The drama. The pressure. The intense atmosphere.

All of those are what fans have come to expect when they show up for the NASCAR Chase cutoff race at Richmond International Raceway. It's an explosive night with everything on the line for drivers on the playoff bubble, and so it's only appropriate that the honorary starter for next month's race is none other than......Snooki?

Yep, that's right. The infamous Snooki of Jersey Shore fame will be waving the green flag for one of NASCAR's most important races of the year.

Ouch.

A tweet from the racetrack on Thursday morning relayed the Snooki news (it was actually correcting a rumor that Snooki would have been grand marshal, which would have been even worse). The "Wonderful Pistachios" brand is sponsoring the race (the Wonderful Pistachios 400), and Snooki is apparently a guest of the sponsor.

Because after all, who would you rather have promoting your product than Snooki? (Side comment: ANYONE)

The funniest part about this is Snooki will get NASCAR's full celebrity treatment – the same given to actual stars. She'll be introduced to applause in the drivers meeting and will shake hands with drivers during pre-race introductions. She is famous, after all, and NASCAR will apparently take whoever they can get these days.

Why is Snooki such a bad choice? Because she's a walking joke – as is every cast member of the Jersey Shore. And it makes NASCAR look stupid for honoring her. Some person who gets paid a bunch of money to make decisions actually thought, "This is a great idea! NASCAR fans are huge fans of Snooki!"

Hello?

Maybe Wonderful Pistachios could have gone with a New York police officer or firefighter, given that the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is the following day. NASCAR fans would have appreciated that.

Instead, the Jersey Shore is as close to NYC as Richmond will get.