From Raleigh News & Observer, 2/9/03

Quote:NBA's Rogers has Winston Cup plans

By RUPEN FOFARIA, Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- You may think Rodney Rogers -- all 6 feet 7, 255 pounds of him -- would look a little out of place at a NASCAR race. Actually, he feels right at home.

Rogers, the Durham native who now plays for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, is a huge NASCAR fan who grew up rooting for Davey Allison and the No. 28 Ford. And throughout his playing career at Wake Forest and then the NBA, Rogers said he's continued to follow Winston Cup racing and even tried to sell some of his teammates on the sport, too.

Now, he hopes to elevate his level of involvement.

Rogers was at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday talking with at least seven race team owners and getting advice on how to start his own Winston Cup team. The 11-year NBA veteran plans to make Winston Cup racing his full-time gig after his NBA career is over.

"This isn't some idea that just came to me," Rogers told The News & Observer between meetings with owners on Saturday afternoon. "I've always wanted to do this, and I'm trying to make sure I do it right and can be successful."

There has never been a very successful minority team owner in the sport's highest circuit, and though many other sports figures have tried their hand at some sort of NASCAR racing -- including Brad Daugherty, Brett Favre, Reggie Jackson, Julius Erving, Joe Washington and Troy Aikman -- only former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs has been successful.

But Rogers said he's different than many of the minorities and many of the athletes who look at investing in motorsports. This isn't something he figured would be profitable. In fact, he understands that most owners who get into NASCAR -- no matter what their background -- lose money.

He wants to do this because he enjoys the sport. And he wants to make this a full-time venture -- something that no other figure from another sport has done except for Gibbs.

"Anything you start new is intimidating because you don't know the ins and outs of the game; you don't know what's going on," Rogers said. "But I'm different. I know a lot of the drivers and crew chiefs. I've been to the [pre-race] driver's meetings before and I know [NASCAR President] Mike Helton and Richard Petty. This isn't just me coming in and saying, 'I want to do this.' I've been here for a long time. I know a lot of people."

NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said Rogers coming to the sport would be "enormous" for its efforts in reaching minorities and also reaching a mainstream audience. What impresses him most about Rogers' intentions is that he is so serious about it that he's spent at least a year already researching what it would take, and will continue to gather information until he is ready.

"We need people like Joe Gibbs that are going to come into the sport and devote themselves full-time to sport," he said. "You got to make a commitment -- there are no guarantees and this costs a lot of money.

"Somebody like Rodney, who seems to know that, can be very successful, and I think that would be tremendous for our sport."

Rogers chatting it up with Michael Waltrip at Daytona

Pretty Cool stuff there Lucy and I am sure him playing at Wake didnt catch your eye one bit!!! Wouldnt a backetball car be cool :D

~NOLEY~