Meet this year's Indy 500 pace car: the Corvette Grand Sport

The 2017 Indianapolis 500 will see the bow-tie brand run an official pace car once again. For this year, a Corvette Grand Sport will be leading the drivers to the green flag come May 28. This marks the 14^th time a Corvette will serve as the official pace car since 1978.

“Chevrolet is proud to once again pace the Indianapolis 500. The Corvette Grand Sport’s performance capability and motorsports heritage make it the perfect choice to pace the Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” said Steve Majoros, marketing director for cars and crossovers, Chevrolet.

The Corvette Grand Sport is painted white and comes with several blue and red body stripes, along with a unique Indy 500 graphics package. The body itself, on the other hand, is equipped with a carbon-fiber ground effects appearance package which gives the Corvette Grand Sport a more aggressive look.

It also has a unique set of wheels exclusive only to the Grand Sport. The front axle gets 19-inch alloys while the rear rolls on 20-inchers. As it comes standard with the Z07 package, the pace car also includes Brembo carbon ceramic-matrix brake rotors and high performance tires. The front wheels get 285/30 rubber while the rear wheels are wrapped in 335/25 tires.

Other features that are present in the Indy 500 Corvette Grand Sport pace car are magnetic ride control with specific stabilizers and springs and an electronic limited-slip differential.

Powering the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport is a 6.2-liter LT1 V8 that pushes out 466 PS along with 630 Nm of torque. It is then mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters. Other powertrain features installed on the LT1 include active exhaust and a dry-sump oil system.

It can go from 0 – 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds before hitting the quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds.

“Chevrolet and Indianapolis are inextricably linked, sharing one of the longest racing heritages in all of motorsports. We are proud of the longstanding relationship between Chevrolet and the Speedway and we love having the Corvette Grand Sport lead the 500 field to the green flag,” said J Douglas Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 101^st running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 28, 2017 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.