Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen admitted that he felt some nervousness about being the honorary pace-car driver on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mostly, though, he was thrilled to have the unique opportunity to be on the track with professional athletes from another sport — while they were actually in an event.
Olsen was tabbed to lead the field to the green flag prior to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, saying that he got simple advice from pace-car driver Brett Bodine: Set your speed, make your laps, then get out of the way.
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Olsen, who has enjoyed a lot of opportunities to dabble in other sports this offseason, said this experience was special because it puts him on the track with NASCAR competitors.
How does that rank among other things he’s been able to do of late?
“This has to rank pretty high,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to be asked to do a handful of things and go to a lot of events, but to actually be out on the track, the closest thing I could say is if in our Pro Bowl they let Jimmie Johnson or Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. come out and run down the opening kickoff.
“To actually be on the track during the live event, you’re not doing the coin toss, you’re actually on the track with these guys right as the event kicks off, it’s very special access, it’s a very unique setup, to do it here at the All-Star Race, here in your hometown, at night … is a really special thing.”