Matthews Named Grand Marshal for Long Beach ALMS race
Matthews, a University of Southern California alumnus and Los Angeles native, was drafted by the Packers in 2009 and set a Packers rookie record for sacks (10) that year. Matthews has been an NFC Pro Bowl selection in each of his three NFL seasons and helped lead the Packers to a Super Bowl championship in the 2010-2011 season.
"We're honored that Clay is joining us on his last weekend before Packers training camp begins," ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton said. "Clay is a world-class athlete ? a perfect fit for the world-class brand of sports car racing the American Le Mans Series brings to Long Beach. We look forward to hosting him and taking him behind the scenes of a sport as intense and action-packed as the NFL."
Matthews will be on the grid for opening ceremonies prior to Saturday's race, which begins at 4:30 p.m., local time. A Muscle Milk athlete, Matthews is cheering for a repeat Long Beach victory by Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, which fields the No. 6 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a driven by Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf. Muscle Milk also has an ORECA FLM09 entered in the ALMS' Prototype Challenge class.
ESPN2 airs the Tequila Patr¢n American Le Mans Series at Long Beach live from the world famous street circuit just outside Los Angeles, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on April 14. The race is carried simultaneously on ESPN3 and available to Microsoft Xbox LIVE subscribers.