Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III will drive the pace car for Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

Griffin will go through pace car training and spend some time with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. prior to Saturday's race, the raceway announced Wednesday.

Earnhardt initially recruited Griffin for the event last month, starting a campaign on Twitter along with raceway president Dennis Bickmeier.

The quarterback also will take a garage tour with NASCAR team owner and former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, the raceway announced.

Griffin is set to enter his third season with the Redskins, who selected him with the second overall draft pick in 2012 and won the NFC East title in his rookie season. But Washington struggled last season as Griffin attempted to bounce back from a serious knee injury, going 3-13 en route to a last-place finish.