Paul Blart: Mall Cop plays NASCAR Heat 5

That’s not really a headline that anyone expected to read or write – but it is true. Kevin James, of Mall Cop and King of Queens fame, is starring in a new Netflix comedy series called “The Crew” and playing NASCAR Heat 5 is part of the promotional efforts.

The Crew follows a fictional NASCAR team that’s seen its team owner retire and his daughter takes over. Tech-reliant millennials and the crew chief clash, resulting in hilarity somewhat spoilt by pre-canned laugh tracks (unless you’re into that kind of thing). Season One launches on Monday 15th February (the day after the Daytona 500) and contains 10 episodes.

As part of the promotion of the new Netflix series, the cast of The Crew take on NASCAR Heat 5. They aren’t great. However, it is pretty funny watching Paul Blart go backward on track – luckily the game ghosts trolls that do that online.

The two actors that play drivers in the show, Paris Berlec and Freddie Stroma were top of the standings. Perhaps they’re method actors that really got into character…

Kevin James will also be the Grand Marshall for the Daytona Road Course race next weekend. For those unfamiliar, he’ll be giving the command to drivers to “START YOUR ENGINES”.

This stream coincides with the free play weekend of NASCAR Heat 5 on Xbox that was announced as part of publisher Motorsport Games’ partnership with Live Fast Motorsport.