Moss says he sees no color as he enters NASCAR's world

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Randy Moss, NASCAR's newest owner, prefers to be color blind.

That's easy in the diversified NFL, where he's an All-Pro receiver for the New England Patriots. But his entry into the Craftsman Truck series will make him stand out in a predominately white crowd.

"I really don't see race. I think a lot of people do," Moss said Thursday after announcing he bought 50 percent of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, a fledgling team without sponsorship.

He named the team Randy Moss Motorsports, and changed the truck number from 46 to 81 to reflect his jersey number. The revamped team will debut July 19 at Kentucky Speedway with Willie Allen driving.

Any minority involvement will be celebrated with NASCAR facing a $225 million racial discrimination lawsuit.

Only one other owner in NASCAR's top three series is African-American. Brad Daugherty, an ESPN broadcaster who starred in the NBA and at the University of North Carolina, bought into a truck team that will run full time next year. There are no black drivers competing full-time in any of the three series.

Nine years ago at Daytona, track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, announced she and her husband Bob would form a Cup team. They had no sponsor and no driver but lots of hope. They failed to make the Daytona 500 the following year and faded away.

African-Americans have had few highlights in the sport since. Sam Belnavis owned a Cup team in 2003 before the sponsor left after the season and the operation folded. Bill Lester ran 142 truck races, one Busch race and two Cup events from 1999-2007, but never won. His debut in 2006 marked the first time an African-American had competed in a Cup race since 1986.

Other African-Americans have tried to break into NASCAR. Former NFL players Tim Brown and Terance Mathis wanted to start Cup programs but neither succeeded. Brown aligned with Roush Racing but that didn't help him find sponsorship. Mathis said talks with several companies produced no opportunities for his start-up organization.

Mathis, a former All-Pro receiver with the Atlanta Falcons, said the addition of Moss and Daugherty is "what the doctor ordered for NASCAR" with it facing that lawsuit.

"Now you've got a guy that has been a face in NASCAR in Brad Daugherty and you've got a household name in Randy Moss that might help... put a Band-Aid on the issues that have occurred in NASCAR. They've been punched in the eye and they've got some black eyes."

Moss is busy with football from the start of training camp in July through the end of the season. Daugherty admits to a responsibility as a highly visible minority in the sport but won't let it dictate all that he does.

"Do I feel that if I don't succeed I'm letting people down or there's extra pressure to have to succeed? No," he said recently.

"I really don't worry about other people's opinion. I want to do it well, and I want to be responsible just because that's the way I am."

Mathis, who continues to search for money to compete in any of NASCAR's series, plans to support Moss and Daugherty.

"I don't care who is first or who is last as long as you've got longevity," Mathis said.

Moss joins a truck team that finished second in the points from 2003-05 but has recently been used to develop younger drivers.

The team also has no sponsorship. It costs at least $6 million a season to run a successful truck program, and if Moss can't find funding, he'll have to reach into his pocket to pay the bills.

"I don't see us going downhill," Moss said. "I'm not saying I'm 100 percent sure it's going to work, but a the same time you've got to think positive. I think if you think in the negative light, bad things are going to happen."