Corvette Racer Andy Pilgrim Pushes OnStar’s Buttons

Anyone who has followed Corvette Racing since its inception will fondly remember Andy Pilgrim’s name. The wheel was securely in his hands (driving also shared with Ron Fellows) when fledgling Corvette Racing won its first win at Texas Motor Speedway back in 2000, but Andy has been winning at driving Corvettes since the Corvette Challenge days within the C4 era.

Andy cut his teeth in the super-competitive Corvette Challenge series and has shared wheel time with some of the greatest names in racing and in various brands within the Blue Box..

Since then, Andy has shown his acumen for driving by finding himself on the podium at the wheel of various GM vehicles. He is even honored to be a member of the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame. It can be argued that the C5 and later generations of Corvettes are quicker around the track, thanks at least in part, to Andy’s pushing the car to its limits in competition and track days.

In fact, he pushes this 2019 ZR1 so fast, that OnStar, GM’s services and safety provider has a hard time keeping up. Originally designed to assist in the event of an accident or other out-of-the-ordinary occurrence, OnStar has evolved to use various sensors throughout the vehicle to determine whether the occupants of the vehicle need assistance. If sensors show unnatural levels of g-forces, vehicle yaw, speed or  any combination thereof, they system is designed to trigger a call center that can dispatch the necessary emergency services.

In Andy’s case, he hardly needs any assistance from a head-set wearing, call-center attendant. He’s merely driving one of Chevrolet’s latest supercars around the NCM Motorsports Park’s track when somehow, the OnStar system sees his driving as “eventful” enough to merit a quick chat with not one, not two, but three different attendants during a hot lap session. Andy is a contributor to Automobile magazine and he shared the video with them recently.

Take a peek for yourself and try and figure out what caused the car to think that it had already crashed. Also, take note of how calmly Andy diffuses the situation and assures the caller that he’s okay, the car is okay, and by all means, don’t send the police! Lol..

Folks inside GM have explained that through all of their on-track testing of the supercar, they were not able to induce the car to reacting in such a way and have only experienced this when the car is being piloted by Andy around the NCM Motorsports’ track. That’s likely a good thing, as a mere mortal driver may have a bit more difficulty explaining their actions while trying to cut a perfect apex at speed.

About the author

Andy Bolig

Andy has been intrigued by mechanical things all of his life and enjoys tinkering with cars of all makes and ages. Finding value in style points, he can appreciate cars of all power and performance levels. Andy is an avid railfan and gets his “high” by flying radio-controlled model airplanes when time permits. He keeps his feet firmly grounded by working on his two street rods and his supercharged C4 Corvette. Whether planes, trains, motorcycles, or automobiles, Andy has immersed himself in a world driven by internal combustion.
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