Curt Cignetti jokes he had to ‘coach the hell out’ of undefeated Hoosiers to be Indy 500 pace car driver
Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti added another moment to his to-do list Sunday afternoon by jumping into the cockpit of the Indianapolis 500 pace car as honorary driver.
Cignetti was responsible for taking the lead in his US-themed Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X in the 33-car field heading into the 110th running of the signature IndyCar race.
OutKick’s Dan Dakich caught up with the Hoosiers’ head coach at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the race, which saw Felix Rosenqvist earn the closest finish of all time, and asked Cignetti if there was anything people didn’t know about the 2025 team that went 16-0 and won the championship.
CLICK HERE TO GET MORE SPORTS NEWS ON FOXNEWS.COM
Indiana University football coach Curt Cignetti attends the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 24, 2026. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
“I’m going to digress since we’re here. [Indy] 500. I had to coach that team to get to the pace car driver,” Cignetti joked. “Look, we had a great group of kids. When you get 11 people doing their job to a high standard, play and play, you get consistency and performance. They’ve accomplished a lot and you can’t lose a game without winning it. “We made the moves we needed to make and won the close games.”
Dakich followed Cignetti on his latest side mission, a prestigious honor. But this was a game the entire state of Indiana loved to see after leading the Hoosiers to their first national championship in football.
INDIANA COACH CURT CIGNETTI GIVES CAR REPRESENTATIVES A LITTLE SPEED UP AHEAD OF INDIANAPOLIS 500
Over the years, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Ken Griffey Jr. and a star-studded group of honorary pace car drivers was formed, including Michael Strahan. Cignetti, as you would expect, took his role very seriously, starting days before the race to ensure he drove the car very well.
“We reached 177” [mph] We’ll see how it goes yesterday, today,” he told Dakich.
Indiana University football coach Curt Cignetti attends the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 24, 2026. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Cignetti added that he had to go 175 mph, then 190 mph twice, and that the final lap would be “kind of TBD” because he wasn’t sure exactly what the speed would be.
Either way, Cignetti, like his players on the field, made sure he had the best training possible before the big day.
“I did two different sessions,” he told Dakich. “So it took me a while to get to know the track and the car. My biggest problem in the corners is where to work because it’s natural to want to slow down. The car is going to take the corner, so you have to allow it.”
After dealing with rainy weather and numerous caution flags on the track, as the race came to its final lap, Rosenqvist overtook American David Malukas on the final stage to spoil the youngster’s first IndyCar win and claim his first Indy 500 victory.
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti celebrates after defeating the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 19, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Rosenqvist finished 0.023 seconds ahead of Malukas, while Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward finished third and fourth respectively.
