Moss goes in halves, but that still might be too much

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Desire and a hearty appetite for winning aren't the only requirements for running a successful NASCAR team.

But don't tell that to Randy Moss, the most recent installment of NFL players to dip their toe into NASCAR's ownership pool.

An All-Pro receiver, Moss announced this week at the Daytona International Speedway that he has purchased 50 percent of the Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Craftsman Truck Series team.

Now called Randy Moss Motorsports, the new team will make its debut on July 19 at Kentucky Speedway with Willie Allen driving the No. 81 Chevrolet. The former No. 46 on the truck was changed to reflect Moss' NFL number.

Moss said he has considered a stake in NASCAR for a while, but said he chose to partner with David Dollar of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports as opposed to going it alone from ground zero. Nevertheless, Moss said his ultimate goal is to go Sprint Cup racing.

David Dollar, Randy Moss and the 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Chevy.

Audible at the line

Earlier this year, Randy Moss revealed his interest in putting a full-time truck team on the track in 2009 but subsequently decided to buy into Dollar's existing organization rather than try to create a new team from scratch.

"For the last five or six years I've been very interested in joining NASCAR, but I really didn't know what steps to take," Moss said. "I'm ready to take this all the way. My door is open for any sponsors who want to team up with Randy Moss Motorsports."

Dennis Setzer won 11 races with Morgan-Dollar finished second in the championship standings for three consecutive years (2003-2005) as Dollar's full-time driver.

Dollar has fielded two trucks this season, the No. 46 and No. 47. The No. 46 has appeared in all 12 races with six drivers and is 17th in owner points. The No. 47 has been in two races this season.

Eric Phillips, Morgan-Dollar's longtime crew chief, will continue in that capacity.

Moss also expressed a long-range desire to build a racetrack in his native West Virginia.

"I'm a country boy, and I think that they love NASCAR back in West Virginia," Moss said. "One of these days I would love to put a nice track back in my home state. ... That's sort of a long-term goal for me, but I do want to do that. That's how I got turned on to NASCAR -- being a country boy and seeing how much they love NASCAR in the state of West Virginia. I can honestly say that my roots brought me here."

-- Sporting News Wire Service

Not to discourage the man's entrepreneurial ventures or offseason diversions -- I wish him luck -- but if history is any indication, Moss will be out of the garage and back to the locker room within a few seasons, at most.

Moss is not the first NFL player, or NBA player for that matter, to take an ownership role in motorsports only to bow out when the success or money doesn't come in the expected, expedient manner. What will be different for Moss is if he produces any real level of success or staying power, contrary to a string of his predecessors: Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.

At least Hall of Fame Racing's Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach held their own on the Cup side of the sport and secured a committed sponsor in DLP-HDTV, but here again they only lasted two seasons before selling their share of the team to Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, of baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks fame. Technically, Aikman and Staubach still have ownership but seemingly no active interest.

Tim Brown is another example that it takes more than just a notable NFL career and a familiar face to attract the sponsor dollars required to run a competitive NASCAR team.

Like Moss, Brown was an All-Pro wide receiver with the Oakland Raiders and in 2006 announced he would become a NASCAR team owner, but sponsorship never materialized and the team never happened. And Brown even had help from Roush Racing (read more).

And don't forget about the short-lived, embarrassing display from Carmelo Anthony, an NBA forward for the Denver Nuggets, who took a co-ownership role in the Indy Racing League with Hemelgarn in March of 2006. Anthony told his rookie driver, P.J. Chesson, to handle the fast lane while he handled the basketball lane.

The short, four-race venture ended with the Indianapolis 500 two months after announcing his arrival. The only thing the team managed to handle was completing one lap of the famed race. Anthony withdrew from the team and returned his focus on what he knows best: fast breaks, not the fast lane.

Moss is convinced he has what it takes to be around for the long haul and won't become another NFL player in NASCAR's ownership scrap heap. His pitch to the media and other NASCAR types this week seemed genuine but only time will tell.

"If y'all are all sitting here doubting me or this team, that's up to you," Moss said. "I've been doubted most of my whole life and I've proven a lot of people wrong. To be able to come back and smile, and shaking hands and holding hands ... whatever you want to call it, I'm up for that challenge and I think he [David Dollar] is, too, and our team is, also."

Mind you, that team Moss is so optimistic about has no sponsorship. Even Chip Ganassi, with nearly a decade in NASCAR and countless championships in the Indy Racing League, can't lock down a full-time sponsor for his No. 40 Cup car, forcing him to cease operation of that team.

But Moss said if he can't find a sponsor he's willing to "keep this going myself."

To Moss' credit, his interest in NASCAR isn't coming from left field as has the interest from some of his predecessors attempting to own teams in NASCAR.

In his home state of West Virginia, Moss sponsors a local dirt-track program. He also is the goodwill ambassador for the Urban Youth Racing School headquartered in Philadelphia.

And perhaps with the institutional knowledge and experience from the former Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, a team that has won 13 races with drivers Dennis Setzer, Bobby Labonte and Clint Bowyer, Moss will fare better than his NFL counterparts before him.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.