(WSVN) - Pitbull will be the Grand Marshal for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“Who would have ever thought, right? Little Miami boy right here from Little Havana to be able to be involved with NASCAR,” Pitbull said.
The artist isn’t changing careers but he is the new co-owner of the Trackhouse Racing Team with Mexican driver Daniel Suarez.
Suarez was the Xfinity Series champion of 2016.
“There’s no hidden agenda here,” said Pitbull. “You want a winning team, you want to create amazing sponsorship and an amazing organization, but more than anything it was about the initiative to utilize NASCAR and inspire those that would have never got a chance and NASCAR wouldn’t even know about them.”
“I’m just extremely excited to have somebody like Pitbull part of this organization to help us,” said Suarez.
Sitting down with 7Sports, Pitbull spoke about his worldwide brand to attract a new generation of NASCAR fans.
“It’s not just about Latinos, or it’s not just about whether it’s white, Black — anybody that wasn’t really looking at NASCAR like that can go, ‘Wow, now I’m intrigued.’ I love to learn something new every day but in NASCAR, I’m going to be learning a whole lot.”
Pitbull isn’t the first celebrity to get involved with NASCAR.
Last September, Michael Jordan became the co-owner of a new team with driver Bubba Wallace.
“Jordan’s creating awareness, we’re creating awareness, and Jordan is obviously someone that I looked up to in not only fighting and winning in life, more than anything that spirit of, ‘No matter what, we’re gonna make this happen,'” said Pitbull.
Pitbull knows there are skeptics questioning if he can succeed in this sport.
“Being a Miami boy and everything that we’ve done with music, education [and] entertainment, if there’s anything we understand is being underdogs,” he said. “Whether it’s the Heat, the Marlins, the Dolphins or UM, we always find a way to make it happen… Well, the Dolphins, we’re still working on it.”
Pitbull plans on using his NASCAR team to help inspire students at his SLAM Academy schools interested in mechanical engineering.
The Daytona 500 will air on Channel 7 at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
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