NFL Coach Preparing Team for Drive to NASCAR Title

Coaching the Washington Redskins is a dream job to the average football fan. But when you are the coach of the Redskins, what do you dream about?

Would you believe driving a race car?

That was Joe Gibbs’ fantasy when he was a kid. And now, he’s about to come close to fulfilling it. As close as he wants to. Gibbs is putting together a NASCAR racing team.

“I grew up in Southern California racing cars and stuff,” Gibbs told Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun. “I love that crowd. It’s a lot like the football crowd. I like the thrill of it. It’s a lot like putting together a football team.”

Gibbs said that, for him, owning a racing team is similar to a horse lover owning his own horses.

The deal for the racing team isn’t completed yet, according to Gibbs. He’s still working on sponsors, but he has a driver--Dale Jarrett--and hopes to have his team in place for next year’s racing season.

Gibbs was asked what his wife thought of his investment in the auto racing business.

“She was happy,” he replied, “when I said I wouldn’t drive.”

Trivia time: He was the dominant pitcher in baseball for three years, going 29-9, 25-9 and 26-9. He later won 21 games in a season and is the only pitcher to win consecutive most valuable player awards, yet he never made it to the Hall of Fame. Who is he?

The hat matter: Eric Boyer of Greg LeMond’s Z team in the Tour de France was fined 1,200 francs (about $200) for not wearing a helmet during the sixth stage of the race, from Arras to Le Havre.

Boyer’s one-man protest was triggered by an incident last March when cyclists boycotted races over the use of helmets. The International Cycling Federation stipulated that riders had to wear protective headgear instead of the more comfortable hats.

“I didn’t think I could stand it for another six or seven hours,” Boyer said of the helmet. “I’m willing to spend 5,000 francs on fines during the Tour. I won’t hesitate to take it off again in the Pyrenees or in the Alps if I feel the need.”

Add Tour: French cycling team Castorama used a tiny two-way radio link, placed inside riders’ helmets, in a team time trial of the Tour de France.

The device helps competitors receive instructions from their team director in a support car while pedaling. The cyclists also can give the support crew information.

But the system is in an experimental stage.

“I can’t ever see it being standard equipment,” said Cyrille Guimard, director of Laurent Fignon’s Castorama team. “With 200 riders in the peloton , there would be far too much interference.”

Once again, he’s retired: Former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes explained why he’s decided to sell some of his various businesses: “I’m tired of the nightclub and the bar business. I’m just tired of owning things that put me to work. I don’t want to work. I like to train. I like to fish. Those other things take the energy out of me.”

Trivia answer: Hal Newhouser of the Detroit Tigers, whose career was cut short by shoulder problems. His big seasons were 1944-46. Newhouser wound up 207-150 in 17 seasons.

Quotebook: Bob Arum, after he lost the chance to promote an Evander Holyfield-George Foreman rematch when Holyfield agreed instead to fight Mike Tyson: “Boxing stinks, and we all know it.”