UPDATE – December 27th, 2022
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Rajah Caruth will be riding on-board NASCAR’s float in the Rose Parade, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.
Caruth, who will compete full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series for GMS Racing in 2023, will join seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty on the float.
“This is going to be a great way to start 2023,” Caruth said. “It’s nothing short of an honor to ride along with Richard Petty in the Rose Parade and help introduce our sport to new audiences in Southern California and around the world.”
The 134th Rose Parade will take place on Monday, January 2nd in Pasadena, California. The broadcast of the parade will be available to watch on NBC from 11:30 to 1:00 pm ET.
ORIGINAL STORY – November 10, 2022
Coming off of a history-making season in the NASCAR Cup Series, the sanctioning body is getting prepared to kick off its 75-year anniversary celebration in the biggest way possible, with a vibrant display in the 2023 Rose Parade presented by Honda.
The parade – a traditional part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, which includes the infamous Rose Bowl – will be held on Monday, January 2, with hundreds of different displays parading down the 5.5-mile route, including NASCAR’s display, showcasing the sport’s 75th anniversary and the upcoming Busch Light Clash at LA Coliseum.
NASCAR’s float will carry the title “Always Forward”, which is a nod to the theme of the 2023 Rose Parade, “Turning the Corner”.
“We’re beyond thrilled to be participating in such an incredible spectacle as the Rose Parade,” said NASCAR Vice President of Marketing Services Patrick Rogers. “There’s truly no better way to enter NASCAR’s 75th year than by celebrating at an event that brings people together through immense creativity and color. With a theme that so closely resembles the growth of our sport and organization, I can’t wait to see our float come to life in the new year.”
As is traditional for floats in the Rose Parade, the floats are entirely decorated with natural elements such as florals, seeds, fresh leaves, nuts, spices, and other herbage. Each float in the parade requires tens of thousands of floral and non-floral materials to fully decorate.
NASCAR’s 25-foot tall, 55-foot long float design showcases the entrance of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the Olympic Caldron atop the Peristyle, while also showing off a number of cars racing around the track with checkered flags, ribbons, palm trees, and more, headed by a diamond logo to celebrate the sport’s 75th year.
The Coliseum facade will be decorated with light and dark sesame seeds, while the caldron will be coated in Green Tea leaf, with warmly hued carnation petals as the flame. The cars, track, ribbons, and checkered flags will be adorned with elements such as red cranberry seed, back seaweed, rice, orange lentils, poppy seeds, blue statice, and ground green split pea.
NASCAR’s 75th-anniversary logo will be made up of various seeds and decorated with yellow strawflower, red carnation, and blue statice, representing those three famous colors in the NASCAR bar mark. All of the float’s design elements will sit atop a base of hot pink, orange and red roses with sprinkles of blue florals throughout.
Finally, a portion of the float will bring to life philanthropic efforts in California highlighted by a NASCAR-themed license plate in partnership with the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), with proceeds benefitting Expo Park, parks in Fontana, California, and the NASCAR Foundation.
In order to make the float come to life, NASCAR will partner with Artistic Entertainment Services (AES), an official float builder and partner of the Tournament of Roses.
The Rose Parade celebrates 134 years of success with its upcoming celebration, led by the volunteer-driven, non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. In addition to participating in the 2023 edition of the parade, NASCAR will provide the Tournament’s 935 volunteers with a special Busch Light Clash and Auto Club Speedway ticket offer, in recognition of their dedication to America’s New Year Celebration.
In ringing in 2023, NASCAR enters its diamond year as the organization celebrates 75 years of history and passion for racing. The Rose Parade kickstarts the festivities, which will continue with the Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum, and on throughout the rest of the year.
The 2023 Busch Light Clash will take place on Sunday, February 5th at the LA Memorial Coliseum, and will kick off NASCAR’s 75th season with a full-contact short track event at a purpose-built short track.
