LSU star provides a NASCAR crossover with women’s college basketball at Daytona

2025 might be the year for women’s basketball collaborations with NASCAR.

Mostly, those relationships have surfaced in the form of paint schemes. Alex Bowman drove a car at Homestead in Miami with the logo of Unrivaled plastered across the door. At the Brickyard 400 this year, Ryan Preece’s car featured the likeness of Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas. And in the All-Star race, Carson Hocevar’s ride featured the Indiana Fever’s logo.

The sports of stockcar racing and women’s basketball are crossing paths again this weekend in Daytona at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, where LSU superstar guard Flau’Jae Johnson will wave the green flag as the race’s honorary starter.

“Getting to wave the green flag at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is such an honor,” Johnson said, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “I’m hyped to be part of something this legendary and bring my energy to the track. This is going to be a moment to remember.”

It’s not the first time that someone from women’s college basketball has helped start a race at one of the sport’s iconic tracks. In 2022, fresh off winning her second national championship, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley drove the pace car at Darlington.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Johnson has established herself as one of the faces of women’s college basketball heading into her senior season at LSU and will likely be a lottery pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. The 5-foot-10 All-American guard was one of only two players at the Power 4 level last season to average at least 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds. 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The other was USC star JuJu Watkins.

Johnson is, of course, also a rapper who is signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. This opportunity for her at Daytona is her latest opportunity to be in the limelight. She also has NIL deals with JBL, Taco Bell, Powerade and Puma.

A three-time All-SEC selection, Johnson was a starter on the LSU team that won the national title in 2023. The Tigers, then largely powered by Angel Reese, bested an Iowa team led by Caitlin Clark in Dallas, Texas. Clark’s likeness was on the hood of a stockcar last year, when Josh Berry’s ride — sponsored by Panini — ran the Brickyard.

While Johnson will wave the green flag, WWE star Rey Mysterio will serve as grand marshal and give the “start your engines” call.

“Rey is sure to bring his high-flying energy giving the command to start engines while Flau’jae waves the green flag with passion under the lights,” Speedway President Frank Kelleher said in a news release. “Their star power will set the stage for an unforgettable night at The World Center of Racing.”

This race is a significant one in the NASCAR calendar as it is the final one before playoffs begin. Drivers eager to get into the 16-car postseason field will be fighting for position at the second race of the season at the iconic speedway. William Byron — driver of the No. 24 Chevy and winner of the regular season championship — won the Daytona 500 in February.