BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti did a little research as he prepares to drive the honorary pace car at the 110th Indianapolis 500.
After going out to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test run, Cignetti wanted to know the fastest speed ever recorded at the event. Cignetti marveled at the answer — Aerie Lytendyk set the mark by hitting speeds of 239 mph in 1996.
“I Googled it, you know I like to Google,” Cignetti joked last week before speaking in Carmel last week. “I didn’t come close to that (in the test run), and I can’t imagine taking the turns and doing a lap at that speed. It’s intense.”
Cignetti, who will drive the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, is getting tutoring lessons from racing vet Sarah Fisher. Fisher holds the record for most Indy 500 appearances by a woman (nine) and will be with Cignetti on Saturday.
She will be tasked with driving the official pace lap as long as Cignetti can get out of their USA-themed Corvette.
“She’s a vet and she knows the ropes and she knows the track,” Cignetti said. “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 ass 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 is scheduled to go out to IMS on Friday night for one more test run, and perhaps take one more “funsy” lap like they did the first time.
“I gunned it and got it going a little bit,” Cignetti said with a laugh. “ I’m probably not allowed to tell you how fast we went, but I think the car went 233 miles. That’s the max it could go. We didn’t quite hit that.”
While Cignetti turned down nearly all of the speaking and appearance requests he received after the season, he made an exception for the Indy 500, given the long history of the event and its importance to what he described as the “fabric of the state.”
“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 said.
The experience has already given him an added appreciation for the sport.
“You think about those guys, what is it, two, two and a half hour race? To go all those 200 laps at the speeds they go and maintain that kind of focus and concentration,” Cignetti said. “Wow.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana football’s Curt Cignetti enjoying Indy 500 prep
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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