Diversity Program

Did anyone watch Nascar now and the special about the diversity program and if so,what did you think? I'll let yah know what i think if you go first.

nope i missed it, was it any good?? i have a feeling ya might have a negative word on it....

I didn't see it either, so no opinion.

I'm sure they'll show it again,but the main issue is Nascar is trying to attract minoritys to the sport to fill seats in the stands.The program has been in affect for eight years and non of them have made it full time or progressed to the Cup level.The main reason is lack of sponsorship and they're claiming Nascar has the connections to hundreds of sponsors,so why aren't they helping.Daughtrey in Nascars defense said it's hard to get sponsorship now for experianced drivers and tough for a sponsor to take a chance on the unknown.There was alot more to it,but it looks like so far it's not panning out as Nascar had hoped
Personally,i never thought it was a good idea to start with.

Darrell Wallace Jr. might just be the boost that program needs. He leads 38 laps in what, his 2nd race in the NW series......Gotta be somethin' there, maybe??

Gonna sound racist LEAVE MY SPORT ALONE!!! Ya'll already got football, baseball and especially basket ball. Whats next a program for hockey? This AIN'T gonna help the sport!

well the old sayin is the sponsor wants bang for its buck, so they want someone who is proven, look at ryan truex he only gets to race for JGR when he has a sponsor, a good talent going to waste, now the wallace kid looked pretty good the two times he raced, personally i dont see color never have, people of ethnic background deserve to be here, if they can drive, i think nelson piquet jr is one #### of a talent that is bein over looked, he should be in the NW and than in cup,

btw previous comment, ya may not wanna sound racist, but your words sure as heck have you coming off as intimidated by "them" all............ also "they" invaded hockey and many of them are decent players...

bottom line is, Nascar does see color. They see everything in green. When a minority driver is capable of making it in cup Nascar will do everything they can to make it happen. Why? Because nascar sees everything in green.
People cant just will minority drivers to being a top driver. I didnt see the program either, but I think it would be racist if a non minority driver loses a ride just because they give a ride to someone because of the color of their skin.
When Wallace Jr. gets to the point where he can race in cup Nascar will push that driver as hard as they push Danica down our throats. So if the program is trying to say Nascar is racist, it just shows how ignorant the piece is.
Nascar loves green. its the only color they see. They have gone so far as to ruin my sport & ruin a true Championship in the name of money. They turned the sport into a gimick in the name of green, so they are salivating at the chance to how a competitive Black driver in cup.
I think talent & talent alone should dictate who makes it in cup, not what race you are. Not if you are gay or not, not if you are male or female, & if you are polka dotted. More power to ya!
But with that same thought, I dont think you should be given a spot in cup because you are a certain race, gay or not, male or female, & certainly not just because you are polka dotted.

Quite frankly a diversity program is a form of segragation, which is a form of racism. I also think affirmative action should be illegal. You cant conquer racism, by using a form of racism.
Anytime a minority gets or takes someone elses job, that, that someone was more qualified for. It can only be seen as a form of racism. before someone says no its not. look at this simple formula. Switch the spots & say some white guy took a job from a minority where the minority was more qualifed for. What would everyone be screaming? ............ Racism!

I really get sick of hearing the race card thrown out there, anytime minority talk is brought up.
There is plenty of real racism againsst minorities out there, where the race card can be thrown around. People dont have to make $h!t up just so they can cry racism.


Did I miss anything? Was the show any good?

AMEN !

As a black NASCAR fan I applaud the diversity program. I think it is making great strides. Look at Darrell Wallace Jr he is with Gibbs now and has a chance to be a star. Same with Kyle Larson who is part Japanese. There is one driver from the diversity program to make it to cup. Aric Almrola. This sport is trying to get with the 21st century and invole more than just white males in NASCAR. As much as I can't stand him Montoya is apart of that. So is Marcos Ambrose, Nelson Piquet Jr, Miguel Paludo, Danica Patrick and Johanna Long. NASCAR has gotten a bad rep for the lack of black drivers. It isn't 100% their faults though. African Americans view NASCAR differently than white people. A middle class black family isn't going to want to shell out so much money to race while a white family would. That is a fact. I remember telling my cousin about Joey Logano's dad spending $10 million on him. He wrote it off as a white thing to do. Hopefully NASCAR gets their Tiger Woods/ Michael Jordon.

