McConaughey named grand marshal for 500

Actor Matthew McConaughey, who will star in the soon-to-be-released Paramount Pictures movie Sahara, has been named Grand Marshal for the 47th edition of The Daytona 500.

Matthew McConaughey Credit: AP

The "Great American Race" is scheduled to run on Sunday, Feb. 20. has starred in more than 30 films including popular releases such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, A Time to Kill, Contact and The Wedding Planner.

McConaughey will give the command "Drivers, start your engines" in NASCAR's biggest, richest and most prestigious stock car race in the world. His Grand Marshal duties also include leading the 43-car field in the pace laps from the Grand Marshal pace car.

"The stars we have coming to the Daytona 500 get bigger and bigger each year," said Speedway President Robin Braig. "We're excited to have Matthew take part in Daytona 500 pre-race festivities to help kick off what will be an exciting 2005 season."

Based on a Clive Cussler bestseller, Sahara is a modern action-adventure story of NUMA agent (National Underwater Marine Agency) and master explorer, Dirk Pitt (McConaughey), who discovers that thousands of North Africans are being driven mad by something polluting the water.

If unchecked, the entire world population could be threatened.

McConaughey continues the tradition of high-profile celebrities, athletes and politicians that have participated in or attended the Daytona 500, NASCAR's annual season-opening event for its premier racing series.

President George Bush showed up at the 2004 Daytona 500 in which actor, director and writer Ben Affleck served as Grand Marshal. International superstar actor John Travolta served as Grand Marshal in the 2003 Daytona 500 to joining a list of esteemed past Grand Marshals including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Jim Kelly.

LeAnn Rimes sang the national anthem during the pre-race festivities for the 2004 Daytona 500 and Mariah Carey, the biggest selling female pop artist of all time, sang the 2003 Anthem.

Celebrities such as former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, American Idol judge Randy Jackson and action movie star Vin Diesel all have attended NASCAR's most watched race.