Rob Gronkowski, Mojo Rawley Named Grand Marshals for Sunday’s NASCAR iRacing Event

Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski will be hosting WrestleMania 36 on April 4 and 5 as part of his new contract with WWE. This will not be the only sporting event featuring an appearance by Gronkowski, however. He and WWE star Mojo Rawley will both be serving as grand marshals for Sunday’s NASCAR “iRacing” event.

Prior to Sunday’s race at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway track, Gronkowski and Rawley will give the command for the drivers to start their digital engines. They won’t be in attendance at a track but will likely give the order from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. The race is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and will air on both FOX and FS1. Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman was the grand marshal for last Sunday’s race, and he did his best Matthew McConaughey while setting the stage for the O’Reilly 125.

Gronkowski and Rowley have been friends for a considerable amount of time, which has been made evident in various settings. For example, the WWE star made an appearance at Gronkowski’s Super Bowl party in Miami, Gronk Beach, and posed with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

Back in 2017, the former New England Patriots star jumped over the barricade and helped Rawley win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. Additionally, Rawley was the one who confirmed Gronkowski would be making an appearance on Friday Night SmackDown after signing with WWE.

“I talked to Gronk earlier today and I’m here to confirm that the rumors are true, baby,” Rawley said. “And whereas nothing is officially signed, what is official is that next week Friday night live on SmackDown, Rob Gronkowski himself will be in the house. Yes, he will be here. He’ll talk about everything that’s on his mind. But hey check this out. Gronk will be here. Mojo will be here. And we’re gonna be hyped, so everybody get hyped.”

With the actual races postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, NASCAR has fully focused on the virtual Pro Invitational Series. The organization has worked with broadcast partners to get the races on FOX and FS1 as opposed to Twitch’s streaming platform. NASCAR also brought in Jeff Gordon and Mike Joy to serve as the commentary duo during the FOX broadcast.

The result of these efforts has been an increasing number of viewers with each passing week. The inaugural Pro Invitational Series race on March 22 drew in 903,000 viewers and then the O’Reilly 125 on March 29 reached a record of 1,339,000 esports viewers.

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