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2010 Chevrolet Camaro Pace Car Is Wrong


It's time for a change in the monotany of the Indy 500 pace cars. Not only that, GM does strange marketing moves. Repeating the Camaro for 2010 as the "pace car" which means extra stickers and badging like the silly Bumblebee, and it's again handicapped with the lower horsepower rated automatic transmission. Besides that, why is it brand dominated? Besides greed, this isn't about the fine Camaro, it's about relevance.

The IndyCar series currently has seven drivers from the United States of the thirty listed. Not that this is a bad thing, but the only engine used in these cars is from Honda. That's right, Honda. Since Honda doesn't make a performance car any longer (S2000 and the NSX are dead) the pace car, if Honda powered should either be an Acura flagship or a motorcycle like the CBR1000RR or VRF1200F.

Another idea, besides the greed oriented bidding process is to have different brands by judging. A how about a performance car of the year by a vote? Or the pace car of choice by the previous years race winner or previous year series champion. Decals don't make the car either. But having an SUV like the Oldsmobile Bravada in 2001 was a joke.

Another laugh was the Chevrolet SSR in 2003. Basically an overweight, poor selling concept vehicle with little purpose, the long overdue Mustang Cobra would have been far more appropriate. Corvettes have had a too long of a run and skipped the ZR1 for some odd reason. The Dodge Viper has also been missing a long, long time. After all, the Viper ACR is now the king of the track until perhas the Ferrari 599 GTO comes along at takes the crown.

While I'm on this soapbox, forget the 2008 E85 fueled Corvette. E85 doesn't produce the same power as gasoline and produces less miles per gallon. The "Green" racing was attempted at the highest level in Formula 1 and it was dropped. It's just an exercise in marketing. Higher performance breeds greater efficiency anyway.

A website for Indy pace cars is here with some interesting models over the years. But now it's time to spice it up with some variety and no more consecutive year model repeats unless it's something significant. And GM, not a slower version, please.

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