Grand Marshal Dantonio takes the stage pic.twitter.com/10mi3l71hM

— State News Sports (@thesnews_sports) June 14, 2015

“I’m just here today to represent the entire state of Michigan as grand marshal," Dantonio said in his pre-race press conference. "I’m just humbled to be here and be a part of this, this is something that we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives.

“The overall precision and complexity of this— it’s pretty monumental to me to see this today.”

In the weeks leading up to the race Dantonio was able to get a taste of what driving a race car would be like in a simulator.

"When I had the opportunity to come in here and sit in a simulator and they strapped you into that thing—I couldn’t imagine going out on the race track today to be a part of it," Dantonio said. "The focus, the attention to detail, the pressure situations, those decision making points in the race (are) just amazing to me."

Dantonio took a moment to respond to the great debate of whether or not NASCAR drivers are athletes—for Dantonio it was a resounding yes.

“You’ve got to be a great athlete to play any sport, I don’t care what it is and it’s the same case here."

“When I was in that simulator I got out of it and Brad Keselowski was there and I walked over," Dantonio said. "I did three laps (and) the focus that I had to have to just keep that thing on the track is amazing—I said ‘you’ve got to be exhausted at the end of this thing’ three hours of that and then doing it day in and day out for that amount of time, absolutely (I’m impressed by their athleticism.)”

The football coach was also presented with the opportunity to liken NASCAR to his sport and Dantonio also revealed who his driver would be on his team.

“The preparation that goes into 36 weeks of racing from February through November is amazing to me to be on like that every single week," Dantonio said. "Our race car driver is Connor Cook, our quarterback, he makes (us) go— but it’s not a life and death situation out there (for Cook), he’s not making decisions with 42 other people chasing him.”

As for what the coach was most excited about to experience at the Quicken Loans 400—getting close to the action and seeing the cars.

“I think walking down, and just walking through the garage and seeing the cars (is what I’m most excited about)," Dantonio said. "Just being close is like being on the sidelines in a football game, you see it from the stands, you see it on tv—but when you get down there close you really start to realize how important it is and how big it is.”

It was a fun-filled afternoon for Dantonio, who got to greet all of the drivers before the race and the coach even took time to take selfies with some fans.

Dantonio stopping for a moment to take pictures with fans on his way back to his suite. pic.twitter.com/mBjFKZinbZ

— MatthewArgillander (@mattargi) June 14, 2015