It’s been a pretty great year so far as far as NASCAR race appearances are concerned.
We’ve seen plenty of Hollywood stars and other notable celebrities show their faces at tracks around the country over the years, but a large portion of those were typically to push a movie, project or otherwise; rare were the times in which they were simply out there to enjoy the race with nothing specific to promote.
More recently, though, it seems to be a bit more event-based. Sure, the Daytona 500 and the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum draw celebrities due to their status (the former) or their location (the latter), but some races outside of those have hosted big names of their own.
We’ll do an Oscars-themed feature next week in the wake of the 95th edition of the awards, but it’s worth noting who’s walked the grid at tracks so far this year (and who might pop up later on in 2023).
Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum
Aside from a few mainstays — or, at least, past faces that had showed up at NASCAR races, like NFL veteran (turned NASCAR advocate and avid iRacer) Bernard Pollard — the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum featured a host of celebrities.
Some returning stars included Michael Rooker, most notable in racing for his role as Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (but also for wearing a City Chevrolet hat in F9); Danny Trejo, who has nearly 300 movie credits to his name, chief of which include Heat, From Dusk Till Dawn, the Machete franchise and two of Robert Rodriguez’s three Mexico Trilogy films (Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico); and Joel McHale of Community fame, who served as the voice of driver introductions.
Rooker is no stranger to NASCAR races, having been the honorary pace car driver at Richmond Raceway’s 2018 spring race. Trejo waved the green flag at Auto Club Speedway last year, and McHale did a prerecorded bit with Daniel Suarez that aired before the Clash last year.
Frontstretch‘s Michael Massie and Dalton Hopkins caught up with McHale, Rooker and Trejo in LA.