Ken Griffey Jr. will pilot the Pace Car at the 108th Indianapolis 500, hitting a home run at the Speedway

Indianapolis, Indiana – The 108th Indianapolis 500, sponsored by Gainbridge, will feature a renowned member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the honorary Pace Car driver.
Ken Griffey Jr., a former player for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners, will lead the 33-driver field at the beginning of Sunday’s race in the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Driving the Pace Car and leading the field to start the Indy 500 is one of the coolest experiences,” Griffey Jr. said in a news release. “I came to the track a few years ago as a photographer and look forward to seeing the race from a different perspective.”

Griffey Jr. blasted 630 home runs and was a 13-time All-Star throughout his hall of great career. Griffey Jr. is one of just 31 players to have appeared in major league games in four separate decades. He has won ten Gold Glove Awards for his defense in center field.
With 99.32% of the voting, Griffey Jr. was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. According to the statement, he is also a member of the Reds and Mariners Halls of Fame.

“Every baseball fan knows Ken Griffey Jr.,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said in the release. “Two legends will come together as Griffey Jr. hops into the Corvette E-Ray to lead the field at the Racing Capital of the World.”

According to the press release, Chevrolet will be the pace car before the race for the 35th time, going all the way back to 1948.