Joe Girardi, a name etched in baseball history, graced the dugout for both the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. The former catcher has appeared on former NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick’s show and revealed interesting insights about racing and he shared about his recent favorite NASCAR driver.
On a podcast, HarvickHappyHour Kevin Harvick posed a question about how he became a race fan. Girardi credits former Yankees athletic trainer Gene Monahan for getting him into racing as a player. He further told,
"Unless you go to a race, you truly don't understand how great it is." Joe Girardi is a HUGE #NASCAR fan.@KevinHarvick's Happy Hour Podcast ➡️ https://t.co/yrElmfUe1m pic.twitter.com/dqhkCQJQws
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) April 11, 2024
“Gene took me to my first race in Rockingham, North Carolina, and then I continued to go with him a few [times] every year and I remember going down to Homestead. I remember going to the Daytona 500 with Gene, and we got up early that morning and drove over. And the race is about to start, and Gene’s walking right down between the cars, and I’m thinking ‘aren’t we going to get in trouble? Shouldn’t we get behind the wall? These guys got the cars started, but everyone loved Gene, and Gene just kinda did what Gene wanted to do. I’ve fallen in love with it,” Girardi said.
The baseball legend ended up his conversation with a piece of advice as he said, “I tell everyone, unless you go to a race, you truly don’t understand how great it is. You have to go and watch the speed and the precision and just how exciting it is.”
Joe Girardi names his favorite NASCAR driver
Joe Girardi, the former Yankees manager and a huge NASCAR fan, recently revealed his favorite driver during an appearance on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. Despite his retirement, Girardi remains passionate about the sport and has been following the Cup Series closely.
Girardi shared on HarvickHappyHoour that, “My favorite driver’s retired. I’m learning to like the new drivers because so many of the guys I cheered for are retired, and that happens. I like Denny Hamlin. He’s always in the mix, no matter what,” Girardi said. “That’s exciting to me because that’s a champion, a guy that’s always in the mix, but there’s so many good young drivers now that I just need to get to know. I didn’t really have to root for anyone else because I used to root for Kevin Harvick all the time, but now I got to find a new love.”
The drivers are now preparing for Texas Motor Speedway who do you think has the best chance to clinch a victory at NASCAR’s ninth venture? Let us know in the comments.
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