This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

After the second straight Formula One win by Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest promoters in stock car racing history questioned whether NASCAR’s Diversity Program was doing enough.

Hamilton is a Black man from Britain who drives for McLaren and currently leads the F1 points after consecutive wins in Canada and the United States.

Monday Humpy Wheeler said maybe the Diversity Program should pinpoint a young driver at elementary school age, put him or her in a car and support their efforts ‘til that child grows into a Cup driver.

Wheeler mentioned using a Bandolero car to learn.  Now, compared to Wheeler, what I know about marketing wouldn’t fill Humpy’s shot glass.  But a Bandolero isn’t a stepping stone to Cup, not like a high speed go-kart with its balance and momentum learning speeds.

Still, successful stock car drivers GENERALLY weren’t picked out of a lineup.  They came from personal or family commitments that included sleeping on a shop floor or a friend’s couch or working for nothing until someone notices.

The only black man to have success in NASCAR did all of the above and he won a race and finished in the top ten in points more than once against the sport’s legends.

Wheeler’s right.  NASCAR’s current Diversity Program will never end up with a Lewis Hamilton.  In fact, NASCAR won’t be diversified until a Lewis Hamilton picks NASCAR AND its lifestyle as his or her own.

And that's likely not to happen again.

Peace.