INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, June 2, 2023) – Actor Luis Da Silva Jr., one of the stars of the summer blockbuster film “Fast X,” will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 4, leading the full field of drivers to the green flag of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES street circuit race.
Da Silva plays Diogo in “Fast X,” the 10th main installment in the wildly popular “The Fast and The Furious” series by Universal Pictures.
An elite high school basketball player in his native Elizabeth, New Jersey, Da Silva’s life changed forever at age 18 when he was spotted for his basketball talent when walking into an open audition for a Nike basketball commercial. He became the focal point of the now iconic “Nike Freestyle” campaign, leading to appearing on the cover of Time magazine and the front page of The Wall Street Journal.
Da Silva then set his sights on Hollywood. His natural acting talent drew almost immediate work, as he starred alongside Academy Award winner Jodie Foster and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard in “The Brave One” in 2007.
That performance led to multiple projects over the next few years before landing the breakout role in 2011 of Diogo in “Fast Five,” the fifth installment of “The Fast and the Furious” series. He also performed alongside Johnny Depp in “21 Jump Street” in 2012.
Since then, Da Silva has appeared in films with many of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Ruby Rose, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul and John Travolta.
INDYCAR’s Fastest Seat in Sports is a high-speed, high-octane, super-charged thrill ride in a custom INDYCAR SERIES car with a special back passenger seat. At almost every race on the schedule, the car advances the field of drivers to the start/finish line to signify the beginning of the race, with a special passenger in the guest seat. Previous participants in the Fastest Seat in Sports include Lady Gaga, NBA champions Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, Olympic gold medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Lilly King, actors Simu Liu and Channing Tatum, and many others.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES represents the ultimate challenge in racing, with drivers competing at speeds of 200+ mph across a demanding set of ovals and road and street courses.
