Ken Griffey Jr. got to wave the green flag at the Daytona 500
It makes sense that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be at the Daytona 500. He is, after all, a championship driver. But it turns out he wasn't the only Junior there:
.@Mariners #24 great Ken Griffey, Jr. is here at #Daytona500
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) February 21, 2016
An omen for #24 of @chaseelliott? pic.twitter.com/daAYWZQRWa
And Earnhardt was a little nervous to actually meet the other one:
I shook his hand. My mouth wouldn't work though. It was a little awkward. https://t.co/JQZAYYS8KZ
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 21, 2016
The Kid even got to wave the green flag to kick off the race (which was eventually won by Denny Hamlin by inches):
It turns out that Griffey's NASCAR connections run deep:
But he wasn't the only baseball player there. Apparently Earnhardt got his mouth to work by the time he met Bryce Harper:
Earnhardt was so excited that he was tweeting about it the day before:
Im probably gonna get in trouble for this but @Bharper3407 is gonna come check out the race. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/Cyjsjs2pEB
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 21, 2016
The Daytona 500 is clearly where all the cool people go to hang out on one very specific Sunday afternoon. Here's Bryce with CrossFit champion Rich Froning:
Carlos Gonzalez was there, too!
Pre-race family time with @juanpagalavis and @CarGoMedia5 #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/lj5WqRYgsZ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 21, 2016
Even astronaut Buzz Aldrin stopped by:
Buzz is in town. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/bUMsELZwvz
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 21, 2016
At the #DAYTONA500 & said @NASCAR drivers will be going fast but not 25,000 mph fast like I did going to the moon. pic.twitter.com/MMawtvCuhQ
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) February 21, 2016
We hope he, Harper and Griffey bonded over the fact that they have all been involved in launching things into space.
