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Brickyard 400 Tribute: 1994 Chevy 2500 Pickup

The world of pace car tribute vehicles and special edition homages to national racing events is a murky one, filled with lone wolf dealerships that create their own models in an attempt to cash in on racing fever. Whether this 1994 Chevrolet 2500 pickup is such a vehicle is up for debate, as is whether it was actually used in pit lane at the inaugural running of the Brickyard 400 in 1994. The 2500 was used as a tow rig and general pit lane appliance, but I suspect this one here on craigslist is the creation of a dealership with access to a printing shop.

Now, I could be wrong and Chevrolet may, in fact, have produced a limited run of tribute trucks to the ones that were busy hauling wrecks of the track that day. I can’t find any info to confirm either way, so feel free to call me out on that point. Given GM’s history of salivating at the chance to create a replica or some other special edition, however, I can’t help but feel pretty confident this is an ordinary Chevy 2500 with a graphics kit on the doors. With 142,000 miles, it certainly hasn’t been kept in a museum display.

And that’s totally fine. At the end of the day, it seems silly to buy a truck and never use it simply because it has some special graphics on the doors. The truck itself appears to be in nice shape, although the bench seat has seen better days. It looks like it may have leather, which could have been an upgrade offered in a special edition Brickyard tribute model, which isn’t hard to do if you’re looking for a way to move some inventory while race fans are chomping at the bit to get a piece of that sweet Brickyard 400 action.

Image courtesy of https://pontiacracing.wordpress.com/

Pictures are scarce, but here you can see one of the actual trucks that worked the course in the days leading up to the first-ever Brickyard 400. The graphics match up, which make it seem more than likely that Chevy sanctioned a replica truck offering rather than this being a case of a solitary dealer. Of course, the collector value lies with vehicles like this actual tow truck that did track duty at the event, and I’d love to know where those vehicles are now. Can you picture yourself in a Brickyard Service Truck like this one? Thanks to Barn Finds reader Ian C. for the find.

Comments

  1. Avatar Ian C

    I tend to lean more to the side of it being an actual “service truck”. When I was going to nascar races, the tracks seemed to have a fleet of vehicles that I assume were on loan or given to them by one of the big manufacturers. GM’s products were the most common I have seen. In the mid 90’s or so, Martinsville had several Pontiac cars and GMC trucks that were roaming the facility with the speedways stickers on them. My mom even went to look at a red 93+/- TransAm T-top car they were selling when it was a handful of years old. It only had a couple thousand miles on it. Sure wish she would have bought it!

    I am not saying that is 100% the case with this truck…. just saying that I see it being quite possible.

    Like 1
  2. Avatar Bill

    That seat is out of a 1995 and newer GM truck. Leather was never offered in the 1988 – 1994 trucks!

    Like 3
  3. Avatar Comet

    I hope nobody pays a premium for this truck over any other comparable 3/4 ton truck with 142000 miles. I can’t believe those “tribute” stickers would add a dime of additional value. No harm though, nothing that couldn’t be corrected with a heat gun and a dull putty knife.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Elroy

    These trucks would usually end up at dealerships fairly quickly after they were used with a couple hundred miles on them. Sometimes the dealer would leave the graphics on, sometimes they would take them off. All dependent upon what they thought would sell in their particular market. This still happens today with the parade trucks and track service vehicles. It probably is a legitimate track service vehicle, unfortunately for the seller, it doesn’t really add much to the value over any other ’94 Chevy truck.

    Like 0

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