NASCAR and Golf

By Claire B. Lang

March 1st, 2010

There’s a long-standing correlation between golf and NASCAR, yet any pairing between the two sports would seem, on the surface, a bit odd.

NASCAR is about noise; it’s about loud cars and vocal, opinionated fans. Golf is about silence and serenity, about fans clapping quietly and players keeping mum on the course. But golf figures big into NASCAR driver fundraising and, inside the garage, story-telling fun.

Four-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has taken golf lessons. “When you are there and the [instructor] is telling you all the dos and don’ts – it’s [another] thing to get out there on your own and you are thinking about all the things the guys are telling you,” Johnson says. “I’m in worse shape than going back to my old swing … it’s just too much in my head thinking about all those techniques.”

Johnson injured himself falling off of a golf cart in 2006. “I’ve seen a few photos of golf carts that fans have suggested. There have been surfboards attached to tops of golf carts with bindings so I’m locked in and am not able to fall off,“ Johnson explains.

Budweiser driver Kasey Kahne visited the Wachovia – PGA event in Charlotte, N.C., recently, dressed totally wrong. “I was the only person at Quail Hollow in [blue] jeans,” he says sheepishly. “I stuck out like a sore thumb. I hear this lady across the room, we were on the 14th green, she’s like, ‘That’s Kasey Kahne and he’s wearing jeaaaans,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot!’”

Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle scores his game in a unique manner. “I just count how many balls I lose, that is how I keep score. I take a couple cases with me. I got six in the water, three in the trees, I just count them up – that’s my score,” he notes.

Like many NASCAR drivers, Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann holds an annual charity golf ournament. “I’m the only guy who has a golf tournament and doesn’t actually play in it,” he says. “That’s how bad I am. But I ride around and thank everybody for coming and we have a really good time.”

NASCAR broadcaster and driver Kenny Wallace was golfing with his daughter on the cart when she was 8 years old. He took a hard left and she was gone, tossed onto the green because of his over-the-top cart driving. He still tells that story today in the garage and it gets funnier every time.

PGA golfer Boo Weekley was the honorary starter for the 2008 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega. “It’s a dream come true for me. I am a big NASCAR Fan,” he said. “We want to meet [Dale Earnhardt] Junior. Come hell

don’t think I’ll make it home. I think my little boy might just skin me up like a catfish.” Weekley got his meeting with Junior – and regularly visits NASCAR tracks today.

“There’s more to racing than just the cars going around the track,” Weekley explains. “It’s the fans – like in golf, that’s what makes golf so special.”

Whether driving a race car or driving a golf ball, here’s the hole in one: It’s all about the fans!