He may be from Weyburn and play for the hated Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but Brendon LaBatte has embraced the scene at Estevan Motor Speedway over the years.
Now, Canadian Football League fans across the country will get a glimpse of LaBatte's second passion.
TSN is putting together a feature on LaBatte, to be aired during one of their broadcasts early this season.
Photographers were on hand at EMS last Wednesday to get race footage of LaBatte in his #51 stock car, which finished fifth in the street feature.
On Tuesday, TSN's Brian Williams and several producers were in Weyburn to interview the two-time East Division all-star and his family.
"It's definitely an honour when they take that kind of interest in coming down. They want to do something with my whole family," said the 24-year-old offensive guard.
"I'm every bit as passionate about racing as I am about football. When they're willing to come and do something aside from what I do on the football field, it's great."
LaBatte said he was glad to finish last week's street feature after dropping a cylinder.
"I think it happened in the dash and I didn't even clue into it. We were so busy between races that it didn't cross my mind to start looking at that, but I wish it had."
LaBatte said he is excited about the exposure dirt-track racing will receive across the country from the TSN piece, especially to his Bomber teammates.
"Not a whole lot of guys are really familiar with the racing. I don't think they know the degree we're involved with or the complexity of it. They can't even fathom what a modified looks like and it's kind of hard to explain," he said.
"That'll be one thing when this is all said and done, the exposure to dirt-track racing it'll bring. It's a great pastime and it'll be good when more people are made aware of it.
"That's the most important thing, to keep the sport alive. With the economic times and high cost of fuel, it's getting tougher."
Bombers training camp begins June 5 in Winnipeg and LaBatte feels his club can make some gains this year after missing the playoffs the last two seasons.
"Last year, for a 4-14 record, I thought we were a better team than that. We ended up losing eight or nine games by seven points or less. We were right there.
"That's part of the problem we run into. It's been so long since we won a championship that people's patience is getting short. One or two wrong moves and they're calling for your head."
