Indianapolis 500 pace cars

The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. In the interest of safety, Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl G. Fisher is commonly credited with the concept of a "rolling start" led by a pace car. Nearly all races at the time, as well as all Formula One races even to the present, utilize a standing start.

The pace car was used to take the starting field on one unscored lap. The field would use the lap to warm up their engines, tires, and then at the conclusion of the lap, at a prescribed speed, the pace car would pull off the track and allow for a rolling, or "flying," start. Fisher himself drove the pace car in several early years, but it eventually became an honorary position, with invitations extended to notable figures in auto racing or the automobile industry. The driver listed was invited to perform the honor of "pacemaker." In later years, pop culture celebrities were among those, on occasion, invited to drive the pace car.

In most years through the early 1950s, the pace car led the field around the track for one warm up lap, and then the race began. By 1957, the pace car led the field for two warm up laps. In approximately 1974, it was changed to the current three warm up laps (two "parade laps" and one "pace lap"). During the "parade" lap, often several replica festival pace cars join the field, usually carrying celebrities or special guest drivers. They pull off the track, and the lone pace car leads the field on the "pace" lap.

Through 1978, the pace car was only used at the start of the race, and was not used during caution periods. Since 1979, the pace car has also been used to pack-up the field during caution flag periods. The ceremonial driver drove only at the start of the race. During caution periods, when the pace car is utilized to pace the field, a trained official has been the driver. In some cases, the officials utilize two separate pace cars (same exact model) one each for the start of the race, and the caution periods. Currently, the pace car driver for the caution periods is the same driver who drives the pace car for the Indy Racing League during all other events.

Starting roughly around the 1960s, the auto manufacturer who provided the official pace car, started selling replica pace cars to the general public. In many cases, the official on-track pace car was modified from its street-legal counterpart. Strobe lights, rolls bars, multi-point harnesses, and removing the air conditioning, are among some of the modifications made for the actual pace car. Some official pace cars, however, have undergone extensive modifications, including suspension, transmission, or even engine modifications from their production counterpart. The special edition production replicas availible to the public usually come with full paint and "Indy 500" decals, and may be part of a performance package upgrade.

Pacemakers (1911-1978)

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