In the last decade or so, NASCAR has been a place where pro athletes from other major sports leap in with enthusiasm and leave nearly as quickly, usually with little or nothing to show for it. Randy Moss, star wide receiver of the New England Patriots, is trying to be an athlete to stick where so many others have failed.
And the list of those who have come and gone is indeed prodigious: Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Julius Erving, Joe Washington and Jackie Joyner-Kersee are among the star athletes who owned or co-owned NASCAR teams, but quickly bailed out. Others, like former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown, announced plans to race in NASCAR but never fielded a car or turned a wheel.
But Moss is different. Or at least he hopes to be.
This weekend at Kentucky Speedway, Moss is celebrating his one-year anniversary as co-owner of Randy Moss Motorsports, a team he purchased 50 percent interest in from long-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stalwart David Dollar.
It's an odd pairing, but one that seems to be working. Dollar, 45, is an Oklahoma native who saw his team win 13 NCWTS races and twice finish second in the series championship, both times with Dennis Setzer driving.
Moss, of course, is one of the biggest stars in the National Football League, a tall, fast wide receiver with great hands and explosive moves. A somewhat controversial figure on and off the football field in his first few years in the league, Moss blossomed when he joined the New England Patriots prior to the 2007 season.
Last year, RMM set an impressive standard in driver diversity, almost certainly being the only NASCAR team to ever employ female, African-American and Hispanic drivers on the same team in the same season. All told, eight different drivers piloted RMM trucks in 2008, including Erin Crocker, Scott Speed, Aric Almirola, Regan Smith, Donny Lia, Landon Cassill, Jimmie Johnson, Marc Davis and Willie Allen.
Sensibly, this year, the team has retooled with just two drivers, one a veteran and one a rookie.
The lead driver at RMM is 1995 Truck Series champion Mike Skinner, who in the first 11 races of 2009 has a victory at Kansas Speedway, plus four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in his No. 5 Toyota Tundra. That's good enough to put Skinner third in points, 134 markers in arrears of series points leader Ron Hornaday Jr.
Paired with the crafty veteran Skinner is rookie Tayler Malsam, who has five top-10 finishes so far this season and holds a one-point lead over Johnny Sauter in the battle for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.
So far, that's made Moss's foray into NASCAR a definite, if somewhat unlikely, success.
"Mike's win at Kansas was very exciting," Moss said. "I was bummed that I couldn't be there in person, but I talked to him after the race and I was very excited. And to have Tayler as a rookie come out of the gate and perform at such a high level is awesome. These two guys make a great pair for our organization and I couldn't have asked for any more than the results that we are getting out of Mike and Tayler. Of course football is my No. 1 priority, but I have enjoyed spending time at the track this season and seeing the guys in their element. It is like one big family and the teamwork is very impressive. Just like I'm in my element on the football field, they are in the zone when it comes to race time."
"It is definitely exciting to come to our one-year anniversary mark and head back to Kentucky, where our first race was last year," said Dollar, who manages the day-to-day operations of the two-truck operation. "Together, Randy and I have been able to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. To get a win at Kansas this year with Mike was huge. It was our first win together and I think it proved that we are here to be competitive week in and week out. Mike and Tayler have done a great job for our program and to have them both in the top seven in the championship point standings says a lot about our organization and the people we have working at RMM."
So can Moss make it where so many of his peers have failed in the past? He thinks so.
"As much as it's nice to look back and see the accomplishments that we have achieved so far, we are looking forward to the future," said Moss. "There are great opportunities for us and we are setting our goals high. Mike is in position for the championship and Tayler is in position to win the Rookie of the Year award. To be in position to win two trophies at the end of the season is something to be proud of."
