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NASCAR and celebrity have seemingly gone hand-in-hand over the years, with each proving to be a magnet for the other.
But there’s a certain group of celebrities who’ve gone a step further: They’ve also become part or full team owners — and some even got behind the wheel as drivers — in NASCAR, particularly the premier NASCAR Cup Series.
Here’s a list of 12 celebrities – past and present – who have put their money where their mouths have been, investing in team ownership or as drivers themselves. Some lasted only a short time, while others will last until 2023:
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The late comedian teamed up with longtime friend and well-known Hollywood stuntman and producer/director Hal Needham to form Mach 1 Racing in the NASCAR Cup in 1981. While Reynolds pretty much faded from view after the first three seasons, the organization would go on for nine seasons, winning nine races (all by NASCAR icon Harry Gant) before going out of business in 1990.
The NBA Hall of Famer and lifelong NASCAR fan began co-owning Liberty Racing, a Truck Series team that included drivers such as current NASCAR star Kevin Harvick and the late Kenny Irwin, but that team only lasted three seasons (1997-1995). -99). This would eventually lead to Daugherty becoming a part owner of JTG Daugherty Racing with Tad and Jody Skilled in 2008, a role Daugherty continues to this day.
Armando Christian Perez, also known as singer and rapper Pitbull, joined Justin Marks in 2021 as a co-owner of Trackhouse Racing. He has compared his journey to American superstardom and NASCAR team ownership to that of one of the team’s drivers, Daniel Suarez. Suarez is of Mexican descent while Pitbull, who was born and raised in Miami, is of Cuban descent.
The late country music legend Marty Robbins was a longtime NASCAR fan and eventually founded Robbins Racing as an owner and driver, competing in 35 cup races with a top 5 finish. The team competed on a part-time basis from 1966 to 1982, when Robbins died in Nashville on December 8 of that year at the age of 57.
Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, legends of the NFL Hall of Famers and Dallas Cowboys, co-owned Hall of Fame Racing, which was founded in 2006 and ran for just two full-time seasons. The team was sold to Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkle after the 2007 season and finally closed its doors two years later.
NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre became a partner with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett and in 1999 founded Jarrett/Favre Motorsports, which competed part-time in what was then the Busch Series. However, the partnership did not last long. When Rayovac ended sponsorship in 2001, the team collapsed shortly thereafter.
Former NFL head coach Jerry Glanville competed in six NASCAR Busch Series races in 1992 and 1993 (with a best finish of 20th place) and 27 Truck Series races in 1995-1999 with a best finish of 14th place (three separate times) part. Glanville also had a minority stake.
Joe Gibbs: The Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Super Bowl champion coach in the NFL was actually a hot rodder before he got into the gridiron game and grew up as a drag racer in Southern California. He would eventually start both a NASCAR cup team, which continues to this day, and an NHRA drag racing team, which competed in the early to mid-1990s.
The NFL Hall of Famer last year partnered with aspiring driver and former US Navy Lieutenant Jesse Iwuji for a full-time operation of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which is expected to resume in 2023.
The legendary boxer co-owns The Money Team (aka TMT), which made four NASCAR Cup starts in 2022 with Kaz Grala at the wheel for the first three races and IndyCar veteran Conor Daly with one start (the best result for the team was the 23rd place). , both driven by Grala in the Coca-Cola 600 and Daly in the Charlotte Roval race).
It’s uncertain if TMT will be back in 2023. Grala has signed to race full-time in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing in 2023 and it’s unclear if Daly will attempt further cup racing for Mayweather’s group.
The shock rock legend and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer grew up in Motor City before his family moved to the Phoenix area. But Cooper fell in love with two things growing up: music and racing. Eventually, in 2003, he became co-owner of the Montgomery Racing Busch Series team. Unfortunately, the team didn’t even last two years, and Alice, although he’d never actually driven the car, kept rocking and rolling.
The NBA Hall of Famer – and considered by many to be the sport’s greatest player of all time – joined forces with longtime friend and veteran NASCAR star Denny Hamlin to form 23XI Racing in late 2020 and debuted as a full-time racing operation in late 2021 Bubba Wallace.
The team expanded to two cars in 2022 with Kurt Busch. Tyler Reddick will replace Busch for the 2023 season as Busch has made the decision to essentially retire and only due to the severe concussion he sustained in July 2022 that forced him to miss the remainder of the season will compete sparingly. And rumor has it that Hamlin’s current contract with Joe Gibbs Racing and FedEx will end after the upcoming season if no renewal is secured in the coming months. If that happens, the same rumors insist the 42-year-old Hamlin can then drive an extra year or two for 23XI Racing.
Famed comedians Wayan Brothers (Marlon, Keenan Ivory, Damon and Shawn) held a major press conference at Auto Club Speedway in September 2005 and announced that they were forming a NASCAR cup team called Star Motorsports to compete in the following to start the season. Well, it turns out the joke was on NASCAR, as the brothers and their proposed team never materialized.
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