Driver Tim Fedewa, left, with team co-owner Terry Bradshaw Credit: Autostock

FitzBradshaw race team has football mentality

The FitzBradshaw Racing team draws from the quarterback's calm-under-fire presence and the linebacker's fiery emotion.

Terry Bradshaw and Armando Fitz are ex-football players who partner on the Busch racing team, with management styles that mesh with each other -- and their former positions.

Fitz was a four-year starting linebacker for Vanderbilt.

	David Stremme
	FITZBRADSHAW RACING •   Driver Page: Fedewa •   Fedewa's 2005 Stats •   Driver Page: Stremme •   Stremme's 2005 Stats

"If something happens on the track, he's throwing stuff," FitzBradshaw driver Tim Fedewa said.

Bradshaw is a folksy ex-quarterback who won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Terry, believe it or not, he takes a step back and looks at the whole thing and keeps Armando calm," Fedewa said. "They balance each other out real well."

Together, Fitz and Bradshaw are nurturing the up-and-coming racing team toward a move up to Nextel Cup competition. In the meantime, Fitz and his Pro Football Hall of Fame partner have had to learn that losing is a big part of NASCAR.

"That's probably been the hardest thing for him with this sport," Fitz said. "Both of us grew up playing football. When we both showed up on game day, we had a 50 percent chance of winning. With this sport, there's only one winner and 42 losers.

"It's hard to get used to the fact that there's only going to be one winner."

So far, that winner hasn't been one of the FitzBradshaw drivers, but they've been edging closer to contention as the team has grown from one car in 2002 into a three-car team.

Top finishersDavid Stremme and Jon Wood on their Aaron's 312 finishes Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

David Stremme, 27, has driven the No. 14 U.S. Navy Dodge into seventh place in the Busch standings, recording four top-five finishes and another top-10 result in 11 races this season. He was 10th last year and won rookie of the year honors in 2003.

Fedewa, 38, hasn't had as much success in the No. 12 Supercuts/Hot Tamales Dodge and ranks 20th, four spots worse than last year's finish. Veteran Sterling Marlin (30th) and Scott Lagasse split time in the third car.

Fitz and Stremme agree FitzBradshaw isn't quite ready for a rise to Nextel Cup competition.

"There's a lot more we need to do here in the Busch program, but for the most part we've turned it around this year," Stremme said. "I think they've made that corner and we're improving each race."

Fitz said being competitive is paramount -- at whatever level.

"We don't have any desire to get up there and just run in the back," he said. "We're just now turning the corner on the Busch series. It's taken us a while. We started from scratch and we've slowly just built our team."

Fitz and his wife, Mimi, purchased the Busch team of her father, Felix Sabates, at the end of the 2000 season. Fitz met Bradshaw when the ex-quarterback was serving as grand marshal at Daytona. Bradshaw was a longtime NASCAR fan, but it took a while to forge the partnership.

Fitz wasn't looking for a partner. He especially wasn't looking for a token celebrity who would get his name on the ownership role then fade out of the picture.

"I just said, 'Let's just see if you and I can even be friends before we do something like this,"' Fitz said. "The worst thing that can happen is you bring on a celebrity sponsor who makes promises of going to the racetrack, going to commercials, that you're going to deliver off-track stuff, and then you don't."

David Stremme is seventh in the Busch Series standings. Credit: Autostock

It hasn't been a problem with Bradshaw, though as an NFL studio analyst for Fox he has to miss most of the fall races.

"When he comes here, he's just kind of one of the guys," Stremme said. "He'll give us his opinion on teamwork. He's a big celebrity and he's a big part of our organization.

"Armando is in the shop every day. He'll come out in the morning, have a cup of coffee, walk around and talk to all the guys in the shop, no matter whether he's a parts guy or a guy who cleans the floors or crew chief."

Fedewa hopes FitzBradshaw can find the same winning formula that Bradshaw's Steelers employed.

"You don't have to have all No. 1 draft picks on your team to win the Super Bowl," he said. "You just have to have a good group of people that work hard together and has one goal in common. That's at least what we strive for."