Alvin Kamara explains origins of his interest in NASCAR

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara just opened up about his NASCAR journey with Kevin Harvick. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kamara was asked when his love for racing began.

“I wouldn’t say I liked racing necessarily my whole life,” Kamara said. “I think every kid grows up kind of have a little bit of interest in cars. My NASCAR/racing interest/journey started during the pandemic. Nobody’s doing anything, everything’s closed, you can’t really go anywhere, everybody’s inside trying to find the next bright idea or catching up 10s of thousands of shows.

“I’m sitting in my house one day and I’m flipping through the channels bored. Same old stuff on, then NASCAR’s on. You always see it but I never just sat there and stayed on it, I never dialed in. So I’m like ‘Alright let me dial in real quick’ I keep it on. I’m watching, and I’m like ‘Okay, this is a little bit more than just left turns.’ They talking about tires, pit strategy and fuel. They go to the windshield view and they go to the comms with the spotters talking and everybody. I’m like ‘Yo this is real. This is super intricate.'”

Kamara continued: “With me being in the field that I’m in football, everything is so detailed. I thought it was just driving. I get my car every day and drive too, but I’m thinking it’s just driving, and come to find out there’s so many working parts to it, so I’m like ‘Oh this is interesting.’ …I kind of reached out to NASCAR and I’m like ‘Yo this is cool. You got a fan in me.'”

Alvin Kamara now has a passion for NASCAR

NASCAR then contacted Kamara and it led to him being named the organization’s Growth and Engagement Officer, a position he has held with NASCAR since 2021. “It’s an honor to be able to team up with NASCAR and be their first-ever Growth and Engagement Advisor,” Kamara said in a news release at the time. “I’m excited to use my passion as a fan to help shape their long-term efforts to grow the sport.”

Kamara, 28, was selected by the Saints in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft after playing for the Tennessee Volunteers for two seasons. In his career, Kamara was named Offensive Rookie of the Year, selected to the Pro Bowl five times and made the All-Pro Second Team twice.