UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate will serve as the grand marshal for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on June 12 at Michigan International Speedway.
Tate will give the command of “Drivers, start your engines!” to the 40-car field when the FireKeepers Casino 400 that will be broadcast live on FS1.
Tate claimed the bantamweight title in stunning fashion on March 5, defeating then-champ Holly Holm with a rear-naked choke in the fifth round of UFC 196 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Tate is represented by KHI Management, the marketing agency owned by driver Kevin Harvick and his wife, DeLana. She will defend her title for the first time on July 9 in Las Vegas against No. 4-ranked Amanda Nunes at UFC 200.
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“I’m excited and honored to be the grand marshal for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway,” Tate said. “There are a lot of things I look forward to doing at the track, but to give the command to start the engines is at the top of my list for sure.”
“We are thrilled to have Miesha Tate serve as the Grand Marshal for the FireKeepers Casino 400,” track President Roger Curtis said. “A lot of our guests are fans of the UFC; I certainly am. And it will be exciting for us to share all the great things about NASCAR at Michigan International Speedway with her and really treat her to a thrilling event in our ‘octagon.’ ”
“Miesha Tate packs a powerful punch, so she is the perfect grand marshall for the first FireKeepers Casino 400,” FireKeepers Casino Hotel President/CEO Brian Decorah.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series goes to Michigan International Speedway twice in 2016. The first of the track’s two NASCAR weekends is June 10-12 with the Corrigan Oil 200 ARCA Racing Series on June 10; NASCAR XFINITY Series Menards 250 presented by Valvoline on June 11; and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 on June 12.
(Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com)
