[ScottZ28]

Roger Penske to drive 50th Anniversary Camaro SS Pace Car at 100th Indianapolis 500

April 18, 2016 | By IMS

A unique version of the new, 2017 Camaro SS 50th Anniversary Edition will lead the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 next month, driven by motorsports legend Roger Penske, who is marking 50 years as a race team owner.

It’s the ninth time Camaro has served as the pace car and the 27th time for Chevrolet, dating back to 1948.

“Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500 have a long, storied history and it’s an honor to mark the respective milestones of the Indy 500 race and the Camaro simultaneously,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of Global Product Development and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “It’s also a privilege to have Roger Penske perform the driving duties, as his team has helped Chevrolet earn four consecutive IndyCar manufacturer titles since 2012.”

Four identically prepared pace cars will support the race, all with exclusive Abalone White exteriors featuring “100th Running of the Indianapolis 500” graphics on the doors and the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway wing-and-wheel logo on the quarter panels. They also incorporate the exterior cues and graphics that are unique to the Camaro 50th Anniversary package that goes on sale this summer.

With 455 horsepower on tap, the Camaro SS pace cars require no performance modifications to lead the racing field.

“Chevrolet and Roger Penske are inextricably linked to the heritage of the Indianapolis 500,” said J. Douglas Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “When he leads the pack on May 29, behind the wheel of the Camaro SS, he will drive the race into its next 100 years and strengthen the bond Chevrolet and Indianapolis forged a century ago.”

For 2016, Chevrolet drivers will be looking to build on last year’s results of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” when the top four finishers were Chevy-powered, led by race-winner and Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya. It was his second Indy 500 victory and the 16th for Team Penske.

No other racing team has recorded more wins at the Brickyard, and it started with driver Mark Donohue’s victory in 1972. Penske and Donohue established their relationship five years earlier, when Penske transitioned from driver to team owner. They quickly found success in SCCA’s Trans-Am Series, with Donohue piloting an early Camaro Z/28 racecar, winning three of 12 races in 1967 and 10 of 13 in 1968.

Penske tackled the Indy 500 for the first time in 1969, while still campaigning a Camaro in Trans-Am. Donohue was his driver for both series. Later, racers including Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Rick Mears drove for Penske, with Mears winning four Indianapolis 500 races and helping solidify Team Penske as an Indy powerhouse in the 1980s. That legacy advances this year, as Roger Penske seeks his 17th Indy 500 title as a team owner.

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway...-pace-car-2016

[ScottZ28]

See many more pictures of the Camaro Pace Car on the thread I created at the Camaro Pace Car site here: http://camaropacecars.com/eve/forums...6/m/8521098756

[90503]

The car looks great.....What a cool deal.....100th Indy race, and 50th Camaro anniversary....Nice....

[RenegadeXR]

I chuckled a little at "abalone white." As you might know, some of GM's colors had random placeholder names that appear stamped into some components when they were made overseas. Other examples include "Switchblade silver" and "Son of a gun gray metallic."

Not sure why they are referring to the "nonsense name" for this color rather than just calling it "summit white."

[90503]

Actually it started out as "Abalony White Tricot".....lol....It may actually be different from Summit White...perhaps more like a pearl color, not sure...

[94turbolsx]

Originally Posted by 90503

Actually it started out as "Abalony White Tricot".....lol....It may actually be different from Summit White...perhaps more like a pearl color, not sure...

In the sun, this car looks like it is a pearl white.

[mlee]

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JoeP@TeamBeckyD]

Awesome!

Abalone White....
....Beautiful!!!

[mlee]

Originally Posted by BeckyD@RodgersChevrolet

Awesome!

Abalone White....
....Beautiful!!!

If this was FB I would have tagged you in that last post.

Only thing that could make this car better is if it was a white ZL1

[scrape]

Wow! What a beautiful car! Loving this colour so much.

[SpeedIsLife]

Beautiful color! Love the overall scheme..

However, the more I see it...the more I kind of dislike the grill insert..it reminds me, a bit at least, of the weird thing Ram is doing with the grill on their trucks...the seemingly random and unnecessary shapes and cut-outs..

[agl_bst]

Really don't like that black in the back of the car around the lights. What is that supposed to be? like a mustang? That front grille is interesting, are those lights or just colored accents?

[DanSS24]

I wish Penske would switch from Ford to Chevy in Nascar, since Stewart/Haas is switching to Ford next year. Doesn't he race Chevys in the IRL?

[Techn9cian805]

anyone else not feeling the asymmetrical design of the wheel spokes?