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Brett Favre Becomes Newest NASCAR Driver Project
3/5/08: SOZ Studios, MI - By Dennis Michelsen "DMIC" (RaceTalkRadio.com)
It amazes me that the rest of the so-called sports reporting industry are so puzzled by why Brett Favre is retiring from the NFL! Sure he has more years left in his body but his real passion isn't chucking footballs it is wheeling racecars. Forget the open wheel guys invading NASCAR. You can say so long and farewell to the attempts to bring motocross stars through driver development deals into NASCAR. Now it is time to welcome a legend of the NFL into NASCAR. Brett Favre will be the most exciting thing to happen to the sport in years! As John Madden might say, "The thing that makes Brett Favre so exciting is his ability to be the best Brett Favre that this sport has seen since Brett Favre became Brett Favre." How can you argue with that?
Former Team Owner
Years ago Brett Favre caught the racing bug as part owner of a Busch team with NASCAR legend Dale Jarrett. Owning a team just wasn't the same as that adrenaline rush of getting inside the car himself! But Brett was a realist and understood that these NASCAR drivers have unique skills just like NFL quarterbacks. However, Brett Favre's association with Dale Jarrett led to part ownership in the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. Several years ago when Brett was thinking about stepping away from the Green Bay Packers he was already thinking about his next career. But our sources are telling us that Brett's NASCAR advisors told him he was not ready. Now a few years and thousand of testing miles later Brett Favre is ready to step up to his next challenge!
NASCAR Studies Confirm Fan Interest
Many years ago while serving as Editor in Chief at a leading NASCAR website I managed to place moles deep within the NASCAR hierarchy down in Daytona. This allowed me to break the story about the proposed "NASCAR SUV Series" that died due to a lack of funding. (See Frontstretch archives from April 1, 2002) Last month our sources sent us top-secret memos from deep within NASCAR titled "Sport's Diversity Program." NASCAR management hired independent researchers from famed polling agency "Sandberg, Williams, and Holtzman" to see what was needed to attract other sport's fans to NASCAR. Seventy-two percent of open wheel racing fans and sponsors surveyed indicated that they were 92% more likely to be interested in NASCAR if their favorite drivers came to NASCAR. Polling also showed that an amazing seventy-one percent of NFL fans and sixty-four percent of MLB fans would show more interest in NASCAR if one of their stars raced. Since "Operation Open Wheel" has already shown success, now NASCAR is helping Brett Favre start "Operation Quarter Back."
Natural Fit Said No
Indianapolis Motor Speedway approached NASCAR about having local NFL legend Peyton Manning be the first target of NASCAR's new program. But Peyton turned them down so NASCAR was left without a marquee star to get involved until a chance meeting at Talladega Speedway last month changed the course of this campaign. Brett Favre was down in Talladega promoting the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure's new expanded dates at the facility. Brett always enjoys hopping in one of the school racecars and was climbing out when NASCAR spokesperson Jim Hunter was heading down pit road. When Hunter looked at the time sheets for Favre he was astonished to find that he had posted better times than any of the school drivers on hand for the test. NASCAR knew they had the perfect choice for their new project!
Driver Diversity Gone Wild
"Teams are looking at motocross drivers and X-game stars for their driver development deals so why not other sport's stars," asked driver development guru David Smithson of the Smithson Predictions newsletter. "Quarterbacks test well on all eye-hand coordination tests and make natural racecar drivers." It seemed to make sense that if motorcycle riders could crossover to four wheels that NFL players might be able to handle the change too! (After all those NFL players are notorious for fast driving on their way home from training camp every summer!) But the key to all of these driver diversity moves is marketing dollars anyway not success on the track. Ricky Carmichael was less than impressive at New Smyrna last season but gets the promotion to the NASCAR Camping World Series because his sponsor will support it! Who cares if that new open wheel guy can't get out of his own way? His sponsor loves him and is new to NASCAR! Did you see how quick Jacques Villeneuve was dropped as soon as the funding ran out? More open wheel fans and media are paying attention to NASCAR since Juan Pablo Montoya's move to stockcar racing. Brett Favre is well liked by many different sponsors and will bring new money to NASCAR. NASCAR still has trouble crossing over to attract other fans and the NFL has millions of fans to bring over. Now all those rumors about Brian France buying a NFL team makes sense! It was just research! Bringing NFL players to NASCAR is a natural fit if I ever saw one!
Future is Now
At age thirty-eight he is getting old for the NFL but not for racing! Don't expect a long road to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series to be set up for Brett Favre because we need a new racing hero now! NASCAR is helping to place Brett with a team that can help make a difference in his career. Maybe he will end up in the fourth ride for Richard Childress Racing next season. Perhaps Hendrick will make room for him or start a new satellite team to support his efforts. Since Brett is well known for his Chevy commercials in his home state of Mississippi it is likely he will be a new star for the Bowtie Brigade! "Brett Favre was the greatest thing to happen to the NFL since Brett Favre," said long time supporter John Madden. "Since racing has never seen anything like Brett Favre before Brett Favre decided to race in NASCAR, Brett Favre will be the greatest thing to ever happen to NASCAR. BOOM!" Our sources are indicating that Favre will make his stock car debut on March 15th at Caraway Speedway along with another NASCAR development driver Alex Kennedy. (www.alexkennedy.com) From there it will be on to the NASCAR Camping World Series and then ARCA. If Brett Favre proceeds through the racing ranks with the same style, grace, and speed as he did in the NFL we can expect to see Brett Favre in NASCAR Nationwide races by September to get him eligible for Daytona next season.
Who is Next?
Our sources indicate that NASCAR plans to invade Major League Baseball next but which player will be involved is still in doubt. Plans to test fan favorite Cal Ripken in a stockcar fell through when plans for a track in Aberdeen, Maryland hit the wall last summer. NASCAR has now set their sights on Roger Clemens although it is unknown how the allegations of steroid or HGH use will come into play. Maybe Clemens will be the jackman for Brett Favre's new ride. Stay tuned as we continue to do the hard work on all of the important news stories hitting NASCAR! We always promise to boldly go where no one else has ever considered going for our fans! Remember our motto at RaceTalkRadio news…"If there is a breaking story you get both halves free!"
Editor's Note: RaceTalkRadio.com can neither confirm nor deny the veracity of the data that appears above. (Basically DMIC is on his own this time!)
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