Franchitti to drive Indy500 pace car posted in INDY25 | 03 | 2014

    BATHGATE'S DARIO FRANCHITTI, the four-time IndyCar champion and three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, will drive the pace car at this year's Indy500.

    The Scot was forced to announce his retirement from the sport last year following a high-speed crash at Houston in October.

    Franchitti, whose Ganassi team switched to Chevy engines this year, will drive a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 at the event on May 25, six days after his 41st birthday.

    In addition to limiting the speed of the race cars while the track is being cleared following an accident, the pace car also controls their speed on the warm-up laps immediately before the race starts.

    "Although I won't be competing in the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' this year, this will be as close as one person can get to the action," Franchitti said today.

    Related: Marino Franchitti leads Scots 1-2 at Sebring

    "As a historian of motorsport and as a three-time winner of this great race, I will appreciate every minute of getting to pace the field. I can't wait until May in Indianapolis."

    Franchitti became the first Scot to win the Indy500, since the legendary Jim Clark in 1965, when he took the first of his three wins in 2007, the same year he won his first IndyCar Championship.

    Back-to-back Indy500 wins followed in 2010 and '11, alongside his IndyCar titles in 2009, '10 and '11, a domination of open-wheel racing which elevated Franchitti to 'legend' status in the States.

    "Dario is a true champion who has earned the respect and admiration of competitors and race fans alike," Jim Campbell, US vice-president of Chevrolet performance vehicles and motorsports, said.

    "It will be very special to have Dario lead the field to the green flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

    Related: "I've no regrets," says Dario Franchitti

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    Jim McGill

     

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