DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Nate Bargatze considered squeezing a big, dumb joke into his command for drivers to start their engines at the Daytona 500.
“At first, I thought about doing like, how many feet are in 500 miles,” Bargatze said. “Nobody knows.”
Bargatze laughed when he said the proposed joke, which is a riff on his popular “Washington’s Dream” sketches on “Saturday Night Live," fell flat when he tested it Saturday night during a gig in Indianapolis.
“I was going to do another one with Jimmie Johnson being older to let the younger drivers know that his left blinker will be on the whole race,” Bargatze said. “Then when I got here and talked about it, it’s like, I think you just need to do, normal? You have all these hopes and dreams to do something funny.”
Bargatze kept it straight in his role as grand marshal for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“It's going to be insanity,” Bargatze said. “It's been a dream to be asked to do this.”
Bargatze's day at Daytona — where he mingled with drivers such as Denny Hamlin — is just the latest dream job for one of the most popular stand-ups currently working. He hosted the Emmy Awards, released three Netflix specials and just won a Best Comedy Album Grammy Award for “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze."
His “Big Dumb Eyes World Tour” set a record for biggest one-year gross by a comedy performer in history and has set more than 40 arena attendance records.
They served as warm-up acts for his first starring role in a movie, “The Breadwinner.” Bargatze co-wrote the script for the film he said was influenced by his stand-up and old-school funny, family movies such as “Mr. Mom” and “Home Alone.”
“You want it to be broad, the whole family can come,” Bargatze said. “It's like what I do with stand-up, you kind of just want everybody to come.”
Mandy Moore plays Bargatze's wife in the comedy, which also includes Colin Jost and Will Forte and opens May 29.
“Obviously overwhelming,” Bargatze said. “I don’t know how to act. Learning that on the fly was a good time.”
The 46-year-old Bargatze resumes his stand-up tour this week in Rockford, Illinois, and he's set to host the ABC game show, “The Greatest Average American.”
The title seemed fitting when Bargatze was gifted one of only 500 specialty Daytona 500 hats. The hat was numbered 302. Average.
“It's not bragging,” Bargatze said. “I'm right in the middle. That's where the average American would be. It's humility. It's how you go.”
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FILE - Nate Bargatze arrives at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Comedian Nate Bargatze announce the start of the race during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Archrivals India and Pakistan declined to shake hands before and after the most-anticipated game of cricket's Twenty20 World Cup, with India easily winning by 61 runs on Sunday to secure its Super 8 spot.
India opener Ishan Kishan scored 77 off 40 deliveries in a match in Colombo which almost didn't take place after Pakistan had threatened a boycott earlier this month before reversing its decision.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and India captain Suryakumar Yadav didn't shake hands at the toss, which Pakistan won and chose to field. India and Pakistan players had refused to shake hands at last year’s acrimonious Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates that took place amid diplomatic and military tensions between the two neighbors.
India made a competitive 175-7 on Sunday on a sticky pitch at R. Premadasa Stadium. In reply Pakistan was bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. Despite the heavy defeat, Pakistan can still advance from Group A. It plays Namibia in its last group game.
Sunday’s game was the first time the teams have met since the Asia Cup, won by India.
Agha’s decision to bowl first surprised many because the ground has a history of not favoring run chases.
“Our bowlers didn’t bowl well according to the situation and when it came to batting we didn’t apply ourselves, they didn’t give us a chance to go deep in the game,” Agha said.
Yadav was pleased with how losing the toss had turned out.
“Batting first was a better option on this wicket," he said.
But India's batting suffered an early setback when its most aggressive batter Abhishek Sharma was dismissed without scoring. Agha bowled the first over with four dot balls and had Sharma caught by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Kishan pulled India back with a six and one four in the following over and he dominated an 87-run stand for the second wicket off 46 deliveries with Tilak Varma.
Kishan's innings included three sixes and 10 boundaries before being bowled by off spinner Saim Ayub.
Ayub took two consecutive wickets in his last over to finish with his career-best T20I bowling of 3-25.
Yadav (32 off 29) and Shivam Dube (27 off 17) made useful contributions for India.
Seam bowler Hardik Pandya gave India an ideal start with a wicket-maiden over, dismissing Sahibzada Farhan in the fourth delivery.
Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in the next over — Ayub (lbw for 6) and Agha (caught by Pandya for 4).
Spinner Axar Patel bowled Babar Azam (5), leaving Pakistan 34-4.
Usman Khan resisted with a 34-ball 44 but was stumped when he stepped out to hit Patel.
Pandya, Bumrah, Patel and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each.
Agha said his team must now focus on securing its place in the last eight.
Second-place U.S. and third-place Pakistan have four points each in Group A but Pakistan still has a game to play.
“You have to see the bigger picture," Agha said, "we need to win that game and qualify … and then a new tournament starts.”
India and Pakistan could meet again in the semifinals or final. That game would also be played in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament with India.
In the lead-up to the match in Colombo, Agha said he believed it was up to the Indian players to decide whether they would shake hands with his team before and after Sunday’s game.
Yadav, for his part, had been non-committal.
Pakistan’s government considered not playing Sunday’s match after the International Cricket Council kicked Bangladesh out of the World Cup for refusing to play matches in India, citing security concerns.
Pakistan only agreed to play after intense discussions with the ICC. The fixture is a major revenue earner for the ICC.
Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.
India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.
India has defeated Pakistan 13 times in the 17 T20 games they have played.
In Mumbai, West Indies notched its third successive win in Group C when it thumped Nepal by nine wickets and qualified for the Super 8 stage.
West Indies had already beat Scotland and England to take command of Group C.
Nepal showed plenty of promise in its first game when it lost narrowly to England, but then two heavy defeats against first-timer Italy and Sunday against West Indies saw it eliminated.
Fast bowler Jason Holder grabbed 4-27 and restricted Nepal to 133-8. Shai Hope then smashed an unbeaten 61 off 44 balls and Shimron Hetmyer scored 46 off 32 balls as West Indies cruised to 134-1 in 15.2 overs.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi kept American hopes of Super 8 qualification alive with a maiden T20I half-century – 68 not out off 33 balls – against Namibia in their Group A clash.
Skipper Monank Patel also scored 52 off 30 balls as the U.S. notched up its tournament highest score – 199-4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Namibia was restricted to 168-6, losing its third game.
The U.S. won its final game by 31 runs.
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Indian fans celebrate Indian team's victory against Pakistan in ICC men's T20 World Cup cricket match played at Colombo in Sri Lanka, in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
Pakistan's Usman Tariq is bowled out by India's Hardik Pandya during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's captain Suryakumar Yadav, right, and Ishan Kishan celebrate after India won their T20 World Cup cricket match against Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's captain Suryakumar Yadav, left, and Pakistan's captain Salman Ali Agha walk past each other after the coin toss of the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Pakistan's captain Salman Ali Agha, left, looks at India's captain Suryakumar Yadav after the coin toss of the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
India's captain Suryakumar Yadav tosses the coin before the start of the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
West Indies' captain Shai Hope, right and Shimron Hetmyer run between the wickets to score during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Nepal and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
West Indies' Jason Holder, second left, Nepal's Aarif Sheikh during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Nepal and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
West Indies' captain Shai Hope, right, pats on the shoulder of Nepal's captain Rohit Paudel after the coin toss during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Nepal and West Indies in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
India's captain Suryakumar Yadav reacts as he leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Namibia in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
FILE - Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha walks off the field after his dismissal during the third T20 cricket match between Pakistan and Australia, in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
