LAS VEGAS – Other than representing Mobil 1 in television commercials and in their respective professions, NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick and former NBA center Dikembe Mutombo have very little in common.
At an announcement on Thursday at the MGM Grand that official NASCAR partner Mobil 1 would serve as primary sponsor on each of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four cars for one race this season – including Harvick’s No. 4 Ford this weekend at Las Vegas – the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion joked that the 7-foot-2 Mutombo would have to use a roof hatch to get into a race car.
Mutombo conceded that NASCAR drivers are well-conditioned athletes, but he drew the line at a theoretical one-on-one basketball game against the driver.
“It’s just better for him to sign the ball,” Mutombo said, as Harvick put his autograph on a rack of basketballs. “That’s as close as he’s going to get to the basket.”
Mutombo then wagged his finger.
“He would try to let one go, but he’s going to get the finger, ‘No, no, no—not today,’” Mutombo quipped.
Not that Harvick wanted any part of a close encounter on the basketball court.
“The same thing goes for (him) driving the car,” Harvick retorted. “I don’t have anything to say. He should beat me very bad at basketball.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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