Saying his commitment to the New England Patriots, his focus on football, and his desire to win a Super Bowl title would remain his top priorities, Randy Moss announced July 3rd at Daytona International Speedway he was getting involved in NASCAR as a team owner in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Moss gained entry into the sport by purchasing a 50-percent stake of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and will pair with co-owner David Dollar in forming Randy Moss Motorsports, which will field a No. 81 Chevrolet Silverado for driver Willie Allen in the team's debut July 19 at Sparta, Ky.
Accustomed to making long hauls on the football field, Randy Moss acknowledged he was operating far afield from his chosen area of expertise when it came to owning a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team.
But the Patriots wide receiver, despite being new to the sport, said he was prepared to make a long-haul commitment.
Morgan-Dollar Motorsports has posted 13 victories in the truck series, 11 with Dennis Setzer and one each with Bobby Labonte and Clint Bowyer. Setzer finished second in the championship standings for three straight years (2003-2005) as Dollar's full-time driver.
NASCAR has had other NFL players, such as Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, and Roger Staubach, dabble in team ownership, only to fail. Moss is aware he could wind up suffering the same fate.
The 2008 Craftsman Truck Series continued Saturday with the O’Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park and the Dodge Boys took home a top-10 finish. Stacy Compton finished 10th after starting 15th in the #04 Red River Dodge Dodge Ram. Dennis Setzer finished 12th after starting 11th in the #18 Tahoe Smokeless Dodge Ram. Setzer and Compton are ranked 11th and 19th, respectively in the Craftsman Truck Serie's Points Standings.
Robert L Germain, Sr., was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 25th, 1923.
He was raised in Dearborn, Michigan, and his first job was as a tour guide for Ford Motor Company.
Bob served in the US Navy, where he won The American Campaign Medal with two Battle Stars, the WWII Victory Medal, the Phillipines Liberation Medal, and the United States Navy Unit Commendation Award.
He was also a graduate of the University of Michigan, and following graduation in 1947, he joined his father, Warren Germain, when he opened a Mercury dealership in Columbus, Ohio.
That dealership would be the start of Germain Motor Company, which Bob expanded to Florida in 1979, and today is one of America’s largest dealership groups.
Germain Motor Company owns and operates 25 franchises in Ohio, Florida, Arkansas and Arizona with over $1 Billion in annual sales. Germain Motor Company and its many affiliated companies are run by Bob’s three sons, Bob, Jr., Steve and Rick.
File this in the Makes No Sense Department. The co-owner of one of the top teams in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series has hired Paul Tracy to run later this season but the 2003 CART champion still can't get a ride in an Indy car.
A few weeks ago, P.T. tested Todd Bodine's truck at Chicagoland Speedway and impressed Bob Germain enough to get a one-off deal.
"Paul did a nice job so we got a little bit if support and decided it would be fun to run him in his hometown," said Germain, who along with his two brothers owns 19 car dealerships in Ohio and Florida. "He's our style, very aggressive, and he and Todd are a lot alike."
Tracy, who had a few rides in the old Busch series with mixed results, looks at his truck debut as something bigger.
"I figure it's an audition for 2009 with those guys, because I think Todd wants to go to the Nationwide series," said Tracy.
Currently, Germain runs Mike Wallace in the Nationwide series, plus Justin Marks and Bodine in the trucks (along with Chrissie Wallace, Mike's daughter, in selected events), and may be looking to expand.
"We're going to run Chrissie full-time in the trucks next year and we've got another year for sure with Mike (sponsored by Geico)," said Germain. "I know Todd would like to run the Nationwide series and we've got about a dozen different possibilities we'll be looking at. "And running Paul full-time in the trucks is one of those."
Mike Wallace said Friday at Kentucky Speedway that sponsor GEICO has indicated what it wants to do after next season, and it appears it won’t be sponsoring Wallace. GEICO, an insurance company, is not allowed in the Nationwide Series in 2010 as part of a non-competing sponsor agreement with the series sponsor. Nationwide began sponsoring NASCAR’s No. 2 series this year. Wallace drives the No. 7 Toyota for Germain Racing.
“We have an indication of what they’re going to do,” Wallace said of NASCAR. “Who really knows? I’ll just leave it at that.”
GEICO has been one of the most visible sponsors in the series, with its popular commercials featuring fictional Wallace relative Lauren Wallace.
I just can't seem to catch a break. I guess that's what I get for sticking with my Tennessee and Missouri boys. It's tempting to jump on a band wagon. But how much fun would that be? No, don't expect me to be hollering "Joooooonyer!," anytime soon.
Hopefully Mike will find a sponsor and I'll be able to stay with him.
Here Crocodile. Here's your chance to eat a gecko.
Pay attention Construct. Here is your chance to build something.
Not that I have anything against Justin Marks, but these two Germain Racing sponsors might get more mileage out of Mike.
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