More than any other American sport, NASCAR has always taken pride in its southern roots.
Because of that connection, NASCAR has often been mocked and stereotyped as a sport of hillbillies and rednecks. And because of that, NASCAR has worked hard to try to improve its image when it comes to diversity. But progress has been slow.
In 2004, NASCAR chairman Brian France launched the Drive for Diversity program with the purpose to attract minorities and women across all platforms, including drivers, owners, sponsors, crew members and fans.
"If we don't get diversity right, this sport will not achieve what it needs to achieve from a popularity standpoint," France said in 2007.
In the sport's 67-year history, only three black drivers have made it to NASCAR's top series, the most recent being Bill Lester in 2006. Three black men, including former NBA player Brad Daugherty and former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss, have owned teams.
One woman, Danica Patrick, is currently a competitor in NASCAR's top Sprint Cup series. NASCAR counts three others -- Kyle Larson (Japanese descent), Darrell Wallace Jr., who has a black mother, and Daniel Suarez of Mexico -- as examples of driver diversity in either the Xfinity or Sprint Cup Series.
Now, there is the issue with the Confederate flag that continues to be flown by fans at NASCAR races. NASCAR wants to distance itself from the Confederate flag. Before South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill into law Thursday, removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse, NASCAR issued a statement saying that it backed Haley's call to remove the flag and said that NASCAR doesn't allow the flag on anything it sanctions, including merchandise.
Thirty of the sports tracks have urged fans to leave their flags at home. Officials at Daytona International Speedway announced an exchange program for fans who wanted to turn in a Confederate flag for an American flag before the Coke Zero 400 on July 5.
But some believe NASCAR's pleas to distance itself from the Confederate flag have been halfhearted.
Wrote Elizabeth Newman of SI.com, "Still, these declarations have never been a call for an outright ban, despite numerous condemnations throughout the sport. And with South Carolina officially removing the flag from the state capitol on July 10, will there still be this longstanding hesitancy by NASCAR for a clean break? Why sever ties with Donald Trump's National Doral Miami resort, host of NASCAR's postseason award banquets, after comments he made about Mexican immigrants, but continue to allow a symbol at races which remains toxic and offensive to many?
"The answer is simple: Money. With swaths of empty seats at several of its tracks (Charlotte, Dover and Atlanta Speedways have all removed up to 17,000 each within the past year due to declining ticket sales) and TV ratings continuing to spiral downward, NASCAR believes it can't afford to get into a public spat over race and culture with its legions of Southern fans who make up over 80 percent of its revenue and popularity. So France took the easy way out and straddled both sides of the fence in an attempt not to ruffle too many feathers or seem insensitive."
Web heads
From the website Fark.com:
• "Billy Hamilton steals third base ... on a catcher's throw back to the pitcher. Don't blink or you'll miss it."
• "LeBron James signs a $47 million deal to stay in Cleveland. Official announcement to be on a one-hour TV special called, 'Who Cares?'
Sports quiz
Who was NASCAR's first black driver?
Answer: Wendell Scott in 1961.
Sports on 07/13/2015