Kirk Ferentz, Caitlin Clark ready for ceremonial pre-race INDYCAR roles
“Drivers, start your engines!”
For racing fans, that’s about as iconic of a phrase as you can get. As the NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader descends upon Iowa Speedway for the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend, a pair of Iowa Hawkeyes will get the chance to utter those famous words.
Iowa women’s basketball megastar Caitlin Clark will give drivers the command to start their engines as the grand marshal of the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart on Saturday, July 22. Hy-Vee CEO Jeremy Gosch will wave the green flag to start that 250-lap race.
Live coverage of the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart begins at 2 p.m. on NBC and Peacock and 1:30 p.m. CT on the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Clark also has autograph sessions slated for 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday and from 10-11 a.m. CT on Sunday.
Collegiate Women Athlete of the Year ✔️
Naismith Player of the Year ✔️
Grand Marshal for the #HyVeeHomefront250 🔜
@CaitlinClark22 will serve as Grand Marshal for Saturday's race! pic.twitter.com/OMKR1uWaGd— Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend (@INDYCARatIowa) July 19, 2023
Then, on Sunday, July 23, longtime Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz will give the command to start engines before the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade. Ferentz will be joined by music superstar Ed Sheeran who will wave the green flag to start the 250-lap race.
The Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade will be broadcast live at 2 p.m. CT Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Clark and Ferentz need no introduction for Hawkeye fans. Clark is the reigning Naismith College Player of the Year and guided the Hawkeye women to the brink of a national championship.
During Iowa’s run to the national championship game, Clark became the first player in women’s NCAA Tournament history to register back-to-back 40-point games. She became the first player in Division I women’s basketball history with more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season.
Meanwhile, Ferentz is Iowa’s all-time wins leader with 186 triumphs during his time in Iowa City. He has also been named Big Ten Coach of the Year on three different occasions and has multiple national coach of the year honors.
Under Ferentz’s direction, Iowa has received 20 bowl invites. Iowa has also had 11 Hawkeyes earn national Player of the Year honors and seen 25 chosen as first-team All-Americans.
A number of other stars will perform over the course of the weekend at Iowa Speedway as well. Country music stars Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band will all be in attendance.
On Saturday, Underwood will perform before the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 and Chesney will perform afterwards. Then, on Sunday, Zac Brown Band will perform prior to the Hy-Vee One Step 250.
Ed Sheeran will conclude the weekend’s festivities with a performance following Sunday’s race.
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