Ken Griffey Jr. to drive Indy 500 pace car
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Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as the honorary pace car driver for this Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced Monday.
Griffey will lead the field of 33 drivers to start the race driving the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 3LZ coupe, which was announced this month as the first hybrid pace car in Indy 500 history.
The 13-time All Star will be the first baseball player to drive the pace car in Indy 500 history.
“Driving the Pace Car and leading the field to start the Indy 500 is one of the coolest experiences,” Griffey said in a news release. “I came to the track a few years ago as a photographer and look forward to seeing the race from a different perspective.”
The pace car driver has been a coveted job among athletes, actors and other celebrities since the 1970s, when actor James Garner and singer Marty Robbins handled it. Others that have driven the car include Jay Leno, Morgan Freeman and Patrick Dempsey and, in more recent years, NBA players Victor Oladipo and Tyrese Haliburton.
Griffey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. During his career, he amassed 630 home runs, the seventh-most in Major League Baseball history. He also won 10 Gold Glove Awards and is tied for the most consecutive games with a home run.
“Every baseball fan knows Ken Griffey Jr.,” IMS President Doug Boles said in the release. “Two legends will come together as Griffey hops into the Corvette E-Ray to lead the field at the Racing Capital of the World.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.