KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Kansas, native and two-time Emmy-winning actor Eric Stonestreet will serve as the Grand Marshal for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR announced Thursday that Stonestreet, who starred as Cameron Tucker on “Modern Family,” will receive the honor before the Cup Series race, which begins at 2 p.m. and will air on NBC Sports.
“We’re excited to welcome Eric home again,” Kansas Speedway President Pat Warren said in a statement from the track. “He’s an incredible actor who has never lost touch with his Kansas City roots, and we cherish his longtime friendship with Kansas Speedway.”
Stonestreet, who turned 50 last month, will give the command for drivers to “start your engines” before the penultimate race in the Cup Series playoffs Round of 8.
Stonestreet, who is set to star in a new show called “Domino Masters,” won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2010 and again in 2012. He was nominated in 2011, but the award went to his “Modern Family” co-star Ty Burrell.
The Piper High School and Kansas State University graduate rose to prominence with a recurring role on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" from 2001-05 and more recently provided the voice for Duke in "The Secret Life of Pets" movie franchise.
Gates open Sunday at 11 a.m. with Mitchell Tenpenny set to perform a pre-race concert at 12:15 p.m.
There are two other races this weekend at Kansas Speedway with the NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at 2 p.m. on Saturday on NBC followed by the ARCA Menards Series Reese’s 150 championship race at 6 p.m.
There will be fireworks after the two races conclude on Saturday evening.
Some tickets for the weekend’s action remain available via the Kansas Speedway website.
