Over the previous 12 months, New Orleans Saints star working again Alvin Kamara has rapidly gone from a curious inventory automobile racing onlooker right into a full-blown NASCAR superfan. And his fandom has reached the purpose the place he’ll now play a task in spreading the game and bringing extra followers into the fold.

On Sunday, NASCAR introduced a brand new partnership with Kamara, who will work with the sanctioning physique in a newly shaped progress and engagement adviser function. In his new function, Kamara will work with NASCAR management on “strategic planning and inventive alternatives that help its fan improvement efforts.”

“I am excited. They’ve carved out a task for me, I’ve received an workplace, I’ve received a key card — I’ve by no means had a job in addition to the NFL, so I’ve received two jobs now,” Kamara instructed reporters on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. “Sean Payton’s gonna have to provide me some down time.”

Recounting his personal expertise as a fan, Kamara instructed media that he received into NASCAR throughout COVID lockdowns in 2020, as he gave the game an opportunity with little else to do however watch tv. Kamara rapidly grew to become a fan, gaining a brand new appreciation for inventory automobile racing and seeing it in methods he hadn’t earlier than.

“Often once I would flip previous NASCAR, I used to be like ‘Let me simply watch it, I do not received nothing to do. I am simply in the home, I can not go nowhere.’ So I am watching and I am really listening and understanding and listening to every little thing that goes into it, whereas earlier than I used to be identical to ‘Oh, they’re simply going across the monitor turning left,'” Kamara mentioned. “I received a brand new appreciation for it throughout that point and was capable of come to some races.”

Kamara has attended a number of races over the previous 12 months, together with the Daytona 500 in February, and he additionally dabbled within the enterprise aspect of the game previous to becoming a member of NASCAR. On the Daytona Street Course in February, Kamara’s firm The Huge Squeezy sponsored a NASCAR Xfinity Collection automobile pushed by Ryan Vargas.

Per NASCAR, Kamara will work alongside the game’s advertising and marketing group based mostly in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Kamara’s function specializing in connecting new audiences to NASCAR “by means of immersive and academic experiences that assist them be taught extra in regards to the sport.” Kamara’s first race in his new function would be the Ally 400 at Nashville.