Bryan Harsin receives special honor at Talladega Superspeedway

Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin will serve as the honorary pace car driver during Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway, according to a press release. The Geico 500 is one of the sport’s premier events and features past winners such as Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

The event is set to start at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, with a 188-lap race scheduled on the 2.66-mile track in front of a massive crowd. With the new model of the NASCAR cars ready to hit this track for the first time, the result could prove to be as unpredictable as ever.

Bryan Harsin is entering his second season at Auburn and now gets a chance to participate in Alabama’s largest non-football event of the year at Talladega Superspeedway. The Tigers recently wrapped up spring practice with A-Day festivities which provided fans a look at the new roster.

Despite a disappointing end to the 2021 season and a string of offseason controversies surrounding the program, the Auburn Tigers retained several key pieces of the roster and brought in reinforcements through the transfer portal.

Paul Finebaum on Bryan Harsin

Auburn Tigers head coach Bryan Harsin went through the wringer this offseason, not sure if he was going to have a job for the 2022 season or not. After a long month, the situation was resolved and the program decided to keep Harsin but there has to be a sense that he is on thin ice.

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum recently went on the radio to discuss the entire saga and how the Tigers should feel after spring practice. Cole Cubic set up the question by saying he was at the spring game and the overall vibe was positive surrounding Harsin and Auburn. Finebaum said he hoped that was the case but does not know if the head coach will survive if they get off to a rocky start.

“Cole, what you just got through saying, I think is how Auburn feels right now but also think that is a natural reaction,” Finebaum said. “I’ve seen this before and I don’t think it necessarily predicts the future because a football team rallies around its coach. If it didn’t rally around him, then I am not sure there would be any reason for Bryan Harsin to continue based on what we saw at the end of last season and in the aftermath. I think we’re way too far away. Until we get the quarterback situation established and then we see what this new staff looks like and whether this is truly the restart. It looks like a restart.”