American motorsport has a long history of illustrious pace cars. The handful of muscle cars that have led the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 grids are typically sold for large sums of money, after being replicated as scale models and toys for those of us with unlarge sums of money.
But what about this one? Leading the 2019 Daytona 500 in February is this, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup.
The US is a country that loves its trucks, of course, but we’re sure there’s an argument against one leading a pack of race cars. At least it’s adequately powered, using a 6.2-liter V8 with 414hp and 623Nm. It’ll be driven by someone who knows the Daytona 500 pretty well, too: two-time race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“Away from the track, I’ve driven Chevy trucks all my life, and I’m excited to have this unique experience of pacing the Daytona 500 with the Silverado,” he says.
It’s Chevy’s 13th Daytona pace car, but the first that isn’t either a Camaro or a Corvette. Will it be remembered anywhere near as fondly?
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
