Aikman, Staubach coming to NASCAR

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Aikman and Staubach quarterbacked the same NFL team. Now they're part owners of the same team -- planning to enter a car in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series in 2004.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks are partners in Hall of Fame Racing, which will be directed by former Trans-Am driver Bill Saunders, who will act as managing partner.

``Roger and I have discussed this for a while, and all the pieces just came together. We're not naive going into this thing. We recognize it will be a real challenge,'' Aikman said in a telephone interview Thursday with The Associated Press.

So far, Aikman said, the team has no shop, no equipment, no employees other than the three owners, no driver and no sponsor. The latter will be a priority, the three-time Super Bowl winner added.

``For Roger and me, our involvement will, hopefully, be in sponsorship, and we'll be go to the races when we can,'' he said.

``Maybe we can bring some things to a company that others can't. We're not in it for the sake of being in it,'' Aikman added. ``We'll be up and running in 2004 but we know we've got a lot of work ahead.''

Stars from other sports have not had a very good track record in NASCAR. NBA great Julius Erving and NFL star Joe Washington had a Busch team, but couldn't sustain momentum, lost their sponsor and disappeared from the stock car sport. Three years ago, Olympic track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee and her husband, Bob, announced plans to form a team, but nothing ever materialized.

Aikman, 36, retired from the NFL after the 2000 season. Two-time Super Bowl winner Staubach will turn 61 on Feb. 5 and retired following the 1979 season. Their mutual love of football and the Cowboys brought them together years ago.

``Roger has been a friend and mentor to me for many years,'' Aikman said. ``Roger is very competitive and I am very competitive, and now we get to be involved in a sport and have an opportunity to get together and do something special.''

Aikman said Joe Gibbs, former coach of the Washington Redskins and now owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, which won Winston Cup championships in 2000 and 2002, has helped get the team off the ground.

``Coach Gibbs has been a tremendous resource for our team already,'' Aikman said. ``When he got involved in the sport, people helped him and he is returning the favor and keeping us, hopefully, from hitting some of the same pitfalls he found.''

He also said it's premature to be talking about a driver.

The team will be headquartered in Dallas while maintaining a race shop in Charlotte, N.C., where most of the Winston Cup teams are based.
 
This will be intresting we got a coach and now some players
 
Troy just needs to remember what he said in that GMC truck commercial a few years ago. "Do one thing. Do it well.":)
 
Troy Aikman has a good head on his shoulders, and a very good businessman as a partner. Just about everything either one of these men have done has had some amount of success. Some greater than others, but to the best of my knowledge, neither have "failed" at anything businesswise.
 
I laugh when I see high profile people wanting to jump on the band wagon, so to speak. Everybody wants to own a team and get with the program now that NASCAR has hit it big. I guess they think that it's so simple to catch a ride on the NASCAR Express. Many have tried before them and have failed. Many are still trying and some more are about to fail. It will be interesting, as some one said before me, just to see how far they will go. They have such a mountain to climb before they can field a car and the first mountain is the cash, meaning sponsor. Hey, maybe they can get Jerry Jones to sponsor their car. Now wouldn't that be a hoot! :)
 
Nothing wrong with fresh dollars coming into the sport. I hope they do make it work.........and do well.:)
 
Absolutely nothing wrong with new fresh money coming into the sport at all. I was just remembering when the group with Dr. J and Joe Washington was going to come into the sport and start this new team. Wasn't, now who was she, the black track star, also a part of this team? I understood their problems all came from not being able to get sponsorship monies. We have teams out there now who are already established and can't find a sponsor. Do these guys think that just because they have the name that sponsors will come flying out at them for a chance to have their names on a car?
 
I'm sure they will have a huge mountain to climb, buck. But just maybe they can pull it off......Nike, Rawlings, maybe Adidas would be approach!!:)
 
Originally posted by fergy1370
I thought Jerry Jones was getting into NASCAR...Maybe with Andy Petree??
Click to expand...

I heard Jerry Jones backed out........something over controlling the business of something.
 
Yep they bring another angle into the sport with their association with the NFL, who knows they might even kick in $$$ to get their name on a car(NFL that is). I think they will do ok, once they hire the right people.
 
DEW, I've thought about that angle, Nike etc, but then why haven't they already gotten into the sport? Racing isn't exactly a sport in which people associate the athletes shoe apparrel. That might change is someone can talk them into doing a car, but then someone has to be the first. Let's see, how about this. Air Gordons. Nah, that just doesn't sound good. Air Jrs. Again, that doesn't sound good. Air NASCAR. Yeah, that sounds good, but you can't put that on a car for that's the series. :)

DH, I know a man that is available...how about Pemberton? It takes time for a new team to be formed and for that team to develope into something that's competitive. It took Cal Wells a couple of years before he got his first win and he's still looking for his second. And he knows racing!
 
I think thats cool, the more teams the better, since it seems a few teams will close befor next year.
I hope Joe gets them to drive Pontaics.
 
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