Jason Kelce carries a winning attitude, and this was proven when he made his NASCAR debut at Talladega, joining hands with Corey Day’s crew. The driver ended up winning his first race in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. And even though Jason’s brother, Travis Kelce, might be far more successful than him in football, he now has something to smirk over.
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Jason Kelce celebrates his NASCAR ‘win’
“I am a Talladega champ, that’s right. […] I was the best f**king gas can passer on pit road that day, baby! Champions! 1 – 0, baby!” Jason screamed as he felt the sense of victory while talking to his brother, Travis Kelce.
Understandably, Kelce is not a full-time hire that Rick Hendrick made. He was present at the Talladega Superspeedway with Day’s crew, joining them as their sign holder and a helper for the rest of the crew, mostly by passing gas cans. Although it might not sound like a lot, the immense accuracy and work that goes into it can be complicated. Indicating to the driver, who might be coming down at a high speed, that they have to stop at the perfect stop, is not an easy job.
“You put the sign down on pit road. That lets the driver know where to stop at. Sometimes, you might want to stop it short. Sometimes you might want to stop it where you normally stop at. Sometimes you want to stop a little wide. So we did a short wide stop! So it was a pretty technical job of the sign guy to move it up and move it down,” he explained to his brother.
Jason is UNDEFEATED as a member of a @NASCAR pit crew
Understandably, it was a special day for Jason Kelce, but it meant way more to Corey Day. After his debut in the series last year, Day and the #17 team have stepped up their game this season. He has been performing exceptionally well, pulling in consistent top 10 and top 5 finishes. While he was still not in a winning contention at Talladega up until the very end of the race, he found himself at the right place at the right time, clinching his career’s first win.
While Kelce’s NASCAR debut was quite exciting for many, it isn’t the first time that it has happened.
When footballers end up in NASCAR
Throughout the years, there have been many NFL players who made a special appearance in NASCAR. It was sometimes as the pace car driver, and other times as the grand marshal.
However, this crossover between football and stock racing didn’t stop there. In fact, there were times when some players found full-time roles with NASCAR teams. Jeremy Kimbrough is a prominent example. After an injury in his rookie season with the Washington Redskins, things didn’t seem to be working great for him. It was at this time that he decided to move to NASCAR through the Drive for Diversity crew development program in 2016. During his tenure in the sport, he worked with the crew of notable drivers Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez.
Joel Bouagnon is another strong example. He was a running back in the NFL and was involved with multiple teams, including the likes of the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers. However, he moved to NASCAR in 2020 as a pit crew member. He is currently Denny Hamlin’s jackman with the #11 team with Joe Gibbs Racing.
While it does seem a bit odd, it is completely natural why footballers seem to be a strong fit for the NASCAR teams as pit crew members. The physical and mental demands of the pit stops and team management mirror football roles in positions like the linebackers or special teams. Moreover, they also tend to have the physical strength required to work as a jackman or even a tire changer.
These aspects make them suitable enough for the roles, and Jason Kelce also proved it earlier at Talladega. While this was only a one-time thing, with Corey Day insisting, Jason might have the chance to perhaps flaunt a few more NASCAR wins over his brother if he returns in the future.
