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Vince Vaughn named Grand Marshal for Daytona 500

By Stanford Crissey

Feb 23, 2014; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; Aerial view of the driver introductions prior to the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2014; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; Aerial view of the driver introductions prior to the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Actor Vince Vaughn will kick off NASCAR’s biggest event

Vince Vaughn will act as Grand Marshal for the 57th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, the Daytona International Speedway announced on Monday.

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The actor will give the command to drivers to start their engines to kick off the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s best-known event. Vaughn will also take part in pre-race festivities, including a ride in one of the race’s official pace cars before the race begins.

This will be Vaughn’s second time being an honorary part of a NASCAR event.

In 2007, he was an honorary pace car driver at Texas Motor Speedway.

Vaughn is the star of such films as Old School, Dodgeball, and Wedding Crashers, among many others.

In addition to NASCAR, Vaughn has sung “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Chicago Cubs games on several occasions, and is frequently spotted at home games of the Chicago Blackhawks and Notre Dame football. He has also played a Notre Dame football player in Rudy, one of his first film roles.

Vaughn is not the first actor to serve as Grand Marshal. Last year’s Grand Marshal was Chris Evans, a.k.a. Captain America, and previous Grand Marshals have included Matthew McConaughey, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, James Franco and the incomparable Nicolas Cage himself.

Additionally, Kid Rock will perform at the pre-race concert, because he’s Kid Rock, and he probably would have performed even if they hadn’t invited him. Other positions of honor, including the national anthem singer, honorary starter and honorary pace car driver, remain unannounced.

The Daytona 500, a 200-lap, 500 mile race, will take place on Feb. 22.

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