When a grand marshal is usually announced for a NASCAR race, it’s normally an actor promoting a movie or an executive for a race sponsor no one remembers once the green flag drops.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will have a grand marshal to remember for its season finale in the Elite 1 series.
Jeff Gordon, four-time Sprint Cup champion and 93-time winner, will give the command to start engines for the race at Zolder Circuit in Zolder, Belgium on Oct. 9.
“I’ve been to Zolder before, and I am really looking forward to seeing the NASCAR Euro Series race there,” said Gordon in a press release. “I’ve become friends with (series points leader) Anthony Kumpen and I’ve heard great things about the series popularity. I’m looking forward to seeing it first hand.”
Belgium is also the home country of Gordon’s wife of 10 years, Ingrid Vandebosch.
The Elite 1 series is the one that NASCAR Next member Alon Day competes in and has three wins.
“This is a great honor for everybody involved in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series,” said Jerome Galpin, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series President / CEO in the release. “We are extremely proud to be part of the NASCAR family. We have developed a really amazing relationship in few years. Our drivers receive a great welcome every time they race in the USA and we are pleased to welcome more and more drivers and personalities visiting us from the USA. This Atlantic ocean becomes definitely smaller day after day.”
Gordon’s trip to Zolder comes a week after earning a top-10 finish at Dover International Speedway in a substitute effort in the No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gordon is scheduled for one more start in the Sprint Cup Series this year at Martinsville Speedway, where he won last year before retiring from full-time racing.