Fast Cars and Superstars?

By Mike Harper

This week’s topic: ABC will air a new reality show featuring celebrity drivers being trained by NASCAR’s young-guns. The celebrity drivers include pop singer Jewel, actor William Shatner, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, former NBA champion John Salley, tennis star Serena Williams and former NFL Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Cowher to name a few.

This topic popped up on our radio show this week and I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t too happy with the idea of the a bunch of Hollywood types jumping on the tube for a quick publicity stunt at the expense of NASCAR drivers and fans.

Obviously Captain James T. Kirk, a sucker for a quick buck sees the green at the end of the NASCAR tunnel on this one and abracadabra – we have a new reality show folks!

I have no clue how this show is going to turn out. Could be a success and entertaining. But on the face of it I see this as another attempt to profit off the NASCAR fan base instead of reversing the Hollywood cycle and giving regular hard working folks the chance to be in the spotlight.

Imagine NASCAR’s young-guns teaching true race fans – you know, the people who spend their money on race tickets and spend days camping out at the track waiting for the big race. Instead we get people (not all of them) who only show up to at the track to promote a movie or a sponsor.

Which brings me to another topic. The All-Star event.

I was visiting with a new fan of the sport and he asked me a very good question. He said, "Mike (cause that’s my name), if they tell us the All-Star event is for the fans then why don’t they split the big money with the fans – why do the rich keep getting richer?"

Hey, cause its NASCAR brother! But I remember the Winston "No Bull 5" events when five fans would get paired up with five NASCAR drivers and if their driver won, they took home a million bucks. So I think this is actually a good idea for future All-Star events. 21-23 drivers and each driver gets paired with a fan. The driver wins $500 thousand and the fan wins $500 thousand – sounds fair to me.

Anyway, back to Captain Kirk!

Ridiculous! And, of course I’ll watch because I’m a NASCAR junkie. But the question on the radio show was – who would be the most bizarre choice for this new reality TV show for next season?

Let’s see – any Hollywood superstar who has been arrested for DUI would add some spice to the show. I mean come on - Lindsay Lohan is a natural fit. She was in Herbie: Fully Loaded with NASCAR support and she did just get busted for DUI.

But my vote goes to Rosie O’Donnell, Whitney Houston, OJ Simpson, Mike Tyson and yes – we can’t forget Michael Jackson. Now that’s drama!