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Things just have a way of being a whole lot bigger at the annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 -- the fun, the stakes, the wrecks and, now, the fans.
Rob Gronkowski, the 6-foot-6, larger-than-life personality and Super Bowl-winning tight end for the New England Patriots, is out in full force at Daytona International Speedway and he's brought the party with him.
"Just enjoying it, seeing everyone pre-game, tailgate, talking to everyone. Just having a blast so far," Gronkowski told media ahead of the "Great American Race."
"It's my first Daytona 500. Having a great experience and just having a blast," Gronkowski said. "I've never really gotten to tailgate, never got to run around, so it's cool to run around, meet people, enjoy the atmosphere and seeing how it really goes down outside the stadium when everybody is getting prepared for the big event."
Gronkowski, a Monster Energy athlete, pulled double-duty as pace car driver and grand marshal at Chicagoland Speedway in 2015, and has taken to NASCAR and its "strong" drivers and "passionate" fans since.
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"I've been to Chicagoland one or two years ago and I see the fans and I see how passionate they are about the racing," said Gronkowski. "It just puts a new level of respect to the game. To be out there for three or four hours, being able to race that long, (drivers have) got to have that mentality, that strong mentality in your mind to just keep on going, keep on driving and doing everything right, every single turn.
"It's just critical, so you've got to give huge respect to the drivers on what they do and how focused they are throughout the three hours."
With a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series shirt on his back and a Monster Energy drink in his hand, Gronkowski was asked which he was a bigger fan of -- the drink or the trademark Monster Energy girls.
"I'm a fan of both (Monster Energy drink and Monster Energy girls)," he said. "I've got my own drink, too, I make the girls drink my own drink so I get the benefit of both."