[NEWS] Chevrolet Corvette Will Pace Daytona 500 Field

[Ken]

From NASCAR.com:

Chevrolet Corvette will pace Daytona 500 field

From Track Press Release
February 8, 2005
10:20 AM EST (15:20 GMT)

NEW YORK -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion, unveiled the all-new 2005 Corvette that will pace the 47th annual Daytona 500 during the national broadcast of Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning.

Earnhardt Jr., who drives the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., revealed the Corvette coupe that will pace the 43-car field in "The Great American Race" on Sunday, Feb. 20.

"The all-new 2005 Corvette brings more power, more precision and more passion to drivers than any Corvette in history making it a natural fit to pace this historic race," said Brent Dewar, Chevrolet general manger.

"We are proud to once again have our good partners at Chevrolet pace the field at NASCAR's signature event," said Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig. "We are looking forward to showing off the 2005 Corvette pace car on national television and in front of thousands of fans."

The 43-car field that will be led by the Chevrolet Corvette pace vehicle will be battling for a record purse of $17,623,980, the richest in stock car racing history. Ashton Kutcher, the popular star of FOX's "That '70s Show" and the star of the upcoming feature film "Guess Who," will serve as Honorary Starter and wave the green flag to start the Daytona 500, which will be televised live on FOX.

The design of the Daytona 500 Corvette pace vehicle includes elements that reflect the heritage and attitude of the historic winning Corvette race cars. The Corvette pace vehicle is millennium yellow with a black racing stripe centered across the hood, roof and trunk lid with the Daytona 500 logo on each door and Chevy's "An American Revolution" slogan on the rear spoiler.

This will be the 34th consecutive year General Motors has provided the Official Pace Car for the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 will be one of 60 NASCAR events Chevrolet will pace in 2005, including 28 NASCAR Nextel Cup, 17 Busch Series and 15 Craftsman Truck Series races.

Chevrolet returns to this year's Daytona 500 with an impressive win record - 17 victories, the most of any manufacturer. Chevrolet also kicks off the 2005 racing season as defending manufacturer's champion. In 2004 Chevy drivers captured 22 wins to tie its own record for most wins in a single season in NASCAR's "modern era" which aided Chevy in achieving its 28th manufacturer's championship.

 

[Ken]

[NEWS] Corvette to Pace Daytona 500

From Motorsport.com:

Corvette to pace Daytona 500

Racing series NASCAR-CUP
Date 2005-02-08[font=verdana,arial,helvetica]

Sixth-Generation Corvette to Pace the Daytona 500
Pace car unveiled on national TV morning show

NEW YORK -- This morning, during the national broadcast of Fox & Friends, Chevrolet unveiled a new 2005 Corvette that will pace NASCAR's most prestigious event -- the Daytona 500 -- on Feb. 20. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion, was on-hand to introduce the pace car.

"The pace car is based on the new 2005 production Corvette, which brings more power and precision to drivers than any Corvette in history," said Brent Dewar, Chevrolet general manager. "The Daytona 500 provides a good opportunity to showcase the capabilities of the Corvette."

The design of the Daytona 500 Corvette pace vehicle includes elements that reflect the heritage and attitude of historic winning Corvette race cars. It is painted in millennium yellow with a black racing stripe centered across the hood, roof and trunk lid. The Daytona 500 logo is displayed on each door along with Chevy's "An American Revolution" slogan on the rear spoiler.

"We are proud to once again have our good partners at Chevrolet pace the field at NASCAR's signature event," said Robin Braig, president of Daytona International Speedway. "We are looking forward to showing off the 2005 Corvette pace car on national television and in front of millions of fans."

The Corvette pace car is nearly identical to the production version. Both are powered by a 6.0--liter V-8 LS2 engine that produces 400 horsepower at 6,000 rpm. They have a top speed of 186 mph on a race track and reach 0-60 in 4.2 seconds.

Chevy returns to the Daytona 500 with an impressive win record -- 17 victories, the most of any manufacturer. Chevrolet also kicks off the 2005 racing season as the defending manufacturer's champion, a feat it has achieved 28 times. In 2004, Chevy drivers captured 22 wins to tie a record for most wins in a single season during NASCAR's "modern era."

"We've worked with our Monte Carlo teams during the off-season, particularly on aerodynamics and engine development, and feel very good about going into this race," said Dewar.

This will be the 34th consecutive year General Motors has provided the Official Pace Car for the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 will be one of 60 NASCAR events Chevrolet will pace in 2005, including 28 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, 17 Busch Series and 15 Craftsman Truck Series races.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 324,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company's history. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

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[Fishman]

Any pictures available yet?

 

[Rob]

The following pictures are courtesy of GM Media:

Picture #1: The new 2005 Corvette will pace the field for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20

Picture #2: Dale Earnhardt Jr. in New York City with the 2005 Corvette to pace the Daytona 500.

Picture #3: Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes a seat in the 2005 Corvette pace vehicle with Fox & Friends co-host E.D. Hill.

 

[Evolution1980]

The following pictures are courtesy of GM Media:
Picture #2: The new 2005 Corvette will pace the field for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20

From that viewing angle, the front is scary in that it looks like a viper front end!

 

[Fishman]

It's a nice car... and I hate to be critical, but...

They should have used a yellow trim around the headlights. They look like eyes. And the racing stripe is the nose, the front nose emblem represents the nostrils, the air intake is the mouth... and two cute little dimples (turn signals), all above a Abe Lincoln beard.

It would make a great looking smiley face

All in fun now...

 

[Dad]

Did anyone notice how the intrest in the second and third picture dropped off after they saw the first one? :z :z :z

 

[Glensgages]

From that viewing angle, the front is scary in that it looks like a viper front end!

" Junyah..... ya got a Hemi in that thing????? "

 

[jet4rs]

In the third picture who is chick? Can't Jr. drive the car yet?