12/21/24
November 08, 2006
Nascar’s Drive for Diversity Is Producing Mixed Signals:: The program, which looks to expand the talent pool of drivers at the top levels of stock car racing by encouraging minorities and women, is being beset with funding shortages, equipment problems and ignorance from fans, crew and executives.
Although it's far from a total failure, it may need some tweaking. According to the father of one of the younger drivers in the program, “The program is not designed to be successful because, No. 1, it’s not properly funded... They claim that it’s a pipeline. Well, nobody came out the pipe.”
posted by chicobangs to auto racing at 12:30 PM - 22 comments
Jeff Gordon, doing his part for diversity, marries a Belgian supermodel on a Mexican beach.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:49 PM on November 08, 2006
That's not diversity - that's globalisation! ;-)
posted by owlhouse at 08:02 PM on November 08, 2006
Why is it such a stretch to diversify NASCAR? IRL has no problem. Danica Patrick is a superiour driver. She drives for a small team, Letterman Racing, and is doing well. By the way all you southern boys, she is considering a run at stock cars in two years. Since NASCAR is such a southern, good-ole-boy sport, I think that is where all the opposition is. Remember when Janet Guthrie was the first woman to run the Indy 500 under UCAC rule in the '70s? Same thing.
posted by Psycho at 08:14 PM on November 08, 2006
Does the name Erin Crocker ring a bell she runs in both ARCA and Busch series. I also rember a bunch ado about Bill Lester making the cup race. This article seems a one sided factless stab at NASCAR.
posted by TAZ29 at 08:27 PM on November 08, 2006
Juan Pablo Montoya
posted by dbt302 at 08:33 PM on November 08, 2006
Danica Patrick has not even come close to winning a race, nor will she for a long time. Diversity/Affirmative action will not work here, you cannot fudge the numbers. The reality is speed talks and if you are not properly qualified you do not get to advance to the next grade, you kill yourself or someone else.
posted by bigdaddy06 at 08:37 PM on November 08, 2006
bigdaddy, that's not a diversity problem. That's an access-to-training problem. If diversity/affirmative action isn't working, it's not because of any inherent genetic shortfall on the part of the participants. Right? Not all racecars are created equal, but a good crew and a properly trained driver using the right tools and equipment gives everyone a genuinely fair shot, so the best drivers and teams have an opportunity to win on any given race day. This may not be the reality, but it's a good ideal, especially (by definition) in stock car racing, to strive for. Right? Why wouldn't you want that for the sport you love? Don't you want everyone to love it the way you do? Don't you? Nascar claims to want that, which is where this program came from in the first place. I hope they iron out the kinks and are able to only strengthen the appeal of stock car racing, not just in the rest of the States, but around the world.
posted by chicobangs at 11:45 PM on November 08, 2006
By the way all you southern boys, she is considering a run at stock cars in two years. That is not exactly a revelation to Nascar fans. Anyone that watches ESPN knows she was highly recruited by Rousche Racing this year. She chose not too. Before you want to stereotype a fanbase as "good ole southern boys", keep in mind that they have Nascar races in California, Vegas, Michigan, Delaware, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
posted by louisville_slugger at 06:33 AM on November 09, 2006
Thank you louisville_slugger; ignorant comments like that jam me up every time I see them. NASCAR is one of, if not the fastest growing spectator sport in America, with races from coast-to-coast, and people still feel the need to say ignorant shit and classify all NASCAR fans as inbred hicks. Such stunted thinking marks you as ignorant and ill-informed.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:44 AM on November 09, 2006
owlhouse - my bad! "Think globally," indeed.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:45 AM on November 09, 2006
No problem T_B_H, come on down sometime and we'll pick banjo's on the front porch. If we're lucky, we'll catch a peek at my sis getting out of the washtub. Chico, didn't mean to take away from your post. It's an interesting article and your comments relay your thoughts on the subject with integrity and class, as they always do.
posted by louisville_slugger at 08:09 AM on November 09, 2006
NASCAR is one of, if not the fastest growing spectator sport in America, with races from coast-to-coast, and people still feel the need to say ignorant shit and classify all NASCAR fans as inbred hicks. Still, the links provide a factual context as to why NASCAR fans are viewed in this way. I can't think of any other North American athletic event where a professional athlete getting yelled racial slurs by a large mob of spectators would happen.
posted by bperk at 08:29 AM on November 09, 2006
"Jeff Gordon, doing his part for diversity, marries a Belgian supermodel on a Mexican beach." Jeff Gordon is a great example of the diversity of NASCAR. How many gay superstars are there in major sports (other than women's tennis)? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 08:54 AM on November 09, 2006
In support of chicobangs' "access to training problem" argument, here's a quote from an interesting Car and Driver article about women racers:
IRL racer Bryan Herta says, “I don’t see any reason why females can’t do well in a Champ car. It’s a numbers game, really—there are many more young males than females racing karts, and to be a racer, you must start in karts by 10 or 12."
posted by qbert72 at 08:55 AM on November 09, 2006
Personally, I'm having a hard time understanding why NASCAR needs a diversity program. Unless it's strictly to combat the redneck image (which is, I think we all know now, as false now as it once was semi-true).
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:22 AM on November 09, 2006
Since NASCAR is such a southern, good-ole-boy sport... Right. Well, to be fair, I guess Toronto is in *southern* Canada.
posted by NoMich at 10:39 AM on November 09, 2006
Weedy, I think it's because after a decade or two of incredible growth, interest is starting to level off a bit, and to keep growing the sport, they'll need to put a more diverse face on it in order to sell it in some new places. Hence the sales pitches to more international drivers from F1, Indy and elsewhere, and this D4D program in North America. Knee-slappers about Jeff Gordon aside, everyone driving in Nextel Cup is still a white guy, and while there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, having a few darker faces (or female ones) would be a boon for marketing. (Case in point: look at what Danica Patrick, even as a non-winner on an underfunded and inferior racing team, has done for the IRL's profile. No one knows who Dan Wheldon or Sam Hornish is outside the racing world, but Danica is on billboards, magazine layouts and soft drink commercials everywhere. No wonder Nascar is wooing her something fierce.)
posted by chicobangs at 10:53 AM on November 09, 2006
"Before you want to stereotype a fanbase as "good ole southern boys", keep in mind that they have Nascar races in California, Vegas, Michigan, Delaware, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Pennsylvania" I am a black man, born and raised in Michigan. and I've lived in the south, and I have to tell you that rural Michigan is not much different than the south. I don't think location has that much to do with it.
posted by bo_fan at 12:26 PM on November 09, 2006
Didn't Max Papis run in the Busch race Saturday?
posted by dbt302 at 03:08 PM on November 09, 2006
No problem T_B_H, come on down sometime and we'll pick banjo's on the front porch. If we're lucky, we'll catch a peek at my sis getting out of the washtub. Dang, you got a washtub? Lucky dawg! We had to use ours to make up the last batch o' corn sqeezins.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:36 AM on November 10, 2006
rural Michigan is not much different than the south The folks at the NH track aren't exclusively PhD candidates either.
posted by yerfatma at 02:57 PM on November 12, 2006
Nice post, chico. I don't find this information all that surprising. Diversity initiatives are frequently meant to be symbolic messages that don't actually change anything (at least that seems to be true in the corporate world). It seems to me that a diversity program would work better if it was incorporated into existing teams. Give some money or brownie points to crews that are currently working on achieving diversity. Why create a separate program?