SEASON'S SPEEDINGS

Tim Umphrey/Getty Images

Anytime he suits up, Randy Moss is one of the fastest players on the field. But this fall he will find himself in much speedier company when Randy Moss Motorsports makes its NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut, with plans to run a full campaign in 2009. "I want to put a championship team together and win some trophies," says the perennial Pro Bowler. "It's a road I haven't traveled before."

It is, though, a route many other stick-and-ballers have taken. One of the first—and still one of the most successful—crossover teams was started in 1991 by once-and-again Redskins coach Joe Gibbs. He won the Daytona 500 two years later and has added three Nextel Cup Series championships since. Even before that, though, former Cavaliers big man Brad Daugherty dabbled in the fast lane, winning in the Busch Series in the 1980s with driver Robert Pressley and in trucks with Kenny Irwin a decade later. (Turns out Daugherty still has the itch; he has just announced a return to trucks next season.) And Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson won a pair of 2002-2003 Busch Series races with Herzog Jackson Motorsports.

Athletes once got into racing because they were wealthy motorsports fans looking for a new competitive outlet. But the latest rush of celebrity ownership is being driven by investment-savvy sportsmen who see the profit in buying into existing Sprint Cup teams. The Fenway Sports Group, led by Bosox owner John Henry, purchased half of Roush Racing in early 2007, and at the end of that year, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach's Hall of Fame Racing was taken over by some of the Arizona Diamondbacks' top brass. Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett co-owns Ray Evernham's three-car team.

For his part, Moss is less concerned with making money and more focused on making moves. First on the agenda: Moss will help choose a driver sometime in the coming month. "I was taught at an early age the only thing you've got is a name," he says. "It's Randy Moss Motorsports, baby. I will definitely be hands-on."

PIGSKIN PIT ROW
Aikman and Staubach aren't the only NFL QBs who have co-owned racing teams. Five other passers spent some of their golden years in a garage.

• Mark Rypien 1993-1997 Winston Cup/Busch Series.
  Main driver: Chad Little
• Dan Marino 1998 Winston Cup
  Main driver: Bill Elliott (also a co-owner)
• Brett Favre 1999-2000 Busch Series
  Main driver: Jason Jarrett
• Terry Bradshaw 2001-2006 Busch Series
  Main drivers: Kerry Earnhardt, Tim Fedewa
• Jim Kelly 2003, 2005-2006 Busch Series
  Main driver: Randy LaJoie

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine