Junior Johnson, who won 50 NASCAR races including the 1960 Daytona 500, will drive the pace car for the start of the 50th edition of "The Great American Race" on Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway.
In addition, seven-time 500 winner Richard Petty, the winningest driver in NASCAR history with 200 career victories, will be the honorary starter.
The 76-year-old Johnson will drive a 2008 Corvette Z06 to get the season-opening event under way.
Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 and named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, Johnson claimed his Daytona 500 win in only his second season in NASCAR competition.
As an owner, Johnson's cars earned 139 victories and six championships in NASCAR's top division.
Daytona also announced that all of its 168,000 grandstand seats have been sold for the historic race, leaving only infield tickets on sale. The crowd is expected to top 180,000.
It's the earliest sellout of the grandstand in modern history, according to speedway president Robin Braig.
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COMING BACK IN A HURRY: Beginning his comeback from serious injuries sustained in a crash last September, 14-time NHRA champion John Force wrapped up an impressive preseason test last week at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., with a quarter-mile run in 4.76 seconds at 327.66 mph.
It was the quickest Funny Car run of the preseason and it sent the 58-year-old Force back to his Southern California home with a lot of confidence for the season ahead.
After a 100-foot checkout run on Jan. 28, Force was clocked in 4.782 seconds on his second attempt. He matched that performance two days later before dipping to 4.76 on his final run on Jan. 31.
"I'm a little rusty (as a driver) because I've never been out of the seat this long," Force said. "But this is the best therapy I've had."
Force's other Fords, driven by his daughter Ashley, son-in-law Robert Hight and rookie Mike Neff, put up more modest numbers, but overall Force was ecstatic with the results.
