Ballplayers weren't a big hit with Leno

While his buddies worshipped baseball players, Jay Leno grew up watching auto racing.

"Drivers were heroes to me, just like Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax to other kids," Leno says in Sunday's USA Weekend magazine.

The host of "The Tonight Show" owns dozens of classic and antique cars, but he also loves NASCAR, which is racing in Daytona Beach, Fla., this weekend.

"You can't drive anything that resembles a Formula One car down to the Dairy Queen," Leno says. "But you can take a Chevy, give it loud mufflers, put a NASCAR sponsor decal on it and — presto — you're making like a driver at Talladega."