Celebrities at Daytona 500: Marshawn Lynch, Jon Gruden, Puka Nacua among stars at NASCAR race

Celebrities at Daytona 500: Marshawn Lynch, Jon Gruden, Puka Nacua among stars at NASCAR race originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Daytona 500 is one of the biggest racing days of the year.

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It generally signifies the start of the Cup Series schedule that runs from February to November. NASCAR has some big events on its race calendar, but it could easily be argued that the Daytona 500 is the biggest.

NASCAR tends to pull out all the stops to make the race feel like the spectacle that it has developed into, and that includes involving celebrities and athletes who are either involved in the pre-race festivities or who are in attendance for the high-octane racing action.

Here is more on the celebrities and athletes at the 2026 Daytona 500.

LIVE: Daytona 500 tracker with race updates and highlights

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Celebrities at Daytona 500

Marshawn Lynch was a dominant NFL running back. He went viral for his press conference answers toward the end of his career, but now, fans are excited to see what side quests the former RB is up to. Lynch was spotted driving a cooler go-kart at the Daytona 500 and was tossing out beers to fans walking by.