US AP: NASCAR makes key developments in push for greater diversity

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NASCAR makes key developments in push for greater diversity
Associated Press (archive.ph)
By Associated Press Staff
2023-02-18 14:57:33GMT

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NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) speaks to reporters ahead of practice sessions before a NASCAR exhibition auto race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

NASCAR says it has made progress on diversity, an effort that started before the industry banned the Confederate flag in 2020 but has only grown since in all aspects from team ownership to grassroots racing efforts. Minorities may not necessarily become the dominant demographic for the stock car series, but they can certainly grab a larger share of the marketplace. A few key developments underway for NASCAR as it celebrates its 75th anniversary:

— The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program has grown substantially since 2004. There are more than 100 graduates now working in NASCAR and more than 25 at the top Cup Series level. The program has a 100% placement rate and drives approximately $2 million in salary.

— The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program was launched in 2000 and since then more than 500 college students have participated in the industry’s longest-running diversity initiative.

— Nick Sanchez, who participated in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development Program in 2022 and won the ARCA Menards Series Championship with Rev Racing last year, is advancing to the Truck Series. Sanchez will drive the No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet for Rev Racing with its technical alliance partner, Kyle Busch Motorsports. He won the pole for the Truck Series race at Daytona this weekend.

— Rajah Caruth also graduated from the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development Program and will be competing full time in the Truck Series, driving the No. 24 for GMS Racing. Caruth is a prominent iRacer who made his transition to the racetrack in 2019.

— Hailie Deegan and Natalie Decker also participated in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development Program. Both drivers currently compete in national series.
 
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Fox pit reporter Sims a symbol of NASCAR's diversity goals
Associated Press (archive.ph)
By Dan Gelston
2023-02-18 14:57:28GMT

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Josh Sims, left, of FOX Sports interviews Alex Bowman after he qualified for the pole position in the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — When Josh Sims reports on NASCAR this season, the stock car series these days -- from the garage to the grandstands to top brass -- looks more like him.

Yes, Sims takes pride in the fact that he will become the first Black pit reporter for the Daytona 500 and that his rapid rise at Fox has made him one of the primary faces of the network’s NASCAR coverage.

More than that, Sims sees that NASCAR may finally be running out of unconquered firsts for people of color. For women. For any minority who perhaps has experienced an uneasy relationship with a series founded in the South 75 years ago, a generation before the civil rights era.

Sims’ journey from NASCAR novice through a sports anchor gig in Charlotte, North Carolina, that sparked his passion in the sport had led to his biggest assignment yet: pit reporting as a Black man from one of auto racing’s signature events.

“I never set out to be a first,” the 35-year-old Sims said. “I never set out to make history. I just wanted to be the best at what I was doing, whether it was hosting or reporting. At the same time, I kind of understand the platform and what it means for me to be doing this.”

Sims has a full workload this season. He is the Cup Series pit reporter, teams with Regan Smith as an Xfinity Series reporter and is part of the host rotation for the FS1 show “Race Hub.”

And this season, he wants to share the stories on what he sees at the track beyond the in-race reports and fantastic finishes. Minorities may not necessarily become the dominant demographic for the series, but they can certainly grab a larger share of the marketplace.

“I think if more people out there saw it, saw people that looked them, instead of just driver, crew chief, you might be more inclined to feel like, hey, I feel a little more comfortable going to the track,” Sims said. “Getting that out there might help in terms of more people coming to the track and getting more different faces to the stands. It’s not necessarily about getting more people in, it’s showing what you already have.”

It was, of course, a very low bar but the garage and grid and fans certainly appears to be more diverse now than before 2020 when NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its tracks and properties. NASCAR is still overwhelmingly white, but NASCAR President Steve Phelps isn’t exaggerating when he says you notice the change when walking through the garage.

“I think the events of 2020 allowed the sport to get younger and more diverse,” he said at his state-of-the sport address in November.

Among the notable achievements: Jusan Hamilton, who last year became the first Black race director in Daytona 500 history, will do it again this season. Amanda Oliver, a Black woman, negotiates high-profile deals as NASCAR’s senior vice president. John Ferguson, a Black man, is the chief human resources officer.

Owners now include Pitbull and Michael Jordan, whose team features Bubba Wallace, the Black driver who prompted the flag ban. Rising stars in the developmental series include Rajah Caruth, a 20-year-old graduate of the “Drive for Diversity” program.

Phelps said NASCAR was committed to strengthening ties to various programs that can attract a broader fan base, from Boys & Girls Clubs to “some of the other areas we have from a partnership standpoint that really speak to what’s happening in the African American community, what’s happening in the Hispanic, Latino community (to) what’s happening in the LGBTQ community.”

While the frequently toxic nature of social media makes it easier for haters to reach Sims and others, he’s a popular personality each weekend at the track.

“I never necessarily felt uncomfortable,” he said. “You get stuff here and there in terms of messages that’s emailed to you or sent to you but that’s par for the course if you’re a minority in the sport, a woman in the sport, even white drivers get stuff like that. But for every one or two of those, I get a lot more stuff from people excited that I’m here. You know, focus on the good.”

Raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey, Sims is a Villanova graduate who followed the Wildcats in NCAA Tournament games in 2009 and remained a fan of most Philly teams.

