NASCAR Cup Series

Aldrin over the moon at NASCAR race

Published Nov. 22, 2009 11:42 p.m. ET

foxsports

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin checked out a new kind of orbit: watching some spins on a NASCAR track. Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, served as the honorary race chairman for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Neil Armstrong and Aldrin were on Apollo 11's lunar module, which landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Aldrin said he wants NASA to take the checkered flag on a new destination. "Forget the moon," Aldrin said. "Let's go to Mars." The 79-year-old Aldrin has made a career of being the second man on the moon. NASCAR's Cup series was set to crown its champion on Sunday - Jimmie Johnson was shooting for an unprecedented fourth straight title - in a sport where the runner-up is often an afterthought. "First means a lot; second means hardly a damn thing," Aldrin said. "I've managed to make a pretty good public visibility recently because I have things that I think are important to talk about. I was very adversely affected by the public intention that came after going to the moon. I certainly realize that being the first instead of being the second would make that far more complicated." Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on Monday with six astronauts and a full load of spare parts for the International Space Station. Aldrin said the Space Shuttle has endured with mixed results. "It's never really lived up to its expectations in flight rate and economy and safety," Aldrin said. "The same thing is kind of true of the Space Station." Aldrin gave two enthusiastic thumbs up to the drivers when he was introduced in the prerace meeting.