Fittipaldi to drive the Indianapolis 500 pace care

One of the great things about covering races is that you never know who you'll meet in the garage. Back in September at Richmond International Raceway, while most people were focused on the race to the Chase, two-time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi was being escorted around by Brent Dewar, General Motors North American Vice-President for Sales, Service and Parts.

Emerson Fitipaldi (pictured with wife) will drive the pace car at this year's Indianapolis 500 Clive Mason/Getty Images

Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, left his pit box to meet Fittipaldi. Jeff Gordon spent almost half an hour talking racing with him. Fittipaldi later said the experience was "very impressive, very technical. It was more than I expected, very precise on detail and fine tuning of the car. Jeff was very specific on everything."

That visit was more than a busman's holiday, because Fittipaldi will be seen by more race fans in the United States this year as pace car driver for the Indy 500 in a concept car -- an ethanol powered Corvette Z06.

NASCAR fans also are likely to see more of the 61-year-old legend, especially at road circuits, where his son-in-law -- Italian-born Max Papis -- will be racing for Rusty Wallace Inc.

At 25, Fittipaldi was the youngest F/1 World Champion (a record since eclipsed by Fernando Alonso at 24). At the height of Fittipaldi's success, he joined his older brother, Wilson, in a primarily Brazilian sponsored team, but it had poor results. Worse, his varied businesses went bankrupt. The resulting financial disaster sent Fittipaldi into retirement from 1981-83.

At 38, he staged a stunning comeback, this time in the CART open wheel series. In 1989, he won the Indy 500 for Patrick Ganassi Racing and -- at 43 -- was hired by Roger Penske, for whom he won Indy again in 1993. Months shy of his 50th birthday, he was still racing for Penske when an accident at Michigan International Speedway finally ended his driving career.

Last weekend, at the AARWBA Annual Awards dinner in Indianapolis, Fittipaldi explained yet another reinvention of himself, as owner of an A1 Grand Prix unit called Team Brazil. Think of the series as an IROC of Formula One-type racers at a fraction of the cost because drivers all race the same equipment.

The series is a kind of Olympic-type contest with drivers scoring points for their country rather than a brand name team. It's a bit of a difficult sell in the United States because the series is road course-based and few of the drivers have star recognition out of their own country. The most recent race in the United States (at Laguna Seca, Calif.) was not a commercial success.

Two things may change that. First, it was recently announced that Ferrari will use its Formula One technology to supply engines and cars at a tiny fraction of the estimated $400 a year F-1 budget. Second, a new feeder series called A2 will enable drivers to race in their own country for a chance to drive in A1.

Why did Fittipaldi get back in the business?

"I cannot be away from this sport, that is my problem," he said. "I love to be racing for Brazil. I love to talk, to my drivers. Sometimes I want to jump in the car."

Next May, at least for one day, he'll be back in a car at a particularly successful venue and he can't wait. "For me, to go back to the Speedway is very emotional, with the 33 cars there behind me and no one can overtake me," he said.

While a few Formula One drivers like the late Ayrton Senna and Germany's Michael Schumacher have overtaken him in the record books, there are only a handful of drivers that are in his class.

If you should see him in the garage be sure to say "Welcome back, Emmo."