Alvin Kamara: Dual-Sport Influencer, NFL & NASCAR
Alvin Kamara has officially partnered with NASCAR to become the auto racing sanctioning body’s first Growth and Engagement Advisor.
A year has passed when he traveled to Florida to support Bubba Wallace. Kamara stood alone in the stadium's rafters as he felt the vibration of the race cars roaring by in the NASCAR Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400.
Kamara was observing his first NASCAR event. But quietly, NASCAR also was watching him as well.
Jun 20, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New Orleans Saints runningback Alvin Kamara looks in the car of NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (2) before the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
With the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway as the backdrop on Sunday, details of the Saints All-Pro running back were announced, which will include working “directly with NASCAR leadership on strategic planning and creative opportunities that support its fan development efforts,” according to NASCAR’s official website.
Kamara will use his professional sports and business influence to help NASCAR attract new fans to the sport.
“It’s an honor to be able to team up with NASCAR and be their first-ever Growth and Engagement Advisor,” Kamara said. “I’m excited to use my passion as a fan to help shape their long-term efforts to grow the sport.”
The announcement comes just over a year after Kamara attended his first NASCAR race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Alvin’s journey to NASCAR happened very organically from that initial curiosity to experiencing our events to developing a real and sincere passion for the sport,” said Pete Jung, Chief Marketing Officer at NASCAR. “That’s what we’re looking to tap into … his insights, perspective, and ideas … and learning more about his experience so that we can enhance what we’re doing to engage and develop new fans.”
Additionally, Kamara will work alongside the Charlotte-based NASCAR Marketing team under Jung’s leadership and contribute to planning, ideation, and activation around fan development and engagement.
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara greets NASCAR Cup Series driver Aric Almirola before the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 race at the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, June 20, 2021. Ally400 062021 An 002
His duties actually began on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, where he toured the facility and met with NASCAR and industry leaders and drivers ahead of the first racing event staged in Nashville by NASCAR’s premier series in 37 years. As a collaboration between NASCAR and Kamara’s team at Klutch Sports Group, the partnership will focus on connecting new audiences with NASCAR through immersive and educational experiences that help them learn more about the sport.
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara tours the pit area before the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 race at the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, June 20, 2021. Ally400 062021 An 001
Kamara initially became interested in NASCAR in June 2020 when the sport and its drivers, led by Bubba Wallace, took a stand for racial equality and social justice, and four days later, Kamara attended the NASCAR Cup Series race in Homestead, Florida.
He has attended other races since, and this past February, his Louisiana-based juice bar, The Big Squeezy, sponsored Ryan Vargas’ No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
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