Name: Brad Daugherty

Occupation: ESPN analyst, NASCAR team owner

Birth date: Oct. 19, 1965

Hometown: Native of Black Mountain, N.C., now resident of Asheville, N.C.

Did you know? Daugherty’s No. 43 from the Cleveland Cavaliers is retired.

ESPN analyst. Former professional basketball star. NASCAR team owner. Golfer.

Brad Daugherty’s resume and interests are about as varied as his 7-foot frame is tall.

He merely does it all. But for the journalism major from North Carolina, it’s all about racing. Talking about it on TV and living it in the garage.

And if you ask him, his future in racing is only going to get busier.

After all, Daugherty says: “I love this sport.”

A King on the Court

To understand this love of everything auto racing, you have to go back to his earlier days. The days of a
basketball-star-in-the-making.

And Daugherty certainly is no stranger to hoops fans.

There were the days as an All-American player for the University of North Carolina, which he entered as a 16-year-old freshman and left with an induction into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Then a professional career followed with a first-round draft pick at the age of 20 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds each game in eight seasons, Daugherty was the all-time leading scorer for the Cavs with 10,389 points until March 21, 2008, when LeBron James broke his record. He also was a five-time All-Star for the Cavs and is considered by many as one of the team’s greatest players.

While Daugherty was showing everyone what a great basketball player he was, he was also paying homage to one of his childhood heroes by wearing a jersey with No. 43 on it.

“As a kid growing up I had the privilege of meeting Richard Petty,” said Daugherty, who met Petty in 1977 at Daytona International Speedway. “I was just a little guy, and he took time to speak to me and talk to me. It left just an indelible impression on me.

“I thought that if I ever had the opportunity to play sports or do something like that I would wear the No. 43 to honor Richard Petty.”

For the Love of the Sport

Growing up in North Carolina, Daugherty was surrounded by racing.

“I have been a fan ever since I was 6,7 years of age,” says Daugherty. “My dad was a huge fan (and) watched a lot of races. I used to sit on the couch and watch races with my dad every Sunday so I have been following this sport a long, long time.”

Daugherty first got involved with NASCAR when he co-founded a late-model stock race team in 1987 with driver Robert Pressley. Racing in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series Mid-Atlantic Region, the team won the regional championship title in 1987 and 1988 with Pressley. After a move to the NASCAR Nationwide Series the next year, the rookie owner scored a win with his rookie driver.

During the mid-90s while still in the NBA, Daugherty also worked with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He retired from professional basketball in 1997, and worked as a sideline reporter and analyst for college basketball games. He currently is a co-owner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck team.

In the 2009 season with Toyota as a sponsor and Marcos Ambrose as a driver, Daugherty will move up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup waters.

He’ll be doing this while working as an analyst for ESPN – as co-host on “NASCAR Now” and commentator on “NASCAR Countdown.”

So how does he balance it all?

“Well, basically I have no life,” Daugherty said grinning. “It’s very, very tedious but I enjoy it so much. I enjoy racing. I enjoy the sport. I enjoy the business side of racing and I absolutely love doing the TV.”

“The television has been a great opportunity for me. … It’s been perfect because I get to own, I get to participate, but also get a bird’s eye view of the sport from the booth.”

Adding More to his Plate

Daugherty doesn’t plan on slowing down in the near future. In fact, he’s already planning another racing adventure.

As in driving.

“I race late model stocks during the summer,” said Daugherty, who also likes to race Thunder Roadsters.
“This past year I ran my first race … ran Twin 35’s at TriCounty. I am going to try and run some more this summer … so not only do I talk it, I love to do it.

“I love to race and a lot people wouldn’t expect that out of this big frame.”

And exactly how do you get a 7-foot-tall man into a race car?

When asked that, Daugherty simply smiled and said:

“It’s not a pretty sight.”

posted by BGNRacing.com