Stewart Named Grand Marshal For NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

The historic Charlotte Motor Speedway is no stranger to star power, and Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the biggest All-Star event in sports, will be no different, with dignitaries including three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, American Idol Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson, NASCAR car owner Joe Gibbs and Michael Miess, the president of the North and South Carolina Region for Sprint.

Stewart, who will make his final NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race start, will serve as Grand Marshal from the cockpit of his No. 14 Chevrolet. American Idol Season 13 winner and North Carolina native Johnson will sing the national anthem prior to the beginning of the race, and Miess will be the Honorary Starter for what promises to be an exciting battle among NASCAR’s brightest stars for a $1 million prize.

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Stewart, who won the 2009 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in his first try as a driver and car owner for Stewart-Haas Racing, has raced at the iconic 1.5-mile superspeedway since 1997. Sprint invited Stewart as a salute to the legendary driver’s final Sprint Cup Series season.

Johnson, an Asheville, North Carolina, native, emerged from the 13th season of American idol as the winner and has since gone on to find commercial success as a singer and songwriter. Johnson’s debut rock album, “Testify,” peaked at No. 24 on the U.S. charts.

Miess, who joined Sprint in December 2015, is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a Master of Business Administration from East Carolina University. He is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Gibbs, the founder and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing – one of NASCAR’s most accomplished teams – has won four Sprint Cup Series titles as a car owner and three Super Bowls as an NFL head coach. Gibbs owns four Sprint Cup Series teams, the cars of which are driven by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch.

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