NASCAR News: Daytona 500 Reveals First Woman & First Hispanic Chief Starter

NASCAR recently named the first woman and first Hispanic to flag the Daytona 500 on February 22.

Fox News reported the chief starter for Sunday's race will be series official Kim Lopez.

Chad Little, managing director of technical inspection and NASCAR official, stated, "Kim will serve as chief starter because she's among the best in the world at what she does. She has pursued her dreams in uncharted territory, and we're excited to see her dreams come true when she flags the Daytona 500."

It is the 33 year old Lopez's 11th season with NASCAR and she has been flagging races for seven years in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series. Lopez also flagged two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in the past season.

As chief starter, Lopez will present the eight flags that will indicate to race drivers when to start, slow down, move over or stop. Lopez will also be the one to wave the checkered flag when the winner crosses the finish line. The green flag will signal drivers to start, the yellow flag will signal them to caution, the red flag means stop, the black flag will tell drivers to respond to a decision from NASCAR within five laps, the black flag with a white stripe will indicate to drivers the they are no longer being scored, the blue flag with yellow stripe will tell drivers to move over to make traffic go faster, the white flag will indicate that the drivers are in their final lap and the black and white checkered flag will mean the end of the race, based on a report by NBC Sports.

Lopez, a native of the Bronx in New York, said about her accomplishment in an ESPN report, "I think this is awesome. You have little girls who can now look up and say, 'I can do this someday, I can be this someday. If I put my mind to it and work hard, I can make it happen."

Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race held every year at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Drivers will race 500 miles during the contest. The Daytona 500 is the opening race of the season of the Cup series and has been held since 1959. The Cup series is composed of four restrictor plate races. Daytona is one of the most anticipated NASCAR racing competitions in the world. The winner receives a Harley J Earl Trophy while the winning car will be showcased at the Daytona 500 Experience museum for one year.