Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin, all of whom will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2017, will serve as Grand Marshals for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 4. Accompanied by Bojangles’ CEO Clifton Rutledge, the three legends will give the command to start the engines for the iconic race – one that will again feature ‘throwback’ paint schemes honoring NASCAR’s storied history and heritage. Childress and Hendrick are two of the most successful owners in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history, and their combined seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars will each feature special paint schemes for the race. In a 31-year career, Martin won 40 career NASCAR premier series races, including the 1993 and 2009 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He also won eight NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Darlington, which is still the most in series history.(Darlington Raceway)
