Ato Boldon may be a four-time Olympic medalist in track and field, but he is about to step into a new world of speed. The retired sprinter and Olympic analyst for NBC is joining the network's NASCAR broadcast team as a features contributor beginning next week.

The NASCAR audience will find him familiar from his coverage of last summer's Olympic Games. Boldon has been a track and field analyst for NBC since 2007 and became an Olympic broadcaster for the network in 2008. That was an easy lateral career move for the former Trinidad and Tobago athlete.

Boldon admitted in an Associated Press interview that he doesn't know a lot about NASCAR and could only name about 10 racers, current and past. However he's excited to learn. NBC sees it as a chance to bring an outside perception to the press box, which is mostly filled with retired racers.

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"My hope is that people who never really thought of themselves as NASCAR fans will get something from my exposure to it," Boldon said. "I am going in there completely wide-eyed and completely open to all possibilities."

Boldon will start his new gig next weekend at Daytona and will also report from Bristol, Charlotte, and the season finale at Homestead. We'll have to ask our friends over at FloTrack.com what we're in store for with Boldon's move to the race track.