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Talladega names pre-race officials:

Two prominent individuals making a positive impact in the state of Alabama will serve in honorary capacities during Talladega Superspeedway’s Aaron’s Dream Weekend. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will be the Grand Marshal for this Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup Series race and will give the most famous command in all of motorsports - “Drivers, Start Your Engines.” Auburn University Head Football Coach Gus Malzahn will serve as the race’s “Honorary Pace Car Driver,” leading the field of NASCAR’s best drivers during the pre-race pace laps. Since he was elected in 2010 as the 53rd Governor of the State of Alabama, Governor Bentley, who will give the drivers’ command from the start/finish line, has been committed to creating jobs for the people of Alabama. In January of 2001, the unemployment rate was 9.3% but had dropped to 6.3% in July of 2013. Malzahn will be driving Talladega Superspeedway’s official Ford Fusion pace car for the Aaron’s 499 around the 33-degree banked turns of the track’s 2.66-mile layout. He received national acclaim for overseeing one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history last year. Inheriting a team that didn’t win a game in the Southeastern Conference in 2012, Malzahn led the Tigers to the SEC title and a trip to the BCS Championship Game.(TSS)(4-28-2014)