 The official starter (or "flagman"), however, is a trained race official, and handles the remainder of the flagging duties during the race.In 2010, due to two early caution periods, honorary starter Jack Nicholson elected to stay in the starter's perch for an additional few minutes, and was able to drop the green for the two subsequent restarts as well.Since the early years of the race, celebrities from all walks of fame have been invited to the race, some have returned for many years or even decades.