Dirk: “Obviously, Start Your Engines”

Nowitzki is serving as the Grand Marshal for next Sunday’s Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Nowitzki’s role for one of the largest single-day sporting events in the country will be to give the command of “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines,” to the 43-car field.

I wonder how many times he’ll work “obviously” into the start.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to be the Grand Marshal of the 2007 Dickies 500 NEXTEL Cup race,” Nowitzki said. “It is my first NASCAR race and I am very excited to be a part of it.”

Nowitzki won’t have to worry about parking at TMS or traffic getting there. A helicopter will fly him out there that morning.

“It is an honor to have the reigning NBA MVP as the Dickies 500 Grand Marshal, especially with Dirk and the Mavericks opening their season that same week,” TMS president Eddie Gossage said. “I’m sure he will have a keen interest in following former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya during the Dickies 500, and I’m optimistic that the ambiance of the event will impress him in his first visit to Texas Motor Speedway and NASCAR racing.”