Pink is the new red at the Indy 500 this year for an Indy race car owned by Sam Schmidt, right, of Henderson, Nevada.
Schmidt’s driver for the pink car is an Englishman named Alex Lloyd, left, – aka Pink Lloyd – and the No. 99 HER car will start in the middle of the fourth row of the starting grid with an impressive four-lap average qualifying speed of 222.622 mph.
Pink isn’t a new to the venerable Brickyard. In 1955 Bob Sweikert drove a pink car into victory lane. Thirty years later, Emerson Fittipaldi, the two-time Indy winner, made his 599 debut in a pink car. Recently, Jeff Ward drove an Aerosmith-sponsored car that was painted pink mostly to call attention to the rock band’s song of the same name.
Schmidt, who has been coming to Indianapolis as a driver and car owner since 1996, said he never envisioned that Lloyd would qualify for the first day. Nor did he anticipate the torrent of publicity the pink car would receive.
The care was painted pink at the request of sponsor HER – Healthy Energy Revitalizer, an energy drink for women. On race day, HER models will be strutting around the Gasoline Alley pits in skimpy pink uniforms in classic Las Vegas tradition that will make Lloyd’s look pale by comparison.
Think Pink when watching the Indy 500.
Vegas Backstage Access (VBA) 