Chevy's SSR Ready to Pace 2003 Indy 500

Heritage-Inspired Super Sport Roadster Is Prelude to Production Model

Indianapolis -- Representatives from Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced today that the all-new 2003 Chevy SSR will serve as the Official Pace Vehicle for the 87th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

"As we continue to build upon Chevrolet's strong performance heritage, we couldn't imagine a more appropriate venue for us to showcase our new SSR as we near the start of regular production," said Janet Eckhoff, marketing director for SSR and Chevy's mid-size trucks. "This will certainly be another great milestone for the Chevrolet and Indianapolis Motor Speedway record books."

This marks the 14th time a Chevrolet product has served as the official pace vehicle - the most appearances by any brand since the first use of a pacemaker in 1911 - and the first time a truck-based Chevrolet will lead the charge to the green flag.

Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have often been linked together as powerful symbols that stir the imagination of automotive enthusiasts around the world.

"We're pleased that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Chevrolet are continuing this long-time relationship," said Tony George, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "Having the new Chevy SSR leading the field to the green flag on May 25 will certainly contribute to a memorable Indianapolis 500."

This year's edition of the Memorial Day classic will find Chevrolet out to repeat its recent on-track winning performance. The "Bowtie" returned to open-wheel competition in 2002, capturing 14 of 15 IRL events, including the Indy 500, and the series championship. In all, Chevy has won 100 Indy-style races, including seven Indianapolis 500 victories, and six series titles since 1986.

"Everyone at Chevrolet is proud to be associated with the Indy Racing Series and the Indy 500," said Brent Dewar, the recently-appointed general manager of General Motors' largest division. "The SSR is the latest in a series of SS-branded Chevy cars and trucks that will rekindle the fun-to-drive heritage of the Super Sport name. In keeping with our long-term goals, they will be vehicles many people will aspire to own and also be able to afford."

The Chevy SSR that will serve as the Indy 500 Pace Vehicle is virtually identical to the 25 unique 'Signature Series' saleable units to be built before regular retail production and shipment to Chevrolet dealers begins this summer. The Signature Series vehicles will be used to create one-of-a-kind "pedigrees" for each vehicle before they are offered for sale through public or GM dealer auctions during 2003.

"The SSR (standing for 'Super Sport Roadster') is like nothing else in the market today. It's part roadster, part pickup and is a completely innovative expression of Chevy's proud heritage," said Eckhoff. A highlight of SSR's design is a unique one-button power-operated retractable hardtop that stores vertically and out-of-sight between the passenger and rear stowage compartments.

The frame and chassis of the SSR are similar in design to Chevy's mid-size TrailBlazer family of sport utilities. All major exterior panels are of one-piece stamped steel. Under the hood is a new aluminum-block version of GM's Vortec 5300 (5.3-liter) small-block V8 that develops 290 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 325 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm. That power drives the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. Rounding out SSR's sporty street machine appearance are 19-inch front and 20-inch rear tires and wheels.

Two SSRs have been prepared for pace duties:

• The primary pace vehicle emulates the appearance and content of a Signature Series model. When the checkered flag falls, it will be placed on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
  
• The back-up pace vehicle is VIN #4 of the saleable Signature Series model run, carrying the signatures of John Middlebrook, GM Vice President for Vehicle Sales & Marketing, and Mark Reuss, Executive Director of Operations for GM Engineering & Special Vehicles. After the race it will continue to be used in various pedigree-building activities then, like nearly all other Signature Series units, will ultimately be offered for sale through auction.

A third SSR that emulates the appearance and content of a Signature Series model will be on display during the month of May for up-close viewing by visitors to Indy's Hall of Fame Museum. After the May race it will be a welcome addition to GM's historic collection in Detroit.

Few modifications were made to the three vehicles to prepare them for pacing the 33-car field on the 2.5-mile oval. Exteriors receive a subtle silver ghost-flame paint scheme across the hood, front fenders and doors, a safety strobe light bar recessed into the tailgate, polished stock cast aluminum wheels and race event graphics. Inside, racing-type safety belts have been added. Inclusion of heavy-duty engine and transmission oil coolers, higher rate springs and shocks, and a lower restriction exhaust system provide further assurance of optimum performance in the harsh environment of professional racing.

