Sarah Fisher, a former driver and team owner in the NTT IndyCar Series, will pilot the 2023 Corvette Z06 70th Anniversary Edition Pace Car and lead the field before the green flag in the 106th Indianapolis 500.
Fisher holds multiple female records in her 11-year career as an IndyCar driver, becoming the first female to win a pole position in the series and the fastest female qualifier for the Indy 500. She has qualified for the event nine times, a record for female drivers.
Driving the Pace Car will be nothing new for Fisher, she is an official pace car driver at selected events throughout the season.
“Every time I’ve had the opportunity to drive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it’s been special – from IndyCar Series cars to two-seaters to vintage cars,” Fisher said. “Driving the Pace Car is just as special of an honor. And to have served in that role for the NTT IndyCar Series since Johnny Rutherford retired, I’ve had many great memories to add to my career.
“I am humbled and proud to become the official Pace Car driver for the 106th Indianapolis 500 and to represent the hard work and development that Chevrolet puts into these fantastic pieces of automobile advancement and technology.”
Following Fisher’s career behind the wheel, she focused solely on ownership. Forming Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in 2008 and then running full-time with series newcomer Josef Newgarden in 2012.
The team won a single race with Ed Carpenter at the Kentucky Speedway. Later in 2015, Fisher would align with Carpenter and rebrand to CFH Racing, winning twice that year with Newgarden.
Chevrolet has paced the 500 field for 20 consecutive years and the Corvette has been the chosen model for six years. The C8 Z06 Pace Car will also be celebrating 70 years of Corvette.
“Sarah Fisher is an Indianapolis 500 icon who always takes the time to appreciate her fans and represent the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ with class and humility,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “She is such a fitting person for this honor, and it will be such a thrill and privilege to see her lead the field of 33 cars to the green flag before a huge crowd at the track and a global television audience.”
