NFL: Patrick Mahomes to make NASCAR debut – sort of

NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes is set to make his NASCAR debut in Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway — sort of.

This Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Food City 300, is the 22nd race on the 33-race 2019 schedule, and just four races will remain in the regular season upon its conclusion.

As a result, we can expect to see a lot of hard racing among the sport’s full-time drivers over the course of this 300-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway oval in Bristol, Tennessee as they attempt to better their playoff positions by collecting stage points, winning stages and winning the race to collect playoff points.

We can also expect to see an NFL quarterback making his NASCAR debut — sort of.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is set to make his NASCAR debut in this race, although he will not be competing in it. He is set to be featured on the hood of the #08 Chevrolet that is driven by SS-Green Light Racing’s Gray Gaulding through a partnership with Panini America.

Panini America, the global leader in licensed sports and entertainment collectibles, are running this paint scheme featuring Mahomes on Gaulding’s #08 Chevrolet to promote their newest 2019 NFL Donruss Football trading cards.

Check it out.

Mahomes led the Chiefs to last year’s AFC Championship Game, marking their first appearance in the NFL semifinals since the 1993 season, and he won the MVP award in what was his first season as a starter after replacing Alex Smith, who is now a member of the Washington Redskins.

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The 23-year-old Tyler, Texas native led the league with 5,097 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns last season. He became the sixth quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 5,000 yards in a season, the third quarterback in NFL history to throw at least 50 touchdown passes in a season and the second quarterback in NFL history to pull off both feats in the same season.

Gaulding, meanwhile, is one of the drivers who will be fighting hard to secure a playoff berth. In his first full season of Xfinity Series competition, he is currently the first driver below the playoff cut line in 13th place in the championship standings, but he is 108 points below that cut line, so he will need to secure what would be the first victory of his career over the course of the next five races to lock himself into the playoffs.

The 21-year-old Colonial Heights, Virginia native’s lone top 10 finishes so far this season are his career-high second place finish in the April race at Talladega Superspeedway and his eighth place finish in the July race at Daytona International Speedway.

He has competed in two Xfinity Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway throughout his career. He drove for Roush Fenway Racing in the August race at the track in the 2016 season, which marked his series debut, and he finished in 13th place. He finished the April race at the track earlier this season in 15th.

Where will Gray Gaulding and Patrick Mahomes end up in Mahomes’s NASCAR “debut” at Bristol Motor Speedway? Mahomes has playoff experience in his first full season in a league. Will Gaulding be ensured a similar experience with the NFL MVP on the hood of his car? The Food City 300 is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET tomorrow evening.