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Star watch
Actor Kevin James and LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis were on hand for the Pepsi 400, posing for pictures and signing autographs like many of the drivers.
James, starring alongside Adam Sadler in an upcoming movie titled “I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry,” was the Grand Marshal for the race.
James had plenty of jokes ready for his first visit to Daytona, making light of his pace-car lap around the 2½-mile superspeedway and about his duties that included uttering the four most famous words in racing: “Gentlemen, start your engines.”
“I keep getting stuck after the second one,” James said. “But I think we’re going to have cue cards, right? We’re going to have cue cards, a prompter and somebody prodding me from behind, so I should be OK.
“I hope I don’t screw it up. I hope I don’t let anybody down.”
His Daytona lap sounded even more adventurous.
“I didn’t like it very much,” he said. “It was 140 mph, and the (driver) was talking to me with one hand on the wheel and my (credential) was flapping in his face and he’s not even paying attention and it was a little scary. I immediately went back to the RV and changed and we’re here.”
James and Gulbis backed different drivers for the race. James went with Kasey Kahne after spending a few minutes getting to know him Saturday.
Gulbis stuck with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after spending some time with the sport’s most popular driver.
“We’ll be cheering from the Budweiser suite,” she said.
Foxworthy wins
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy won a celebrity ticket design competition for the Daytona 500, having his artistic vision picked by fans as the one to grace tickets to the 2008 season opener.
More than 40 celebrity designs were submitted, and the field was narrowed to 10 finalists with 120,000 votes. Foxworthy’s design — simple, colorful and patriotic — was chosen over entries from former Daytona 500 winners Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Marvin Panch, legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk, CMT host Katie Cook, NASCAR commentator Mike Joy, 17-year-old Patrick McRae (on behalf of team owner Rick Hendrick) and 7-year-old Derek Wynne (on behalf of former Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson).
All the artwork will be auctioned online to benefit the Jeff Gordon Foundation, which works to better lives of children with life-threatening diseases.
“It’s a great thing to brag about, but you have to break up the sentence a bit,” Foxworthy said. “Yeah, I won the Daytona 500 — ticket design contest.”
Lug nuts
Former New York major and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was an honorary race official for the Pepsi 400. It was his first visit to a NASCAR track, and despite International Speedway Corp. scrapping plans to build a track on Staten Island last year, said New York needed one. “You have to get one of these in New York,” Giuliani said. “You have to.” ... Martin Truex Jr. extended his sponsorship with Bass Pro Shops, announcing a three-year extension Saturday with the primary sponsor for his No. 1 Chevrolet. ... Elliott Sadler started the race without first and second gears.
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