This year’s Daytona 500 was rescheduled from Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET to Monday afternoon due to inclement weather. As a result, two of the biggest stars from Sunday’s lineup, DJ Khaled and Pitbull, had to drop their plans of showing up on the track on Monday. However, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson didn’t back off and the wrestler-turned-actor seems to have fallen in love with this sport in just one day.
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In a recent social media post, the WWE megastar wrote, “Absolutely incredible energy and mana on the speedway. If y’all haven’t gone to a @NASCAR race, you gotta go!! You’ll feel the chills. #DAYTONA500 #grandmarshal.” As he spoke to Jamie Little of Fox Sports, Johnson revealed the biggest reason why he was so impressed to be at Daytona International on Monday. “They’re all after that shot for greatness,” he admitted with a smile on his face.
When the time came for The Rock to finally fulfill what was expected of him as the People’s Champion and the Grand Marshal, he didn’t disappoint at all. Flaunting black shades and a black tank top, with his tattooed muscles glistening under the post-rain sun, he announced, “In the proud spirit of America and in the proud spirit of our great country, finally, The Rock says, ‘Drivers! Start your engines!'”, and with that, the drivers revved their engines. Unable to contain their excitement, the crowd let out a deafening roar from the grandstands.
The Grand Marshal’s duty was not the sole reason why Dwayne Johnson showed up at Daytona
When it rained out on Sunday, everyone was truly disappointed. After all, the Daytona 500 is oftentimes deemed as the most important race in NASCAR. But the universe works in ways that men cannot always comprehend. Or as The Rock said on Instagram, “Like everything happens for a reason”.
“Happy happy Monday. Sun is out,” exclaimed the Fast and Furious actor. “I got the windows down, sun is out here in Daytona Beach baby. And of course one of my favorite place over there, Hooters. Man, I’m so pumped today.” Now we know that the Daytona 500 wasn’t the only thing that The Rock was interested in. It’s probably the chicken tenders or perhaps even the beer at Hooters. Safe to say, there’s nothing wrong with a huge man like Johnson getting loaded up on chicken and beer before picking up the microphone as the Grand Marshal.
The good news is that Johnson is ready to do it all over again. Later on, expressing his willingness to wear the hat of the Marshal again, Johnson wrote on X, “If you need the People’s Champ again, you know where to find me.”
