Really? Has the pool of possible grand marshals been completely tapped? See below:Actor John C. McGinley, best known for his role as the sarcastic Dr. Perry Cox on the long-running network comedy "Scrubs," was announced July 16 as the grand marshal for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Don't get me wrong, I'm a big "Scrubs" fan. It's a great show. But is it really such a great show that the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard can legitimately say that one of it's supporting actors is a big enough deal to wave the green flag?
This year will mark the historic 15th running of the race, one of the highest-profile events in all of motorsports, and will kick off a block of 17 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series telecasts on ESPN and ABC.
Is 'Dr. Perry Cox' really a guy who's going to bring in that on-the-fence ticket buyer? Does this race -- one of NASCAR's crown jewels thanks to its location at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- really need an actor who barely makes the B-list?
I suppose, though, IMS didn't have much choice. More than likely, McGinley's selection came from ESPN broadcasting the race. ESPN is owned by Disney who also owns ABC, and that connection likely leads to McGinley because "Scrubs" is now being broadcast on ABC in 2008.
A similar thing happened during the Indianapolis 500 as Julianne Hough sang the national anthem and Kristi Yamiguchi waved the green flag, both of whom were on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars".
Gotta love the cross-marketing, eh?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-18-2008 @ 6:50PM
anna seitter said...
Couldn't they pick a better looking guy to court marshall the allstate 400? Ayayayaya; who the hell is this ugly dude?
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7-18-2008 @ 11:11AM
Maveness said...
Look at the bright side - most folks don't have a clue who the grand marshals are before raceday, and of everybody on Scrubs, he's one of two that would be decent to have at a race. (Donald Faison would be the only one better. Zac Braff would manage to be a total douche.)
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7-18-2008 @ 3:26PM
Tina said...
I would like to see the old timers from nascar being grand marshalls...after all.. they are the reason Nascar is what it is...
and.. I think its sh*tty when they let the VPs and other no namers do anything with the race just because their company sponsors a race...and I absolutely love it when people involved as celebrities with the race... have never been to a race...pick a celebrity out of the crowd.... and give him or her the rights instead...if all else fails.. there are enough terminally ill kids.. kids from Victory Junction Gang who would love to go around and be Grand Marshall....ok am getting off my soapbox now....
GO TONY!
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7-23-2008 @ 4:32PM
jvsiii3 said...
He has been one of the consummate character actors in Hollywood for at least 15 years. He's always a bad/military guy. I can't remember off hand what flicks but he's pretty cool. And now he's a total dominating sarcastic type in scrubs. A total D**k. It's great.
Now what he's doing as a grand marshall? Who knows. I saw The King start the Daytona Busch race a while back and you could barely understand a word he said. But it was something about the Hot Wheels Cars.
Whomever it is just make sure they are intelligible and it's:
"Gentlemen.....START YOUR ENGINES!!!!!"
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