NASCAR at Kansas Speedway: Here are the grand marshals for Sunday’s main event

Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall and Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall will be Sunday’s grand marshals for the NASCAR Hollywood Casino 400 auto race at Kansas Speedway.

The marquee race, presented by ESPN BET, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

“The prestige of earning a gold medal on the world stage is second to none,” Kansas Speedway president Pat Warren said a news release. “We’re honored to have such respected athletes in Tara and Hunter say the most famous words in motorsports before we kick off another race at the most exciting track in NASCAR.”

Davis-Woodhall, 25, is a two-time Olympian. She recently won gold in the women’s long jump at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and was named an assistant track and field coach at K-State last month.

Her husband, the also-25-year-old Hunter Woodhall, is a three-time Paralympian who won gold in the men’s 400 meters in Paris this summer. He was the first double-amputee track and field competitor to earn a Division I athletic scholarship (U of Arkansas, 2016).

NASCAR is back at Kansas Speedway this week for four races over three days:

• Friday, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race

• Friday, ARCA Menards Series race

• Saturday, NASCAR Xfinity Series‘ Kansas Lottery 300

• Sunday, NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400, presented by ESPN BET

Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 is the first race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs‘ round of 12.