Honda Indy Toronto is pleased to announce that Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd will serve as Grand Marshal to its 2011 event, celebrating 25 years of racing on the streets of Toronto.<\/p>\n
The multi-talented Aykroyd is a comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician and winemaker. He has had an extensive career that includes his role as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live, creator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. An Ottawa native, Aykroyd was made a member of the Order of Canada and has been inducted into Canada\u2019s Walk of Fame, honouring him for his contributions to the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m delighted to be a part of an event with so much history,\u201d said Aykroyd. \u201cI\u2019m a long-time race fan and very proud to be Canadian. It\u2019ll be nice to come home and take in a spectacular day of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series stops in Toronto on Sunday, July 10, Aykroyd will perform the standard Grand Marshal duties that include giving the famous \u201cdrivers, start your engines\u201d command to start the afternoon\u2019s race.\u00a0 Aykroyd will also meet the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, tour the INDYCAR paddocks and take a pace car ride. His participation will also include promotional considerations for his Crystal Head brand of vodka.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are delighted to have Dan on board,\u201d said Charlie Johnstone, Vice President and General Manager of Honda Indy Toronto. \u201cDan has the type of character that resonates with all Canadians. He is a big supporter of events across the country, and he will no doubt make for a great ambassador to the Honda Indy Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aykroyd\u2019s participation is the result of INDYCAR\u2019s increased efforts to elevate the profile of North America\u2019s premier open-wheel racing series.\u00a0\u00a0 INDYCAR Entertainment has worked with promoters in race cities this season to invite celebrity race enthusiasts such as Aykroyd, Gordon Ramsay, Patrick Warburton, Omar Miller, Zach Levi, Jeffrey Donovan, Jillian Michaels and others to illustrate its appeal to mainstream audiences.<\/p>\n
Tickets to the 2011 Honda Indy Toronto, which takes place July 8-10, are available now online at www.hondaindytoronto.com\/tickets<\/a> or by phone at 1-877-503-6869.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About Honda Indy Toronto<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Honda Indy Toronto takes place on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place near Lake Ontario and downtown Toronto. With 25 years of Indy car racing history in Toronto, the Honda Indy Toronto is among the most respected motorsports events in North America and includes the fastest racing series on the planet, celebrity athletes, and a week-long festival of live entertainment and interactive activities. For more information, visit hondaindytoronto.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About INDYCAR Entertainment<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Located in Santa Monica, California, INDYCAR Entertainment manages the rights to use INDYCAR, INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY and the INDY 500 around ancillary programming for both sports and entertainment related properties.\u00a0 It is primarily focused on expanding the reach, awareness and engagement of INDYCAR fans through increased exposure in film and television programming, promotional partnerships with Hollywood, celebrity involvement in the sport and emerging media opportunities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a9 RIF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Honda Indy Toronto is pleased to announce that Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd will serve as Grand Marshal to its 2011 event, celebrating 25 years of racing on the streets of Toronto. The multi-talented Aykroyd is a comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician and winemaker. He has had an extensive career that includes his role as an original …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1634,19,16,41],"tags":[5387,3158,5404,3159,5386,1941,1940,5328],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12887,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886\/revisions\/12887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}