How lucky can a man get?

Roberts is the host of a handful of NASCAR-themed shows that telecast seemingly nonstop from every venue visited by stock-car racing's top series, February through November. For a man who "hates" to travel, leaving his wife and three young children at home in Cornelius, N.C., each Thursday for a flight to the next destination, the grind can be particularly grueling.

"I have a 7-year-old daughter always grabbing onto my shirt saying, 'Daddy, don't go,' " Roberts said during a trackside interview earlier this season at Pocono Raceway.

"But then when you get to the airport and see your 'second family' - all the friends who are going to cruise with you, either coworkers or folks from every level of NASCAR - you start thinking about what you're going to do at the next race. Seven years ago, I was [considering] mowing grass for a living, so if the only bad thing I have to do is go through an airport twice a week, life is pretty good."

Two weeks shy of his 43d birthday, the personable and talkative Washington native can appreciate his place in life and fully understand that all those sign-waving fans jousting for camera time during his shows would trade places with him in a heartbeat.

Roberts had hopscotched across Virginia and the Carolinas as a weekend sports anchor for 16 years when, in 2001, he decided to leave television for a landscaping business he had been cultivating.

"I gave my two months' notice [to the CBS affiliate in Charlotte, N.C.], and then the people from Fox Sports Net approached me [to ask] if I'd like to give [hosting a couple of NASCAR shows] a try," Roberts recalled. "I didn't have a [TV] contract, just a handshake agreement, so I was still mowing grass at the time.

"There's one race day I remember vividly. We had had a lot of rain that week, and my landscaping business had a contract with this big medical complex. The guys that worked for me were off on Sundays, so I decided to do the NASCAR This Morning show, went and mowed for about six hours, took a shower, and then headed back to the studio and did NASCAR Victory Lane.

"I made more money mowing grass than I did anchoring in Charlotte, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person ever to host a national NASCAR show, go mow lawns, and then come back and anchor a second show," Roberts said with a chuckle. "I don't think Marv Albert stops to wash windows on the way to an NBA arena."

Roberts, who sold the landscaping business when his TV career took off, laughs easily, and his bright disposition is invaluable as he works alongside NASCAR RaceDay cohosts Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace. The veteran drivers' verbal right turns often take the show off course.

"SPEED brings some 90 people to the track every weekend - it's like a big traveling circus," Roberts said, giving a special nod to the crew that operates the six tractor-trailers hauling roughly 38,000 pounds of equipment to each track.

"I get to work with some awesome people, the best technical people I've ever been around, and all the other on-air talent make it really a lot of fun to do the shows the way we do them - unscripted," Roberts said.

Arriving at Dover, for the second of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races, is certain to motivate the SPEED nomads.

"The Chase really does get you fired up, because now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Roberts said. "I was skeptical about the Chase at first, but it has been great for television and even better for the sport. And I really like Dover because I prefer shorter, faster tracks, and we've seen some really exciting things happen there during the past Chase races.

"It's a special race, because it's when you start separating the contenders from the pretenders."