Movie star Channing Tatum, a co-star in “Logan Lucky” and the grand marshal of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, met with media prior to opening ceremonies for the 600-mile event.
Tatum plays a prominent role in the film. “Logan Lucky” is a heist comedy filmed at the speedway, directed by Steven Soderberg and slated for release Aug. 18. The film co-stars Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Hilary Swank, Seth MacFarlane and Katie Holmes.
Tatum’s Sunday plans included a visit in the pre-race driver’s meeting and giving the “Drivers, Start Your Engines” command before the race. After having visited the speedway last year to film the movie, Tatum’s return trip gave him another chance to witness NASCAR on a personal level.
“We were shooting the Magic Mike sequel (in 2014) and were planning on writing something about some good old boys and NASCAR,” Tatum said. It was just simple ingenuity. We just wanted to get it done. I thought, “Hey, that sounds fun. Let’s do it.”
Getting to grand marshal (the Coca-Cola 600), getting to see the whole backdrop of it (is amazing). I never really had a relationship with NASCAR other than what you saw on television. It always seemed so big and so grand. When you get to see behind it, there are like NASCAR physicists working on theses cars. It’s pretty fascinating.
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