Auto racing and baseball: two sports that couldn't be more different in structure.
But as an owner in both professional leagues, Jeff Moorad is thriving in the similarities.
"There's a closeness in NASCAR that in some ways I didn't expect because of the separation between the governing body and the teams themselves," said Moorad, part of the ownership group of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry in NASCAR's top series.
"But there's a camaraderie that exists in the industry that I liken to my time in Major League Baseball, or even the NFL."
Moorad will bring both sides together this weekend when NASCAR races at Phoenix International Raceway. It began Wednesday when J.J. Yeley drove his race car out of the right field bullpen along the warning track at Chase Field, then threw out the first pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yeley's car will also sport the Diamondbacks' 10th anniversary logo on its wheel well during Saturday night's race as the ownership group strives to link its two products together. Diamondbacks COO Tom Garfinkel is Moorad's partner on the NASCAR team.
Members of at least eight NASCAR teams will attend games this weekend as guests of the Diamondbacks.
"I consider it our local obligation to play host to those from the industry," Moorad said.
For Yeley, a Phoenix native, it's a tremendous opportunity to show a stick-and-ball sport community how one of its local kids has made it big.
"Phoenix is not known for a racing town, and going through all the different paths that I've had to get here, for everything to turn around and my team, my NASCAR team, be owned by someone here from the Valley of the Sun -- it's been a lot of fun," he said. "It's going to be fun coming back and have that relationship to really try to build something for the Phoenix-based fans, to give them something to root for."
But all this synergy was definitely not planned, and almost accidental.
Moorad and Garfinkel bought controlling interest in the racing team last September from its original owners, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. The Hall of Fame quarterbacks formed the team with three other partners in 2003 and entered their car in NASCAR's top series in 2006.
But the quarterbacks handed over control to a new ownership group that included Moorad, a former sports agent who had a lengthy relationship with Aikman. New to NASCAR, Moorad has relied heavily on Garfinkel and his extensive racing background.
