Wheeler, who has spent 33 years at the track, is considered one of NASCAR's top promoters. He announced his retirement last week after track owner Bruton Smith declined to let Wheeler move to a part-time role.
"Thank you for your contribution to each of us and your contribution to help build NASCAR to what it is today," NASCAR president Mike Helton told Wheeler in the pre-race drivers meeting.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying in this sport, just in a different role," Wheeler told the drivers.
The 69-year-old Wheeler, known for his elaborate pre-race shows, had 1,500 U.S. Army troops take part in a military display that included three helicopter passes and gunners blowing up a house facade.
Wheeler later addressed the crowd before the green flag waved.
"I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to you for buying tickets to this facility through all these years," Wheeler said, while nearby fans erected a sign reading "Thanks Humpy" on the top of a motor home.
Wheeler was considered one of NASCAR's top innovators, introducing lights on a superspeedway and numerous other amenities that helped make Lowe's Motor Speedway one of NASCAR's top tracks.
"I got a little touched in there today," NASCAR chairman Brian France said of the driver's meeting. "He's such a pioneer in the sport, somebody I've dealt with my entire career in NASCAR. He'll be missed but like he said I don't think he's going to go that far away. And you know, maybe he could help NASCAR."
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KENTUCKY RIFT: NASCAR is in no hurry to move a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky Speedway.
Bruton Smith announced last week he planned to complete the purchase of the track later this year. Smith then indicated he would have a Sprint Cup date there next year. A NASCAR spokesman on Friday said it was too far along in the scheduling process to move a race there in 2009.
Before the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the track near Cincinnati is in an area that already has plenty of Sprint Cup races.
"It's not a market we have set as highly desirable. It's well served," France said. "We'll look at things as we go down the road, but right now he doesn't own it. We've got to deal with the owners that do have it. We've got Nationwide events and Truck races so we're working on that right now with them."
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BUSCH'S TRIPLE: Kyle Busch seems to win everywhere he goes. In two weeks, he'll seemingly be everywhere.
Busch, who has won nine times this season in NASCAR's top three series, plans to race on three straight days at three different tracks June 6-8.
"I think it's a concern for us if you watch him and he gets tired, or physically run down," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "I think where Kyle is right now, being 23, he can run pretty hard."
Busch is scheduled to drive in the Craftsman Truck Series on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway, in the Nationwide Series on June 7 at Nashville Superspeedway, then in the Sprint Cup race on June 8 at Pocono Raceway. He'll shuttle between the tracks so he can qualify and practice his Sprint Cup car at Pocono on the same days he'll be racing in the other series.
"It'll be a fun weekend," said Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader.
But is it too much?
"I'm sure the plane rides take their toll on you," driver Denny Hamlin said. "As long as you stay hydrated, that's the biggest thing because these races do take a lot out of you."
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YAO'S NASCAR DEBUT: Yao Ming likes cars and drives a specially made SUV that lets him fit his 7-foot-6 frame in the driver's seat.
The Houston Rockets center also knows how to change a tire -- just not as fast as he saw on Sunday.
"It was very cool," Yao said after assisting Kyle Petty's team in a simulated pit stop before the race. "They showed me how to change a tire and refuel a car in what, 12 seconds? That's a little different when you change your own tire. I never saw that."
While Yao's hometown of Shanghai hosts a Formula One race, Sunday was the first time Yao attended an auto race. He took a ride in an SUV around the track -- after he couldn't fit in the pace car.
Yao also shot some hoops with drivers Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Petty. It was part of a promotion unveiling collectable Coca-Cola cans bearing the company's logo in different languages ahead of the Beijing Olympics in Yao's home country.
Waltrip, who towers over most NASCAR drivers, came up to Yao's shoulder. Burton and Labonte reached just above his elbow.
Yao was asked if he saw any basketball talent among the drivers.
"If anyone wants to play in the NBA they need to stop driving like that so they can get a guaranteed contract," Yao joked.
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LUG NUTS: As he headed to pit road before the Coca-Cola 600, Juan Pablo Montoya stopped and asked for a message to be delivered to his boss, Chip Ganassi, whose driver Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500. "It's great to see Chip win the 500," said Montoya, who in 2000 gave Ganassi his only other outright Indy win as a car owner. "Put that out there. It's great to see him win." ... Among the U.S. Army troops attending the race was Sgt. 1st Class Mike McNaughton, who lost a leg after stepping on a land mine in Afghanistan. "You hear a lot of things and people that disagree with the war and that's fine," McNaughton said. "But everyone, especially the people around NASCAR, don't hesitate to shake your hand and tell you how much they're grateful for you. A lot of these guys around here, that's what they need."
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