Alvin Kamara says ‘NASCAR lit’, reflects on Bubba Wallace’s football practice
By Asher Fair
NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace once participated in a football practice in full pads, thanks to star running back Alvin Kamara, a new fan of stock car racing.
If the blockbuster deal to drive for a new NASCAR team owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow driver Denny Hamlin didn’t pan out, maybe Bubba Wallace would have had a shot at an NFL career.
New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara was recently featured on the first episode of “Truss Levels”, a new original podcast series by The Players’ Tribune with New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan and Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram II.
The 25-year-old fourth-year running back out of Tennessee revealed how he became a huge NASCAR fan earlier this year after attending the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in February.
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He also revealed more details about his friendship with Wallace, including how he and some of his fellow Tennessee Volunteers convinced the 26-year-old driver of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet to participate in a full NCAA football practice in pads back in 2016.
“So look, Bubba came up to practice one week and, you know, so we was kicking it with Bubba, like he kind of got tied to the team, and **** like that so. I was like ‘Bro’, it was like practice like, ‘practice with the squad’ like ‘Come out and catch some kicks, do all that’, so he come out he got my jersey on and ****, he just out there…we just kind of had a connection since then, it’s been pretty cool.”
Wallace was at the center of multiple race-related controversies this summer, and Kamara attended the Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway back in mid-June sporting a T-shirt and cap with his name on them.
Kamara also waved the green flag to get the All-Star Race, a race for which Wallace did not qualify, underway at Bristol Motor Speedway about a month later.
“It’s funny cause when I went to the race, they’re like ‘He’s just supporting Bubba cause he’s Black!’, I’m like ‘Nah, that too, but [it’s been before that],” Kamara said.
As for his NASCAR fandom, that goes beyond Wallace as well.
“NASCAR lit, bro,” he said. “I ain’t really **** with NASCAR before. I used to watch it a little bit, just like, it’d be on…But look, you gotta actually go to the races, bro. This **** lit.”