By Joe Wambach
5/22/2009
A star-studded celebrity lineup is on hand for this year's IPL 500 Festival Parade.
Heading the list is popular college basketball coach and analyst Dick Vitale, who is serving as Grand Marshall.
Other celebrities include TV Host Mario Lopez and actors Melora Hardin and Kate Flannery from "The Office".
Colts and Pacers players will take part along with Olympic gymnasts Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan and all 33 starting drivers for the Indy 500.
More than 300,000 spectators are expected to line the two- mile parade route to get a glimpse of 2009 Pace Car Driver Josh Duhamel, who starred on ABC's "All My Children" and NBC'S "Las Vegas" and the movie "Transformers".
Others include Indiana's own Miss America, Katie Stam, the Ohio Players, and artists Donald Lipski and Thomas Kinkade.
There will also be more than 80 specialty units, floats, marching bands and entertainment groups, giant inflatable balloons and costumed characters including SpongeBob SquarePants, Pablo and Tyrone from "The Backyardigans" and Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog from "The Wiggles".
The theme of this year's parade is "Laps, Legands & Legacy: Honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway".
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