Danica Patrick To Drive Pace Car At Indy 500

Danica Patrick will be on the track once again for this year's Indianapolis 500 on May 30.

She will be driving the pace car, Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on Wednesday. She'll be behind the wheel of an arctic white Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

“I am very honored to drive the Corvette Stingray Pace Car this year at the Indy 500,” Patrick said in a statement. “It is even more special because of the past year we have all endured, and it will be so nice to see fans back in the stands. I’m also excited to again be a part of the NBC broadcast team for the race."

Patrick was a studio analyst during the 2019 and 2020 broadcast of the Indy 500. She had eight Indy 500 starts from 2005-2011 and 2018.

IMS also announced this week that country artist Jimmie Allen will sing the national anthem at this year's race.

Fans are also returning to this year's race after the IMS was kept empty for the 2020 race because of the pandemic.

Only 135,000 fans will be allowed at IMS on race day. The track limited its capacity to 40% so that people can socially distance. Around 170,000 tickets were sold this year so IMS had to ask 32,000 ticket-holders if they wanted to attend this year or save their tickets for a future Indy 500.

Tickets for practices and qualifying rounds are still available, however.

Photo: Getty Images