More to ESPN's Daugherty than just talk

Good luck keeping up with Brad Daugherty.

From TV responsibilities at ESPN to car owner duties and being a father, the 43-year-old Daugherty keeps busy. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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“My calendar is full, but I’m living the dream,” Daugherty said. “I consider myself very lucky. I enjoy working and love to keep busy.”

Daugherty, the former North Carolina basketball standout, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He played with the Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 1997 because of back problems.

These days, basketball plays second to Daugherty’s other passion — racing.

Daugherty is an analyst on ESPN’s “NASCAR Countdown,” a pre-race show to ESPN’s Nationwide and Sprint Cup races. He’s also a contributor to “NASCAR Now,” the network’s daily racing show.

In addition, Daugherty is part owner of JTG Daugherty Racing, which fields the No. 47 driven by Australian Marcos Ambrose in the Cup Series and two cars in the Nationwide Series.

If that’s not enough, the 7-foot-Daugherty owns a Late Model team and races on short tracks such as Myrtle Beach Speedway and Greenville Pickens. He also was a partner with old friend Jack Ingram in the Saturday Night Special race at Bristol in March.

“I’m really a racer and always have been,” Daugherty said. “I just love racing. It’s what I do.”

Daugherty grew up in Black Mountain, N.C., idolizing Richard Petty and wore the King’s No. 43 throughout his stellar basketball career.

In high school, Daugherty and his friends would fix up late model cars, usually driven by his friend Robert Pressley.

“We would build cars and fix up old junk,” Daugherty said. “It kept us out of trouble and gave us something to do.”

Daugherty stayed involved with racing during his NBA days and owned a Winston West Racing Series car driven by Pressley in 1987. The team won two championships before moving up to the Busch Series in 1989.

Daugherty continued to mentor up-and-coming drivers like Kevin Harvick, Kenny Irwin and Wayne Anderson. Irwin won two truck races for Daugherty’s team in 1997.

Last summer, Daugherty bought his share into JTG Racing and it was renamed JTG Daugherty Racing. The team has made great strides in recent weeks with Ambrose finishing fourth at Talladega two weeks ago and 11th on Saturday at Richmond.

“We had high aspirations and we knew there was going to be a learning curve,” Daugherty said. “But Marcos has been outstanding and our Nationwide program has been solid with Michael McDowell in the top 10 in points.”

Being an owner hasn’t interfered with Daugherty’s full-time gig with ESPN. He goes to his team shop once or twice a week while spending the rest of the time prepping for ESPN’s weekend race coverage.

Daugherty’s preparations include conference calls with the ESPN crew, calls to drivers and crew chiefs as well as his own research.

Daugherty also makes sure he keeps it professional with other drivers and crew chiefs he talks with and doesn’t show favoritism when he is on the air.

“I’m going to be very honest and not do it with any bias,” Daugherty said. “I’m there to talk about the facts. My passion is for my craft.”