By: Ashley McCubbin

MARKHAM, Ontario — Jared Odrick proved he could get the job done on the field, but is now trading in the football for a roll-cage.

The former NFL player is one of the 23 competitors that will take the green flag in the Markham 125 for the NASCAR Canada Series as part of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy weekend in Markham.

Making his second start with the series, Odrick was hoping going into the event he could get the edge up on his competitors in knowing it’s a track none of them have raced on previously. He was able to grab the edge on some, qualifying 10th for the event in the combined practice / qualifying session.

“First of all, let’s keep the car clean; the walls are close,” Odrick said of his goals on Friday. “It’s a new track, rubber has not been laid down yet, so it’s probably going to be pretty loose out there. But I mean it’s keeping the car clean and having a car to race, and putting on a show for the greater Toronto area.”

The series’ previous event at Trois-Riveres marked his series debut, which unfortunately ended with a crash with 11 laps left on the board.

“My biggest surprise was probably how this car had felt like a TA2 car that I’ve been driving, but on dirt,” he told News From The Pits. “We’re on the bias-by tires different than the radial tire, but that’s probably been the biggest difference is how quick these get up to spec and how quick they fall off – they reach a roof that falls off. We’re going from like peak condition with the radial tire that we raced in the TransAm series – maybe 4 laps.

“It’s hard because they heat up so much quicker. So the thing is ever since I got into racing five years ago or four years ago, people said tire management, brake management, car management, but not until I driven this car did that set of advice actually become true or beneficial to a style of driving.”

With having experienced what the cars feel like now, Odrick has expressed interest in wanting to be a part of more events in the future.

I hate to be so blunt but that happens with sponsorship,” he commented. “I know that there’s a moniker – the former NFL kind of follows me around and rightfully. So I love engaging people about my former career, but that also doesn’t mean that it’s an endless supply of funding, right? So we’re constantly seeking out partners and we’ve done a good job of that so far. I think we will continue to do that, but we obviously need Lead Partners to make such a commitment full-time up here, and we’d love to do that. I really like the series, I love the people and I really like this team. So we’d like to see what we can do; but first and foremost, I have to be fast.”

For the Pennsylvania native, the itch to get behind the wheel comes with wanting to remain a part of a competitive discipline with stepping away from football, calling the “car in itself a cage.”

“These chassis are cages, and I put myself inside this cage that is requesting that I be disciplined, be patient, and that I keep my heart rate up for a longer period of time,” he explained. “So it’s all those things. Football is a young man’s game. The only way it becomes a gentleman’s game is when you’re in the booth or on the sidelines, and I’m not sure I wanted to be totally on the sidelines. I still wanted to compete, and I felt like driving a race car was perfect. I think we’re all looking for therapy in everything we do. Therapy is art – art is therapy, and we’re looking for that.

“So I think the car was the next art form, the next discipline, the next competitive arena that has allowed me to become a better man and a better competitor. I think without racing, I wouldn’t be married. It’s given me a totally different structure to my life that has allowed my wife to come into my life and totally be integrated into what we do.”