If there’s one thing Curt Cignetti is known for above all else, it’s preparation.
Typically, that means watching football film.
But Cignetti pulled himself away from his favorite hobby to get in some practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month.
The IU football head coach will drive the pace car at the Indy 500 on May 24, so he put down the film clicker for a few hours to do some driving prep on the iconic oval with racing veteran Sarah Fisher.
Cignetti will be driving an impressive car capable of speeds in the same realm as the actual race cars. The Corvette ZR1X can go from zero to 60 mph in under 2 seconds – and can reach a top speed of 233 mph.
Cignetti says he’s not worried about the hundreds of thousands of fans in attendance or millions more watching on television. He’s grown accustomed to performing at his best in front of big crowds. But handling that powerful Corvette with 33 anxious drivers behind him? That has his attention.
Fisher coached Cignetti on how to manage the turns and learning to trust how the car will function during the pace laps. And there’s then final pace lap, when Cignetti has to hit the gas a bit harder to get the race started, and then quickly exit the track coming out of turn four.
“I got to be focused because you’re not going super fast, but at the end, you’re going at a pretty good clip,” Cignetti said.
Does he have a sense for what the car is capable of for that final lap?
“We did have one funsy after about 15 or 16 laps out there. And you know, I gunned it and got it going a little bit. Probably not allowed to tell you how fast we went, but I think the car goes 233 miles per hour. That’s the max it could go,” Cignetti said. “We didn’t quite hit that.”
Cignetti is only driving the four parade laps the precede the race.
The less predictable requirements of driving the pace car during the live race will be left to Fisher. Cignetti will hand over the car to the racing veteran once he pulls off the track at the start of the race. And that handoff has to be quick, as accidents on the first lap are not uncommon.
“Most importantly she wanted to make sure I could get my ass out of that car real fast,” Cignetti said. “She’s the official pace car driver when the race starts and I got to get out real quick so she can get in.”
He will pass the baton to Fisher, right?
Cignetti is well know for his competitive streak. Might he consider keeping the car on the track when the green flag waves to see if he can hang with the field?
He seems to have at least looked into it.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I mean, the fastest lap around there, if I Googled it right, you know, I like to Google, I believe was 239 miles an hour. And I didn’t come close to that. I can’t imagine taking the turns and doing a lap at at that speed. It’s intense. And then you think about those guys go all those 200 laps at the speeds they go and maintain that kind of focus and concentration. Wow.
“I just have to get out of the way after three or four laps and let the talented guys take over.”
Cignetti says he plans to head up to Indianapolis the day before the race for one more round of preparation.
The “start your engines” command for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for 12:38 p.m. ET on May 24. Cignetti will then lead the 33 cars on four pace laps ahead of the 12:45 p.m. green flag.
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
