The 1986 70th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Paced by a 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible!

The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend. 1986 marked the return of the convertible to the Corvette line-up, and was the second opportunity for Corvette to provide the Official Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500, where the Honorary Pace Car driver was fhe famous test pilot and retired Air Force General Chuck Yeager who led the field to the Green flag.

As with the first Corvette pace car in 1978, the 1986 Corvette needed no mechanical modifications to pace the race. In fact it was the first street-legal car to pace Indy since the previous Corvette.

The 1986 Corvette was introduced to the world at the Detroit Auto Show with its ABS braking system which became standard equipment with all 1986 Corvettes. The new brakes worked through a system of sensors at each wheel that transferred data to a computerized electronic control unit. A center line "High Mount" stoplight was added to the 1986 Corvette to comply with federal requirements. On the convertible, the light was inserted into the rear facia.

Chevrolet did not issue a specific pace car replica but instead designated all 7,315 1986 convertibles to be Pace Car Replicas, regardless of color, and included decal packages to be installed by the dealer or customer.

Bobby Rahal was the winner, becoming the first driver in Indy history to complete the 500 miles (800 km) in less than three hours. At an average speed of 170.722 mph (274.750 km/h), it was the fastest 500-mile Indy car race to that point. It was the first of three Indy victories for Rahal, one as a driver (1986) and two as a car owner (2004, 2020).

1986 was the second year that Corvette paced the Indianapolis 500. This year, 56 Corvette Convertibles and 2 Coupes were used as support vehicles for the race. Although the "real" Corvette Pace cars were Yellow, since all 1986 Convertibles were considered "Pace Cars" and came with the decal kits, numerous colors were used at the Speedway for race support.

These cars were assigned to IMS executives and track officials, manufacturer representatives, USAC officials, TV and Radio Personalities, used as Chevrolet Courtesy cars, and one was even assigned to the Honorary Pace Car Driver, General Chuck Yeager.

Do YOU own one of the track cars?? There is a good chance if the last 6 digits of your 1986 Convertible VIN is #901267 or less, or your coupe is 119646 or 119657! 

This year, the fleet of Event cars were photographed in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum parking lot and you can see the Cavaliers that were assigned to the Festival Committee.

Special thanks to Ron McQueeney for digging into the IMS Photo archives for these Vintage photos! 

	To the Left, Race Winner Bobby Rahal on his Victory Lap. This year's 500 Festival Queen was Wendy Diane Barth.