Newly elected Baseball Hall of Fame centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as Honorary Starter of the 58thannual DAYTONA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. at Daytona International Speedway (TV – FOX, FOX Deportes; Radio – MRN Radio, SiriusXM).
Griffey received a record-breaking 99.32 percent of the vote (437 of 440) by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He played 22 seasons – 13 with the Seattle Mariners, nine with the Cincinnati Reds and less than one season with the Chicago White Sox. In his 22 seasons, Griffey was a 13-time All Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and 1997 American League MVP; he is also ranked sixth on the career home run list (630).
“We’re honored to welcome baseball great Ken Griffey Jr. as the Honorary Starter for the DAYTONA 500,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “We’re looking forward to having such a legendary athlete wave the green flag on the first ‘Great American Race’ in the world’s first motorsports stadium.”
The 2016 Hall of Fame Weekend will be held July 22-25, with the annual Induction Ceremony scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 24. Griffey will be the first player to represent the Seattle Mariners organization in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Most recent DAYTONA 500 Honorary Starters include members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (Abby Wambach, Kelley O’Hara and Christie Rampone), NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Richard Petty and actor Gary Sinise.
Tickets for the 2016 DAYTONA 500 and 2016 Speedweeks At Daytona can be purchased online atwww.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.
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