving as the Corvette pace car driver during the Daytona 500, and he explained a little about the importance of the pace car, primarily as a safety feature.

“We put the car in front of the field to make sure the field stays under control,” he explains. “As we roll off to start the race, we help the teams set their pit road speeds. They don’t have a speedometer in the car, so they set their tachometers by the pit road speed that we run. When we ease off, we’ll actually have the lights off. A lot of folks if they’ve never seen a race or maybe even they’ve seen ‘em at maybe their local short track, it’ll confuse them. We wait until we hit that pit road speed and we turn the lights on and we call the tower and it lets the tower, the spotters, everyone there know and the drivers behind us of course that we’ve reached pit road speed. That’s where they’ll set that tachometer reading.”

[VIDEO] Check out the Corvette Pace Car and Other Behind the Scenes Action from the Daytona 500

Childress says he sits in the pace car with his helmet and earplugs on, communicating with the race director and series director who act as spotters for him, “letting me know when it’s clear to go out and pick up the leader, who the leader is, and then what we’re looking for once we get onto the track. If it’s a big accident, it can get pretty exciting on the radio.”

As for his time behind the wheel of the new mid-engine Corvette, Childress called it “a blast” to drive.

Meanwhile, Campbell and Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile offer viewers an interesting look inside and out at the actual GM concept car, Firebird 1, designed in 1953 by GM’s Harley Earl that has always served as the model for the car on top of the legendary Daytona trophy.

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Source:

Related:
[PICS] 2021 C8 Corvette to Pace the Daytona 500
2020 Corvette Stingray is the Official Pace Car of the 104th Indianapolis 500
[PIC] First Look at the C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Wearing a Pace Car Livery

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