This is the Stattmann Baby!! Time to Scatt a little bit.
NASCAR makes so much of its Drive for Diversity, its effort to make its races more gender and ethnically diverse.
Curiously, the drag racing already has a driver’s community that looks like an American community with diversity in abundance.
Just this weekend at the Winternationals in Pomona we had a young African American driver among the fastest in Top Fuel, a couple Latin drivers among the fastest in Funny Car and a woman was among the fastest in Pro Stock.
In a month or so, when the Pro Stock Bike season starts, there’ll be more women, an African American and a Latino winning races and competing for championships.
This week I had a conversation with a young African American driver who grew up in a racially tense region of America.
I learned NASCAR wanted him if he’d sign a long term deal to help diversity stock car racing.
To his credit, he chose drag racing where hard work and talent was enough and he didn’t need a binding legal document manipulating his future.
When you hear that you understand why there’s a need to drive for diversity when diversity is driven daily in the real world of major league drag racing.
Peace…