Kersee family taking their act to a different track
2 July 1999 – Daytona Beach, FL (AP) - Former athletics star Jackie Joyner-Kersee and her husband have declared their intention to enter NASCAR ownership.
The Kersees announced the formation Thursday of Joyner-Kersee Racing, a joint partnership with Kurt Roehrig and Roehrig Motorsports. The team plans to compete in U.S. stock car racing elite NASCAR Winston Cup series next season.
Bob Kersee will run the coaching and planning part of the business while his wife, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, will be in charge of marketing and trying to find a sponsor.
"I plan in my lifetime to be able to build a team strong enough to get in the top 10 at the last pit stop and be racing up front," Kersee said. "I like winning. I've been involved in developing teams all my life and I think we can be a success at this one."
A long-time track coach at the University of California at Los Angeles, Kersee coached Joyner-Kersee on her way to becoming one of the best female athletes ever. Kersee grew up a fan of NASCAR and slowly - very slowly - his wife gained interest.
"I had a hard time imagining what was so great about zoom, zoom, zoom,'' Joyner-Kersee said. "But once you get to the track, you start cheering and picking out favourites and looking at it from a psychological standpoint and wondering where the minds of the drivers are."
Most of Roehrig's experience has come in the NASCAR truck series. He will begin searching for a driver immediately. The team has entered two Winston Cup events this year with road-racing specialist Tom Hubert behind the wheel.