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Curt Cignetti is not from Indiana. He's spent more him in his life at Indiana University of Pennsylvania than in the Hoosier State. But in just two years, he's made himself a local legend akin to Bobby Knight, John Mellencamp or Dean Norris.
That's because he needed only two seasons to turn Indiana University's football program from gridiron punchline to national champions. The no-nonsense head coach turned in the Hoosiers' finest season since 1967 in his 2024 debut. Just a year later, he turned in one of the finest seasons in all of college football history by being the first team to go 16-0 in more than a century. Indiana claimed an NCAA title, quarterback Fernando Mendoza received the Heisman Trophy and Cignetti, after all this, finally cracked a smile.
Thus, the good people of Indiana have bestowed upon him one of the highest honors a citizen can receive. He gets to drive the pace car at the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
Cignetti will join the ranks of legends like Chuck Yeager, Jim Harbaugh and Josh Duhamel when he takes the passenger's seat in the specially designed two-person open-wheel car for three laps around the Brickyard. He won't be on the track for the fourth, actual pace lap before the race begins at 12:45 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 2026 Indianapolis 500: Curt Cignetti handles pace car duties
Continue reading...
That's because he needed only two seasons to turn Indiana University's football program from gridiron punchline to national champions. The no-nonsense head coach turned in the Hoosiers' finest season since 1967 in his 2024 debut. Just a year later, he turned in one of the finest seasons in all of college football history by being the first team to go 16-0 in more than a century. Indiana claimed an NCAA title, quarterback Fernando Mendoza received the Heisman Trophy and Cignetti, after all this, finally cracked a smile.
Thus, the good people of Indiana have bestowed upon him one of the highest honors a citizen can receive. He gets to drive the pace car at the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
Cignetti will join the ranks of legends like Chuck Yeager, Jim Harbaugh and Josh Duhamel when he takes the passenger's seat in the specially designed two-person open-wheel car for three laps around the Brickyard. He won't be on the track for the fourth, actual pace lap before the race begins at 12:45 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 2026 Indianapolis 500: Curt Cignetti handles pace car duties
Continue reading...
