Moss is an amazing catch

It was about the last thing you'd think would happen in the generally predictable world of NASCAR.

Sophia Loren as a race queen? Marilyn Manson doing the national anthem? Kyle Busch winning most popular driver?


None of the above.

Randy Moss now owns a NASCAR team. Yes, that Randy Moss. The wide receiver for the New England Patriots.

Moss announced earlier this month that he had bought 50 percent ownership in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, a Craftsman Truck Series team. The team ran its first race with its new name -- Randy Moss Motorsports -- July 19 at Kentucky Speedway, with Willie Allen driving a Chevrolet Silverado and Moss sitting atop the pit road war wagon.

Virtually all white and virtually all male for much of its existence, NASCAR has tried to light the fires of diversity in recent years, mostly by helping minority drivers find entry-level opportunities. The sport got a boost in its efforts last year when former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, a native of Colombia, roared onto the NASCAR scene.

Moss brings diversity and a national sports reputation to the mix. But can he succeed?

Over the past decade or so, names like Terry Bradshaw, Julius Erving, Tim Brown, Mark Rypien, Dan Marino and Jackie Joyner-Kersee have been pulled into the sport in ownership capacities, all with big plans. All fizzled.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman started Hall of Fame Racing two years ago. They've since sold controlling interest to Arizona Diamondbacks owners Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, and the team continues to struggle for stability.

The biggest crossover success is Hall of Fame football coach Joe Gibbs, who built a championship NASCAR team. Former NBA star Brad Daugherty, a longtime fan and an ESPN NASCAR analyst, has been an owner at lower NASCAR levels and has announced plans to move up to Cup.

NASCAR isn't easy. Its attractions -- a friendly sponsor arena, splashy races in or near major television markets, famous drivers with huge fan bases -- can lure movers and shakers who have dollars to spread around. Often, however, it takes only a few broken engines, a series of crashed racecars and a couple of failed-to-qualify race weekends for the newcomers to find their path to success littered with all manner of difficulty.

Moss has the right idea. He's starting at the lowest level of national series racing. The Truck Series is a significantly cheaper plaything than Sprint Cup or Nationwide, and it's easier to make strides quickly. He and team co-owner David Dollar are using a series of younger drivers this season to work toward a solid foundation for 2009, and Moss hopes to eventually make it to the Cup Series.

Moss, who's from West Virginia, describes himself as a country boy who became attracted to NASCAR because so many of the people with roots similar to his are hooked on the sport. Of course, he's the only one in the group who has a three-year, $27 million contract for playing professional football.

That's the sort of guy NASCAR needs.