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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Nate Bargatze considered squeezing a big, dumb joke<\/a> into his command for drivers to start their engines at the Daytona 500<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, I thought about doing like, how many feet are in 500 miles,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cNobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n Bargatze<\/a> laughed when he said the proposed joke, which is a riff on his popular \u201cWashington\u2019s Dream\u201d sketches on \u201cSaturday Night Live,” fell flat when he tested it Saturday night during a gig in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n \u201cI was going to do another one with Jimmie Johnson<\/a> being older to let the younger drivers know that his left blinker will be on the whole race,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cThen when I got here and talked about it, it\u2019s like, I think you just need to do, normal? You have all these hopes and dreams to do something funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Bargatze kept it straight in his role as grand marshal for Sunday\u2019s Daytona 500<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s going to be insanity,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cIt’s been a dream to be asked to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Bargatze’s day at Daytona \u2014 where he mingled with drivers such as Denny Hamlin \u2014 is just the latest dream job for one of the most popular stand-ups currently working. He hosted the Emmy Awards<\/a>, released three Netflix specials and just won a Best Comedy Album Grammy Award for \u201cYour Friend, Nate Bargatze.”<\/p>\n His \u201cBig Dumb Eyes World Tour\u201d set a record for biggest one-year gross by a comedy performer in history and has set more than 40 arena attendance records.<\/p>\n They served as warm-up acts for his first starring role in a movie, \u201cThe Breadwinner.\u201d Bargatze co-wrote the script for the film he said was influenced by his stand-up and old-school funny, family movies such as \u201cMr. Mom\u201d and \u201cHome Alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou want it to be broad, the whole family can come,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cIt’s like what I do with stand-up, you kind of just want everybody to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandy Moore plays Bargatze’s wife in the comedy, which also includes Colin Jost and Will Forte and opens May 29.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously overwhelming,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to act. Learning that on the fly was a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n 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, \u201cThe Greatest Average American.\u201d<\/p>\n The title seemed fitting when Bargatze was gifted one of only 500 specialty Daytona 500 hats. The hat was numbered 302. Average.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not bragging,\u201d Bargatze said. \u201cI’m right in the middle. That’s where the average American would be. It’s humility. It’s how you go.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n