“I grew up in Jersey, so not exactly NASCAR country,” Sims said. “Growing up, you know the Jimmies and the Dale Seniors and the Tony Stewarts and everybody but it wasn’t something I followed week in and week out.”

His interest in NASCAR picked up in 2015 when he moved to Charlotte and hosted a pre-race show on the local Fox affiliate. Sims covered his first Daytona 500 in 2016 when Denny Hamlin nipped Martin Truex Jr. in the closest finish in race history.

“I was like, I am all in,” Sims said.

Charlotte can feel like a small town for a city and Sims kept bumping into friends and contacts in NASCAR. Fox Sports executives hired Sims in 2021 as a reporter for their slate of NASCAR shows. He also became the first Black pit reporter in any NASCAR series, for Trucks races.

“I kind of hope that young people that look like me, can see me doing it and now recognize that it’s possible,” Sims said. “I hope I can kind of blaze a trail for them to one day say, hey, because Josh Sims did it, I can do it, too. And that’s what’s important.”
 
Breadbassket said:
Reject the people who made you for an audience that will never care about stock car racing. NASCAR being smart as usual.

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Same number and all. And Richard Petty himself was behind this paint scheme on Bubba's car. Then again, Richard Petty likes money.

EDIT: Just to add context to Petty's pic:
Context: winner of Southern 400 races used to have a flag-waving Confederate soldier ride with the race's winner to victory lane. Richard Petty won the race in 1967.
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They just need to recruit based on court documents involving felony fleeing where the driver successfully led police on chases for over an hour in places with actual pursuit policies like Arkansas.

Nothing can possibly go wrong, and think of how many progressive check-boxes it satisfies!
 
I remember when I was in middle school almost 20 years ago there was a kid who was worried they were gonna turn Nascar into Blackcar. He's been in jail for many years now for supporting his meth habit so I hope he's not too upset about this.
 
Save the Loli said:
I remember when I was in middle school almost 20 years ago there was a kid who was worried they were gonna turn Nascar into Blackcar. He's been in jail for many years now for supporting his meth habit so I hope he's not too upset about this.
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He tried to warn you.
 
I personally cannot wait for Shaneequa to start a wig fight with Latonya after her Aunt Jemima sponsored car loses over the latter's Piccadilly sponsored car.
 
Nascar racing is boring as fuck. I much prefer car racing based on latest technology, just like in the old days like Ferdinand Porsche. Legal racing should be about advancing engineering and physics, not about white trash racing the Cracker Barrell car versus the Costco car. Nobody gives a shit about these dumb fucks doing this week's circle drive. Illegal street racing is a lot more fun because it's dangerous and people modify their cars to be better than others.
 
Crystal Coomer said:
Nascar racing is boring as fuck. I much prefer car racing based on latest technology, just like in the old days like Ferdinand Porsche. Legal racing should be about advancing engineering and physics, not about white trash racing the Cracker Barrell car versus the Costco car. Nobody gives a shit about these dumb fucks doing this week's circle drive. Illegal street racing is a lot more fun because it's dangerous and people modify their cars to be better than others.
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I think it's mostly the oval format for most of the races. It's pretty fun when they have to make both types of turns, a lot like V8 Supercars but with less Australian accents. A racing schedule more like Indycar has would probably do it good.
 
Crystal Coomer said:
Nascar racing is boring as fuck. I much prefer car racing based on latest technology, just like in the old days like Ferdinand Porsche. Legal racing should be about advancing engineering and physics, not about white trash racing the Cracker Barrell car versus the Costco car. Nobody gives a shit about these dumb fucks doing this week's circle drive. Illegal street racing is a lot more fun because it's dangerous and people modify their cars to be better than others.
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Your retardation is showing.

NASCAR started out and in its prime, was a rebuke to those car snobs who think you needed to have daddy buy them the top of the line car tech shit to race as seen in Indy racing/Formula 1 crap. It started out with white trash repurposing the cars they used to outrun the cops while bootlegging booze for fuck's sake.

NASCAR went to hell when Dale Ernhardt died and they started dumbing down the cars with safety tech and squashing all individuality from racers and replacing them with gym bunnies in the Jeff Gordon mold, while ignoring the fact that Jeff Gordon was an outlier that respected the old ways whereas his replacements were faceless Glamour Guys who only cared about what Daddy NASCAR and their sponsors wanted them to think about.
 
So are they allowing cars to be more diverse or is it just about niggers behind the wheel?
Its the worst racing series in the world. DTM is by far the best stock carish racing series with every major sports car company in the field.
 
Stoneheart said:
So are they allowing cars to be more diverse or is it just about niggers behind the wheel?
Its the worst racing series in the world. DTM is by far the best stock carish racing series with every major sports car company in the field.
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Probably a diversity of drivers; like that black dude who saw a "noose" in his garage and the FBI got dispatched to figure it out.
 
It's perfectly possible for blacks to succeed in traditionally white redneck dominated sports. See Bubba Stewart and his total domination of the US motocross racing scene in the early 2000's. Plenty of white crackers were rooting for him because he was genuinely talented and interesting to watch and made watching the sport fun.

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Diversity in ANYTHING can only be organically grown. Forced diversity for the sake of it will always fall flat and achieve the opposite of what it sets out to do.
 
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