Role Change

Sunday was an unusual off-day for NASCAR so Brian took the opportunity to hit the new US National Whitewater Center near Charlotte with one of the world's best kayakers - Tao Berman. With a video crew and photographer on hand to capture it, you'd expect Brian to be a little nervous to have an audience, but Tao gave him pointer after pointer as they navigated the man-made rapids with names like Sunset, M Wave, Shutdown and Biscuits & Gravy. Only twice did BV have to bail from his boat while submerged. Not bad for a beginner. Tao, a Red Bull-supported daredevil kayaker with world records for waterfall descents, got his own thrill later that night at the Richard Petty Driving School at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Using instruction BV game him prior, Tao reached 141 mph. Not bad for a beginner. Look out for a feature story and some audio and video on the day later this week at the team's website.