There are booster tours, there are television spots, and then there is driving a Corvette ZR1X in front of 400,000 screaming fans at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing on Sunday, May 24. Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti is opting for the later, taking the wheel at Indy 500 just months after capturing a historic national championship.
Cignetti takes the center stage at Indy 500 after denying most media appearances and speaking opportunities ever since the Hoosiers won the national title in January 2026. Reserved for a celebrity or notable Indiana figure, Indianapolis 500 picked Cignetti this season to claim the role of being the honorary pace car driver as one of the most-storied head coaches in Indiana post-championship.
“We’ve turned down a lot of nice opportunities so that I can sit in my chair and run that remote back and forth and watch that tape I love to watch,” Cignetti told IndyStar.
Curt Cignetti took special driving lessons for Indy 500
Officially a Indiana legend despite of working as a Hoosier head coach for just two years, Cignetti will drive the pace car, which is the first help initiate the beginning of the race, leading the 33 drivers through warm-up laps and to the green flag. That’s the honorary part.
And doing his part to honor the role, Cignetti even took special driving lessons to lead the way at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Sarah Fisher, who will drive the official pace lap for the race.
(via indycar/IG)
“She’s a vet and she knows the ropes and she knows the track,” Cignetti said of Fisher, per IndyStar. “She knows when to start the turn, when to come out of the turn, how the car will function, the trust you’ve got to have in the car, and she knows the program.
“Most importantly, she wanted to make sure I could get my (expletive) out of that car real fast because she’s the official pace car driver when the race starts, and I’ve got to get out real quick so she can get in.”
Cignetti further added how he went through multiple test runs before his official drive, taking lessons alongside Fisher.
Cignetti to appear in front of six times larger crowd than January
GettyMIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JANUARY 19: Head coach Curt Cignetti of the Indiana Hoosiers looks on after defeating Miami Hurricanes 27-21 in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The feeling of getting behind the wheel in a USA-themed Corvette, that Fisher will later take on, with about 400,000 fans would just be a whole lot louder than what he experienced when the Hoosiers picked up the national title at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens with 67,227 in attendance. That’s about six times the crowd there.
Riding shotgun in a specially designed two-seater open-wheel car, Cignetti joins a star-studded list of honorary pace car passengers like Chuck Yeager, Jim Harbaugh, and Josh Duhamel. He will get three laps to soak in the view from the bricks before handing over the track for the fourth and final pace lap right before the 12:45 p.m. ET start time.
The role shows just how much affection, one of the highest honors a citizen can receive, Cignetti has earned in the three years of being Indiana’s head coach.
Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti’s Indy 500 Appearance Has Everyone Locked In