Guy Fieri is taking a weekend off of driving the bus to Flavorown to drive the pace car at the 2012 Indy 500. The man with the frosted tips, oft flamed clothing, and propensity for consuming food at diners, drive ins, and budget minded restaurants (see what we did there?) sees this as the opportunity of a lifetime. A confirmed car guy, or a least a guy confirmed to like cars, Fieri has been in the headlines recently when his yellow Lamborghini, which was stolen a year ago was recovered by police. Normally seen tooling around in a Camaro on TV, the Lambo must be his off camera mechanical mistress.
There will be no Lamborghini at Indy for the most totally tubular celebrity chef on basic cable. Instead he will be at the helm of a 2013 Corvette ZR1. The Vette is capable of running 205mph flat out but the speeds on the course at IMS will be significantly lower. The only real way to rate his performance at this gig is to see gauge it on the infamous drive of Eldon Palmer in 1971 when he crashed the pace car into a grandstand of media and VIPs at the end of pit road. The Vette has far better stoppers on it than the Challenger that Palmer was driving, but you get the idea.
The photo below sums up Fieri’s response when told that he got the gig. Reports have him screaming nearly 50 of the overused, tired phrases he normally slings like hash on his show upon hearing the news. Hey, at least he’s not driving a damned Camry hybrid.
(Full disclosure: I ate at Fieri’s original restaurant Johnny Garlic’s a few years ago and it kicked all ass. This may have been before his flamed clothing period.)
Link: Guy Fieri to Drive Indy 500 Pace Car
That’s “on point!”
They say he’s going to throw BBQ spare ribs into the crowd on the pace laps.
Does Fieri even know how to drive. . .on a race track? Or will he be Eldon Palmer, part dos (spanish lingo)?
Hope Guy washes the grease from the rib tips off his hands before jumping in the seat of the plastic pig…..