The history of Chevrolet vehicles that have paced the Indianapolis 500, and their drivers:

2002 Corvette 50th Anniversary	(Jim Caviezel)
1999 Monte Carlo SS	(Jay Leno)
1998 Corvette	(Parnelli Jones)
1995 Corvette	(Jim Perkins)
1993 Camaro Z28	(Jim Perkins)
1990 Beretta	(Jim Perkins)
1986 Corvette	(Gen. Chuck Yeager)
1982 Camaro Z28	(Jim Rathmann)
1978 Corvette	(Jim Rathmann)
1969 Camaro SS	(Jim Rathmann)
1967 Camaro SS	(Mauri Rose)
1955 Bel Air	(T.H. Keating)
1948 Fleetmaster	(Wilbur Shaw)

Herb Fishel to Drive Chevy SSR Indy 500 Pace Vehicle

INDIANAPOLIS, March 26, 2003 - For nearly 40 years, Herbert A. (Herb) Fishel, executive director of GM Racing, has been a powerful behind-the-scenes force in American motorsports. On May 25, 2003, Fishel will be on center stage at the world's largest single-day sporting event when he drives the Chevy SSR Official Pace Vehicle at the start of the Indianapolis 500.

"Driving the Chevy SSR Indy 500 Pace Vehicle as I enter the 40th year of my career is a tremendous honor," said Fishel. "I'm going to make the most of this opportunity. If I can take 1,000 people around the track in the month of May, I'll do it!

"When I was growing up in the Carolinas in the '50s, every Memorial Day I would set up a card table in the front yard, take an AM radio out there and have lemonade," Fishel recalled. "I'd sit there and write down the 10-lap results listening to Sid Collins, the voice of the Indy 500. The Indianapolis 500 was the greatest race in the world, and it still is. As a symbol of this country and a symbol of greatness, the Indy 500 is it."

As a youth, Fishel dreamed about an Oldsmobile engine winning the Indianapolis 500, a dream he helped bring to reality in 1997 when a GM-designed Oldsmobile IRL Aurora V-8 powered Arie Luyendyk to victory.

He has played a role in every GM factory engine program at Indy over the last three decades, from stock-block Chevy V-6s and V-8s, the Buick Indy V-6 and the first-generation Chevy Indy V-8 to the IRL Aurora V8 and second-generation Chevy Indy V-8. These GM engines have won 12 of the last 15 Indianapolis 500 races, 63 of 66 IRL races from 1997 through 2002, and a total of 149 races through the 2002 season.

“During Herb’s career at General Motors, he had a greater influence on the Indianapolis 500 than most people realize,” said Tony George, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I am excited for Herb that after 40 years in motorsports with GM, he will have the opportunity to realize a lifelong dream by pacing the Indy 500.

“During the 20 years I have known Herb, I have witnessed many of his contributions to motorsports at Indy, at Le Mans and in Winston Cup. I have personally benefited from his experience, knowledge and guidance, and I am proud that, together with GM, I can help Herb fulfill his dream.”

Fishel is responsible for the engineering resources and program management of GM's North American racing programs. He has been the executive director of GM Racing since the group was formed on Oct. 8, 1991.

Fishel earned his engineering degree at North Carolina State University in 1963, but his preferred place of study was the race tracks that dotted the Southeast. After graduation, Fishel realized his dream of working for an automobile manufacturer when he moved to Detroit to join the Chevrolet drafting department. He was assigned to the Chevrolet Product Performance Group in March 1969, where he began working on major racing programs with many of his childhood heroes, including American racing legends Smokey Yunick and Junior Johnson. By 1973, Fishel was responsible for engineering heavy-duty parts for Chevrolet's high-performance engines.

After a stint at Buick Special Products Engineering (a period in which Buick won consecutive NASCAR championships in 1981-82 and launched its turbocharged Buick V-6 Indy car program), Fishel returned to Chevrolet in 1983 as staff engineer - product promotion, in charge of all Chevrolet motorsports programs. In December 1984 he was promoted to director of Chevrolet Special Products, which became the Chevrolet Raceshop in 1988.

"I have always believed that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between racing and the automotive manufacturers," said Fishel. "That has been a guiding principle throughout my career. What's good for racing should be good for the automotive manufacturers, and what's good in our business should be good for racing. I have always been committed to GM's involvement in the Indy 500."

Fishel has directed GM programs that have won championships in top professional racing series and premier events around the world, including consecutive Le Mans wins with the Corvette C5-R. He played a key role in Chevrolet's unprecedented achievement of nine straight NASCAR Winston Cup Manufacturers' Championships (1983-91) and in GM drivers winning 21 of the 24 Winston Cup titles from 1979-2002. Under Fishel's guidance, GM won the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001, becoming the first automaker to win auto racing's "Triple Crown" in more than three decades.

In 1997, Fishel was named by Hot Rod magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the first 50 years of hot rodding. He has also been recognized by Racer magazine as one of the dozen most influential people in racing. A resident of Clarkston, Mich., his hobbies include collecting racing memorabilia and driving his immaculately restored Chevrolet V-8-powered street rod.

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