Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove pace car for the Daytona 500 & he'll do it again for Sunday's Indy 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the pace car back in February for the start of the Daytona 500. Earnhardt will be behind the wheel of the pace car again for the start of Sunday's Indy 500.

The two-time Daytona 500 champion becomes the first pace car driver for both races in the same season. 

Earnhardt will drive the Corvette Grand Sport Official at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to lead the 33 drivers to the green flag for the 103rd Indy 500 race

While this is Earnhardt's first trip to the Indy 500, it's not his first time driving the pace car at a sanctioned race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He drove the pace car during September's NASCAR Brickyard 400 race.    

Earnhardt opened this year's NASCAR season driving the pace car for the Daytona 500. The Indy 500 is the fifth race of the IndyCar racing schedule. NASCAR races feature stock cars while IndyCar contests showcase open wheel cars.

The Indy 500 had been broadcast by ABC dating back to 1965, but the race will be on NBC in a new three-year contract with play-by-play by Leigh Diffey along with analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy in the booth. Earnhardt and Danica Patrick will highlight their insights and takeaways from the on-track action.

“They'll come to us and just get a genuine reaction of what we think about the event and how it's playing out,” Earnhardt said. 

“That's a little more tricky because you’ve really got to find things that intrigue you, which isn't hard. But I've been on the pit box before during our summer of NASCAR races, and what we've done there is, you're watching the race and you just pull things from what you're seeing that intrigue you, that surprise you. 

The Indy 500 had been broadcast by ABC dating back to 1965, but the race will be on NBC in a new three-year contract with play-by-play by Leigh Diffey along with analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy in the booth.

Earnhardt and Danica Patrick will highlight their insights and takeaways from the on-track action.

“They'll come to us and just get a genuine reaction of what we think about the event and how it's playing out,” Earnhardt said. 

“That's a little more tricky because you’ve really got to find things that intrigue you, which isn't hard. But I've been on the pit box before during our summer of NASCAR races, and what we've done there is, you're watching the race and you just pull things from what you're seeing that intrigue you, that surprise you.