Daytona 500 green flag will be waved by honorary starter DJ Khaled
They’ve assigned duties for the starting command, handed over keys to the pace car, and now brought in someone to wave the green flag, so it looks like we’re set to roll with Sunday’s start to the 66th Daytona 500.
DJ Khaled, the Grammy-winning producer and DJ, was announced Monday as the honorary starter for the 2024 version of The Great American Race. He’ll wave the green flag as the 40-car field rumbles off Turn 4 toward the start-finish line to begin the first of 200 laps.
Khaled will also partner with Wendy’s, promoting the burger chain’s “Wendy’s Biggie Bag” in promotions you’re sure to become familiar with in the weeks ahead.
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The official, press release-caliber welcoming from Daytona International Speedway: “We always love welcoming back our friends from Wendy’s, and introducing DJ Khaled into the mix as our honorary starter just amplifies an already spectacular list of pre-race dignitaries,” says Speedway president Frank Kelleher.
Kelleher’s “spectacular list of pre-race dignitaries,” previously announced, includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Grand Marshal, newly minted Miss America Madison Marsh as pre-race pace-car driver, and “Mr. Worldwide,” Pitbull, for the pre-race concert.
“I’m looking forward to seeing all the fans at the track and in the infield at the Wendy’s activation. You won’t want to miss it,” Khaled says.
As with the role of Grand Marshal, the honorary starter duties, which began in 1973, have gone to a wide range of people from all over the map of relevance. Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Terry Bradshaw, three Hall of Fame quarterbacks, did it in a four-year span between 1998-2001. Two others, Troy Aikman and Jim Kelly, did it in back-to-back years in 1994-95.
Other starting jobs have gone to actors (Whoopi Goldberg, Ashton Kutcher), a sitting U.S. vice president (George H.W. Bush), former driving greats (including Richard Petty and Bobby Allison), and back in 1975, when he was looking for “the most beautiful girl in the world,” country crooner Charlie Rich came out from "Behind Closed Doors" to wave the green flag.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 gets DJ Khaled as honorary starter as NASCAR season cranks
