NASCAR driver turned NBC Sports broadcaster Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the Corvette Grand Sport pace car to start the 103rd Indianapolis 500 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Earnhardt will be pulling double duty in Indianapolis, as he'll also be a part of NBC's live broadcast of the race.
“I was already excited to attend my first Indianapolis 500 with NBC Sports, but driving the pace car just takes it to another level,” Earnhardt said. “The Corvette Grand Sport is an awesome car, and it’s an honor to be asked to lead the field to the green flag. I’m proud to be a part of such a prestigious event at a place that means so much to racing history. This will be an experience that I’ll cherish forever.”
When Earnhardt leads the 2019 Indy 500 race field of 33 cars to the initial green flag on Sunday, he'll have led a race field to a green flag at IMS as an honorary pace car driver for the second-consecutive year. He was the honorary pace car driver for last year's Brickyard 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race there.
“Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the most popular and respected drivers in American motorsports in recent decades, and he knows all about speed, passion and tradition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said. “We knew he would enjoy his first Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with the NBC Sports team, but driving the Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car will create an even more indelible memory for a lifetime.”
Earnhardt retired from full-time competition as a NASCAR Cup Series driver at the end of the 2017 season and transitioned into a role of broadcaster for NBC's coverage of NASCAR races. He remains a car owner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a series in which he won two championships as a driver in 1998 and 1999. He plans to compete as a driver in the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway on Aug. 31. He also ran one Xfinity Series race last year.
Earnhardt's Cup Series stats include 26 wins in 631 races.
