NASCAR tabs Rams star to be Grand Marshal for Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway

Andrew Whitworth is having a phenomenal month. First, the Rams star offensive tackle was selected as the 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award recipient. Then, his team captured Super Bowl 56, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium. Afterwards, the former LSU star enjoyed his first NFL title, celebrating in a raucous parade in Los Angeles.

Now, the celebration continues. Whitworth was selected by NASCAR to be the Grand Marshal for the Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday.

“Andrew Whitworth, a tackle for the Los Angeles Rams and who earned the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, will give command to start engines Sunday in Fontana,” tweeted FOX’s Bob Pockrass.

As NASCAR makes their return to the track, Whitworth will be the one to say the famous words, “Drivers! Start your engines!” No, it won’t be as long as the tear-jerking speech he gave at the NFL Honors. Still, Andrew Whitworth will get the crowd ready for some racing on Sunday in Fontana.

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Could 16-year NFL veteran Andrew Whitworth be considering retirement after the Super Bowl? The 40-year-old Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle seems to be considering it.

“If it is it, man, what a heck of a way to end it,’ Whitworth said.

It would be the perfect way to end his career in the sense that the two teams he’s played for in his NFL career, the Rams and Bengals, squared off to decide Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium.

Younger players dream of playing in the Super Bowl and getting that ring to cement their legacy early on and then let the pieces fall where they may. Veterans like Whitworth dream of being able to retire and having their final game be the one that etched their name in history as a champion.

Moreover, Super Bowl 56 was Whitworth’s 240th NFL game. It’s an impressive feat, especially when you take into account the history he made the second he took the field for his first snap Sunday. He became the oldest offensive linemen to ever play in a Super Bowl at 40 years old.

Whitworth’s place in NFL history is a reflection of an incredible career that began with his Super Bowl opponent. Whitworth was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He then played for Cincinnati until the end of the 2016 season. In 2017, Whitworth joined the Rams and became an instant piece of their playoff hopes. After suffering an MCL injury at the end of 2020, he recovered fully. Now, he has a captured a championship.