INDIANAPOLIS -- Jeff Gordon's final race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway comes this summer in the Brickyard 400.
But he'll get to take a few laps ahead of time.
On Wednesday, the track announced that Gordon will drive the Corvette Z06 pace car to begin the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500.
"This is amazing to me," Gordon said. "What an honor it is for me to be here and to come back here in May on race day at the Indy 500 and pace this field to the green in this amazing Z06 Corvette. I don't know how it gets any better than that."
What makes the feat all the more incredible is that the Indianapolis 500 and the 600-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway take place on the same day.
So he'll jump from a Corvette to his No. 24 Chevrolet SS in the same day.
"It's going to be a great day," Gordon smiled. "I'm looking forward to flying in the night before, be here early in the morning, pace the field, watch a few laps with my family and then head to Charlotte for the 600.
"This is my version of the double. I don't know, I think I got the best of both worlds."
Gordon was in Indianapolis for Goodyear tire testing along with approximately a dozen other Sprint Cup Series drivers. So just before Wednesday's announcement, with Gordon already at the track, the five-time Brickyard 400 champion was able to take the Corvette pace car for a spin.
"It truly is an amazing car," he said. "Just right there I had it up over 160 miles per hour and it just felt amazing."
It will mark the 13th time a Corvette has served as the official pace car of the Indianapolis 500 and 26th time a Chevrolet has led the field to green.
Gordon said he's honored to be able to add to that legacy.
"My first car was a Chevy. My second car was a Chevy. And now I get to drive Chevrolets every weekend on the racetrack and win in a Chevy," Gordon said. "To do it here at Indianapolis is the ultimate. There's only one thing that was missing and that was the Indy 500 -- and this is as close as I think I'm going to get.
"But this is pretty awesome."