After a weekend with bizarre storylines leaving with teams from Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR heads to the Lone Star State.
All three national series tackle the first road course event of the season at Circuit of the Americas. The NASCAR Cup Series race already contains a lot of hype, with two Formula 1 champions, an IMSA champion and seven-time Cup title victor Jimmie Johnson in the field.
Here’s who will lead up to the hype of the race.
FOX Sports Booth: If you see and hear four commentators in the booth instead of three this weekend, you’re not going crazy. 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch and former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner will be alongside Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer for Sunday’s race.
Invocation: Sage Steele will perform the invocation leading up to the national anthem.
National Anthem: Actor and singer Jaime Camil will be performing the rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at COTA for the Cup race.
Pre-race Concert and Honorary Starter: GRAMMY Award-winner Darius Rucker will perform an hour-long pre-race concert before heading to the flag stand to wave the green flag.
Grand Marshal: Ted Lasso star Brendan Hunt will give the command for Cup drivers to fire the engines.
Honorary Pace Car Driver: Adrienne Palicki will pace the field as the honorary pace car driver. Palicki has starred in movies such as G.I. Joe: Retaliation, as well as television shows like Friday Night Lights and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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