“But I do keep in constant contact with our team and the people who are running it, Bill Saunders and our crew chief Philippe Lopez so I am looking forward to be there. I have been to some races in the past. The first race I ever went to was when Sterling Marlin won his first
Daytona 500. In fact, I dropped the green flag at that race and got to be in the winner's circle. It was a great experience. To be around that part of it, early on and get a taste of that is all about excites me and I am looking forward to being down there. Hopefully, I will be able to watch the race down around the track in the pit area throughout the race on Sunday.”
Q
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A NASCAR FAN AND HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN IT?
TROY AIKMAN
“It was that first race I just spoke about. I met Sterling in Nashville early in my career and I had invited him as a guest of mine to come to our Super Bowl and he attended our game and then he invited me to be a part of the Daytona 500 as a guest of his. That was the first race I had ever been to and as I said, it was a great experience. I have been to a number of races since then, watching it and tried to keep up with it as far as where the sport has been going. And then I would say, over the last three years when we first started talking about putting together a team, for Roger and I both, the learning curve has been steep. Rather than looking at it from more than just a fans perspective, we had to get in a little bit deeper and learn what we could about the sport and that will continue. We still have a lot to learn.”
Q
WHEN YOU WERE A LITTLE KID, DID YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN CARS?
TROY AIKMAN
“I did have some interest. My Father actually on weekends would race cars at local tracks there in Riverside California and the surrounding areas there when we were growing up. So I would go to the race track some with him, but he didn't stay in it very long because of the expense of the sport, even back then, was a little bit prohibitive. I am in the car business now with some car dealerships. As far as did I ever have any interest in getting involved in racing myself, no. That was never an interest of mine, I was always a stick and ball type guys.”
Q
ARE THERE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE DAYTONA 500 AND THE SUPER BOWL?
TROY AIKMAN
“I would say the similarity is in the fan interest. The Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year for the football season and it draws tremendous interest from those people who are not necessarily football fans. I would guess the same is true for the Daytona 500. Everyone knows the magnitude of this race. Because they do call it the Super Bowl of NASCAR, to kick off the season, that is different from football but yet it is exciting. I think people get involved in watching this race more than they do during the year. Beyond that I don't know if it is the same because it does come so early in the year. In football, whoever wins that game is the champion with is not the case after the Daytona 500 in NASCAR. Obviously they both attract huge audiences and it should be fun.”
Q
WHEN FOOTBALL SEASON RESUMES, WILL BE IT DIFFICULT TO FOCUS ON YOUR JOB IN THE BOOTH WHILE YOU CAR IS RACING?
TROY AIKMAN
“It won't be difficult for me to concentrate on the football and what my job is. I will definitely be keeping a keen interest in what is happening with our team during those races. It is interesting because the guys I know at Fox, the producer, the director and the rest of our crew is the same crew that handles NASCAR for Fox. So they go right from the football season into the NASCAR season, they will be in Fontana next weekend with Darrell Waltrip and broadcasting all those races for NASCAR. Once they come back, once their season ends for Fox with NASCAR, they then come back with me and we begin the football season. These guys will do a pretty good job of keeping me up to speed about what is happening at the track.”
Q
HOW YOU PRECEIVE THE GROWTH OF THIS SPORT, HAS IT TAKEN YOU A LITTLE ABACK?
TROY AIKMAN
“Yes, it has. It has been really remarkable to me to see how fast this sport has grown. I think it is terrific. After getting involved on the ownership side, a couple of years ago and talking with various companies, to me it makes great sense for these companies that can afford to be in sport to get involved in it. A lot like football, when you look at the popularity of football, which right now is as popular as it has ever been, the same can be said for NASCAR.
