Johnny Bench, Bob Kesling to serve as Co-Grand Marshals of Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

Honorary roles for the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway have been announced. There are some heavy hitters in the bunch.

Johnny Bench will serve as co-Grand Marshal for the race with Bob Kesling, who is the Voice of the Vols. Bench, of course, is a famous former Major League Baseball star.

He won 10 Gold Gloves and has been dubbed by ESPN as ‘the greatest catcher in baseball history.’ Johnny Bench was also a 14-time All-Star.

The race will also pair Vol Network executive Steve Early with the other honorary figures. Early will serve as the Honorary Starter.

There is some obvious crossover from a marketing standpoint between the sponsors for the Food City 500 race and the Tennessee athletic program. An official release announcing the honorary figures for the race explained in more detail.

“Food City is proud to be the official supermarket of Bristol Motor Speedway and University of Tennessee Athletics, and we’re excited to bring those two long-time partnerships together for the upcoming race weekend,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer. “We have an all-star lineup scheduled to kickoff Sunday’s Food City 500. Baseball Hall of Famer, Johnny Bench, and Bob Kesling, Voice of the Vols, will serve as our event co-Grand Marshals and Steve Early, VP/GM of the Vol Network will be our Honorary Starter.”

Bench is obviously the headliner for the NASCAR Cup Series race. He’s a bona fide superstar.

During his MLB career, the Cincinnati Reds won two World Series titles, as well as six division titles and four National League pennants. Bench had 2,048 hits, 389 Home runs and 1,376 RBIs in his career.

The honorary starter for the NASCAR race at Bristol chimed in on his selection. He was honored.

“The excitement of Bristol is like no other,” Bench said in a press release. “I have experienced the action and found myself mesmerized by the drivers and their ability to race on a track like no other. The crowd was on the edge of their seats and the thrills were nonstop. Food City, I’m honored to be a part of it.”