TV Icon Drew Carey to Serve as Grand Marshal

Drew Carey

Stand-up comic turned actor and producer Drew Carey will serve as the Grand Marshal for the 2008 Pepsi 500, Auto Club Speedway President Gillian Zucker announced today. The host of “The Price is Right" and star of the long-running comedy “The Drew Carey Show", Carey will give the starting command, “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines", to the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers running in the Pepsi 500 on Sunday, August 31.

“It’s only fitting that one of the biggest stars on television should be giving the most famous command in motorsports," said Zucker. “Drew Carey is a big NASCAR fan, and I know our fans are going to be excited to see him at the track. I hope everyone will listen to Drew and ‘come on down’ to Labor Day’s biggest party."

One of television’s biggest stars, Carey succeeded longtime host Bob Barker on the legendary show “The Price Is Right" after having had the distinction of starring in two hit shows simultaneously: “The Drew Carey Show", which ran from 1995-2004, and the improv/sketch show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on which he was both host and producer.

While in the Marine Reserves, Carey’s military buzz cut and black wide-rim glasses became part of his trademark look. He began his successful career as a comedian in April of 1986 at the Cleveland Comedy Club. One of his first big breaks was competing on "Star Search '88."

In 1991, Carey landed a spot on HBO's "14th Annual Young Comedians Special" and appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Carey landed his own television development deal at Disney, which led to an opportunity for Carey to co-star in the series "The Good Life." Carey also had the opportunity to work with Bruce Helford, who was a consulting writer on the series and hired Carey as a staff writer for "The Gaby Hoffman Show." Their experience led the two of them to decide to co-create “The Drew Carey Show.". Carey also starred in his own comedy special for Showtime, "Drew Carey: Human Cartoon" and performed in Showtime's "Tenth Anniversary of the Montreal Comedy Festival."