2025 could be the year for female basketball collaborations with Nascar.
The sports of stockcar races and female basketball are crossing the roads again this weekend in Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, where the superstar of Lsu Flau’jae Johnson waves the honorary headline of the green flag.
“Getting to greet the green flag in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 400 is an honor,” said Johnson, according to the daytone Beach News-Journal. “I am excited to be part of something so legendary and bring my energy to the track. This will be a time to remember.”
It is not the first time that someone from female university basketball has helped start a career on one of the iconic sport clues. In 2022, just winning his second national championship, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, led the Darlington rhythm car.
Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Johnson has established himself as one of the faces of female university basketball that goes to his season in LSU and will probably be a lottery selection in the Draft of the WNBA of 2026. The 5-foot 10-inch Guard rebounds. 2.5 assists and 1.5 robberies per game. The other was the star of the USC Juju Watkins.
Johnson is, or the course, also a rapper who is signed with the Roc de Jay-Z nation. This opportunity for Daytona is the last chance to be in the center of attention. She also has null offers with JBL, Taco Bell, Powerade and Puma.
The three-time All-Sec selection, Johnson was starting in the LSU team that the national title won in 2023. Los Tigres, then largely driven by Angel Reese, passed an Iowa team led by Caitlin Clark in Dallas, Texas. Clark’s similarity was on the hood of a case last year, when Josh Berry’s journey, sponsored by Panini, the Brickyard directed.
While Johnson will greet the green flag, the WWE star, Rey Mysterio, will serve as a great marshal and give the call to “start their engines.”
“King will surely bring his high flight energy that gives the order to start the engines, while Flau’jae greets the green flag with passion under the lights,” said Speedway president Frank Kelleher, in a press release. “His stellar power will prepare the stage for an unforgettable night at the World Racing Center.”
This race is significantly in Nascar’s calendar, since it is the last before the playoffs begin. The pilots anxious to enter the postseason field of 16 cars will fight for their position in the second race of the season at the iconic Speedway. William Byron – Chevy Driver No. 24 and winner of the regular season championship – The Daytona won 500 in February.