FORT WORTH, Texas (April 6, 2017) – Legendary musician Ozzy Osbourne and nationally acclaimed sports talk radio and TV personality Jim Rome highlight the honorary positions for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Ozzy Osbourne and his son, Jack, will serve as Honorary Race Directors that will include the command of “Drivers To Your Cars” and riding in one of the official Chevy SS pace cars that will lead the field to the green for the start of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Osbourne, known as “The Prince of Darkness” rose to prominence in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career. He has released 11 studio albums, including the first seven going multi-platinum, and his combined album sales between Black Sabbath and his solo work exceed 100 million. As a member of Black Sabbath, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He also went on to become a reality television star, appearing as himself in the MTV reality show The Osbournes that included his son. He and Jack currently are appearing in Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour that airs on the History Channel.
Rome will handle the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Grand Marshal responsibilities and give the command to the drivers to start their engines.
Rome hosts the “The Jim Rome Show” that is syndicated by CBS Sports Radio as well as an interview-format show on the Showtime cable channel. His radio show ranks among the top 25 for the most listened to talk radio shows in the United States.
For a number of years, Rome hosted the cable television show Jim Rome Is Burning on ESPN until 2011 when he left the sports network to join the CBS Network. He also previously hosted sports talk TV shows such as Talk2 on ESPN2, The FX Sports Show on FX and The Last Word on FOX Sports Net.
Bridgestone Corporation Regional Manager Derek Wessels will wave the green flag as the Honorary Starter for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, the seventh race in the 36-event Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 will begin at 12:30 p.m. CT and be broadcast live on FOX, national radio partners PRN and Sirius XM Channel 90 as well as locally on 95.9 FM The Ranch.
Tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 are available by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 817.215.8500.
