{"id":436061,"date":"2026-01-27T08:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/436061\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:20:13","slug":"legendary-actor-kurt-russell-lands-daytona-500-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/436061\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Actor Kurt Russell Lands Daytona 500 Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Hollywood actor Kurt Russell has landed the role of honorary pace car driver for the Daytona 500, which will kick off the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-racing-nascar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Russell started his acting career as a child before starring in leading roles in various blockbuster films. His work has included roles in The Christmas Chronicles, The Hateful Eight, Bone Tomahawk, and the Fast and Furious franchise. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">With a career lasting over five decades, Russell&#8217;s NASCAR appearance comes ahead of the release of the second season in the Monsterverse franchise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly exciting to be named the honorary pace car driver for this year\u2019s Daytona 500,\u201d Russell said in a press release. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get back behind the wheel, it\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been in a race car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11419849\" alt=\"\" caption=\"BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 08: Kurt Russell  attends Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation's Pioneer Dinner honoring Kate Hudson at The Beverly Hilton on October 08, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Photo by Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images)\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"5000\" height=\"3334\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2240039355.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cThe Daytona 500 has always been bigger than a race. It\u2019s a global event that blends competition, spectacle, and culture,\u201d\u00a0Frank Kelleher, President of Daytona International Speedway, said in a press release. \u201cKurt Russell\u2019s impact in entertainment mirrors what makes The Great American Race special \u2013 moments that endure long after the checkered flag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Others who have served as honorary pace car drivers at the Daytona 500 include John Cena, Tom Cruise, Jay Leno, and Pete Davidson, among others.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The Daytona 500, dubbed The Great American Race, will take place on Sunday, February 15.<\/p>\n<p>2026 NASCAR Cup Series: Full Calendar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hollywood actor Kurt Russell has landed the role of honorary pace car driver for the Daytona 500, which&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,582,82],"class_list":["post-436061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}