Bill lester! Only reason he got a ride was race, you wanna argue be my guest its the truth and you know it! And MJ come off it man what I mean is there is no reason to go the extra mile to help other races get into the sport, there is not a program to get a Caucasian person in the sport.

Bill Lester is a good driver who never got a chance in a good car. He wins in Grand Am now.

AJ Foyt is giving this young man a shot at next year's Indy 500.
AJ doesn't normally go after greenhorns to drive his machines. Of course racing on dirt doesn't always pan out on pavement (and vice versa).
All the major racing series are driven by sponsor money (and owner money).


LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Chase Austin has a chance to make history. A.J. Foyt and his racing team would like nothing better.

Austin will try to become only the third African-American driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 after being selected by Foyt to drive his entry in the 2013 racing classic.

"When I get to Indy, that might be a different thing, I might be, like, 'Oh, no!'" Austin said with a laugh. "But I believe I'm ready."

The 22-year-old Austin has been racing since he was 8 years old. He became the youngest driver to sign a driver-development contract in NASCAR when he was 14. He has driven in several series, most recently Indy Lights.

Although he has yet to drive at the highest levels of the sport for very long, Austin was seen as a promising newcomer by Foyt, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Austin has raced in six NASCAR Nationwide Series races, three in the Truck Series and four in Indy Lights.

"He's run some stock cars, he's run some sprint cars, he's run the dirt -- he's run a lot of races in different types of cars and go-karts," Foyt said. "He's won in a lot of different race cars."

Austin's big shot at Indy came as a result of talks between Chris Miles of Starting Grid, an advocacy group for minorities in motor sports, and Foyt Racing's Larry Foyt, son of the former driver and day-to-day head of his racing team.

"I have some friends from the Kansas area who were watching (Austin) coming up and winning everything at the local tracks," Larry Foyt said. "Then back in February, I told Dad, 'Hey, you need to watch this kid.' "

Miles is encouraged by the future of minorities in racing and believes Austin will be a success in one of America's iconic car races.

"We've had that privilege of having Chase represent us extremely well," he said. "I just knew that Chase was the guy."

The arrangement between Foyt Racing and Austin, announced by A.J. Foyt during qualifying for this weekend's IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio, is most likely limited to the Indianapolis 500. All sides deflected questions about other races and tests.

If he qualifies for the Indianapolis 500 next May, Austin would follow in the footsteps of Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American driver at Indy in 1991, and George Mack (2002).

Austin said he did not feel the weight of others' expectations.

"No, because I really thought to myself, `What's the worst that can happen?' If I don't make the race, that's something that happens to a lot of people. But I have the opportunity to race for A.J. Foyt at Indianapolis. That's what I'm really going to concentrate on."


Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

The show is something everyone should see,it was on Speed and done through Nascar Now i believe,if i can find it again i'll post it ahead of time.Nascar really didn't have much to say and declined to answer any questions.They have a company,now a differant company that handles that program.The last company was sued because they released a young man of Spanish decent,cliamed he wasn't dark enough Oh yeah,yah gotta see it.

well the old sayin is the sponsor wants bang for its buck, so they want someone who is proven, look at ryan truex he only gets to race for JGR when he has a sponsor, a good talent going to waste, now the wallace kid looked pretty good the two times he raced, personally i dont see color never have, people of ethnic background deserve to be here, if they can drive, i think nelson piquet jr is one #### of a talent that is bein over looked, he should be in the NW and than in cup,

btw previous comment, ya may not wanna sound racist, but your words sure as heck have you coming off as intimidated by "them" all............ also "they" invaded hockey and many of them are decent players...

I remember the first black hockey player at Boston Gardens,didn't go over good,they booed and threw things at him.