Legendary American football wide receiver Jerry Rice and a Toyota representative shared in calling the command to start the engines.
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Next, news anchor Robin Meade performed the national anthem, and former NFL running back Roger Craig and Northern California Toyota Dealer Association's Henry Hansel gave the command for drivers to start their engines.
He was known for being one of only four non-American drivers to have won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (the others being Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Mario Andretti, who won the 1967 Daytona 500), and Marcos Ambrose who won the 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen.
The 1998 race started on ESPN2 because a golf tournament, which aired before the race, was in a playoff.