As NASCAR fans, you're so used to seeing drivers and teams decked out in corporate apparel that it really doesn't register much any more.

It's the trademark, the brand image of Jimmie Johnson or Carl Edwards or Ryan Newman.

Fast cars and superstars, Part 1

Beginning June 7, ABC will present the latest reality TV series -- and the first based on NASCAR -- when it airs the first of seven episodes of "Fast Cars & Superstars -- The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race" featuring 12 celebrities behind the wheel of a stock car.

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When you see those drivers in full race regalia outside the track, it gets your attention.

When Fast Cars & Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race debuts on ABC on June 7, the rest of the world will be exposed to NASCAR racing just like the celebrities who took part in the reality-based program did.

That's good news for sponsors.

"It's a strong program within NASCAR, and certain benefits come along with that," said Johnson during the filming at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "To be able to do something like this, to have this experience, it really excites me to get outside the norm of what we do."

Each of the drivers -- Johnson, Edwards, Newman, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch -- represent NASCAR, its sponsors and their own sponsors in addition to Gillette, which provided the framework for the entire effort.

"It seems like every time you think there's not much else we can do, it seems NASCAR and the sponsors come up with something," McMurray said.

Edwards was happy for Office Depot and Scotts, which had a big part in the show.

McMurray said the additional exposure was helpful in another way.

"I think it does cross your mind," he said of the "value-added" exposure. "When you're running well and you're in the top five every weekend, you get a lot of TV time. When you don't, it's a bonus because [the sponsor] can justify the amount of money they spend on your team if you can get something extra like this."

Since the drivers are teaching others how to compete in their world, there's not much seat time for them. Johnson did say that seat time was being accumulated, however.

"It's helpful, especially shooting commercials," he cracked. "The more seat time you get, the better off you are."

Which brings up the question: do NASCAR drivers get star-struck?

The answer to that question is, surprisingly, yes and no.

"When I meet someone famous, I try not to bug them," McMurray said. "Sometimes you meet people like that and you hit it off, and sometimes there's not much to say there."

One exception for McMurray was William Shatner. "I'm a huge fan of Boston Legal," he said.

Edwards played both sides of that street.

"I don't really get starstruck, but I have a lot of respect for them," he said. "I got to play PlayStation with Tony Hawk and I was like, 'this is cool.' We were playing his game, and he got 500,000 points in one round and I got 3,000. That's pretty cool. It's always good to be around people who are pretty passionate and good at what they do."

Johnson admitted to "geeking out."

"Tony Hawk and Laird Hamilton were heroes of mine growing up in southern California and when I met them, I 'geeked out', as my wife put it," he said.

Teaching the celebrities to drive a racecar was not all that difficult, according to Newman.

"The concept is not that difficult," the Alltel driver said. "Everyone drives a car. People talk on the phone with one hand and drive a car and do just fine. Here, you put two hands on the wheel and stay focused on hitting your marks. They have teachers in the school cars. The concept is not hard; it's just a matter of doing it right. We had a couple of mistakes on my team ... maybe I pumped them up too much!"

On the flip side, the Gillette Young Guns were a little leery of doing what the celebrities do for a living, too.

"Acting is way harder," McMurray said. "It's hard to be yourself in front of a camera because you're not really in the moment you're trying to be in. I've done a few commercials; I was on The West Wing.

"You go do it, and they're like, 'You need more enthusiasm.' It's kind of like, 'Look, bud, this is what I have. This is it.' It's way harder than anyone can ever imagine. I've stayed up at night, thinking, 'I could do that.' Then I say, 'No. you can't.'"

Edwards was happy he's a driver.

"I was talking to Laird Hamilton and he said, 'Man, this looks a lot easier when you're sitting on the couch,'" Edwards said. "It's easy to be an expert when you're sitting on the couch, in any profession. It's neat for them to be able to come and do this, and in a way, I'm grateful that I'm not going surfing or acting or playing music, because I would be a real fish out of water."

Johnson perhaps summed it up best.

"It's amazing how intense Laird gets when he's getting ready to surf a 100-foot wave," Johnson remarked. "I thought what I do is dangerous. I asked him what the survival rate was for somebody surfing a 100-foot wave, and he said there wasn't one. It takes some commitment. At the end of the day, they all have that kind of commitment."

At the end of the day it's all about eyeballs and exposure and mixing Gillette's Young Guns with established stars from other genres is a winner of an idea.

"Anytime you get people from all different types of vocations together and do racing stuff, you introduce not only them but all their fans to it," Edwards said. "It's such an exciting sport. I think anyone who has ever been to a race or driven in a race, it's just unbelievable. It just gets more people involved."