Tua Tagovailoa and Jonathan Vilma named honorary officials for Dixie Vodka 400

NASCAR announced on Thursday that football standouts Tua Tagovailoa and Jonathan Vilma were named as honorary officials for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both have ties to Miami; Tagovailoa plays for the Miami Dolphins, while Vilma is a native of The Magic City and attended the University of Miami. He is currently a Fox NFL analyst.

“Having Tua and Jonathan join us for this special weekend is a true honor, and we are thrilled to host them,” said Homestead-Miami Speedway President Al Garcia in a NASCAR release. “Tua helped to return the Dolphins to their winning ways last year, and Jonathan was a key member of several successful University of Miami teams, continuing the school’s tradition of greatness. We know that many NFL players have recently taken a vested interest in NASCAR, and we are happy that both will have the opportunity to see just how exciting our sport can be.”

🌴 The good life ... It feel like @HomesteadMiami 🌴 pic.twitter.com/vnL2JcdCER

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 23, 2021

Tua Tagovailoa and Jonathan Vilma have important traditional roles

Tua Tagovailoa was named the Grand Marshal and will give the “Drivers, Start Your Engines!” command virtually. Vilma will be in the starter’s stand and will wave the green flag to start the race. The Dixie Vodka 400 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX/MRN-Sirius XM Channel 90) will close out the weekend of action at the Miami venue following Saturday’s Xfinity Series Contender Boats 250 (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1/MRN-Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

Jonathan Vilma. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Tua Tagovailoa is one of the NFL's bright stars

Tua Tagovailoa, who will turn 23 on March 2, was selected fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft and was 6-3 in nine starts for the Dolphins last year. Drafted out of the University of Alabama, he set single-season records as a sophomore in 2018 with 43 touchdown passes and 3,966 passing yards. His 2019 season was cut short after suffering a hip injury, although, that did not hurt his draft status. You can see Tua Tagovailoa college statistics at Sports Reference.

.@MiamiDolphins QB @Tua Tagovailoa has been named Grand Marshal for Sunday's race at @HomesteadMiami. @NFLonFOX's Jonathan Vilma will serve as Honorary Starter. pic.twitter.com/9wwAG2beuo

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 25, 2021

Vilma, 38, was a vital member of the University of Miami defense as the Hurricanes won the 2001 National Championship. Originally drafted by the New York Jets in 2004, he played ten seasons in the NFL and was an integral part in helping the New Orleans Saints to their only Super Bowl victory in 2009. Vilma went on to become a college football analyst for ESPN and ABC and is currently an analyst on Fox Sports broadcasts with play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert.