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Welcome to the Cup Scene Daily for
Vol. III,No.VIXII FINAL EDITION
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Quote of the day:
"Nobody likes change but they will embrace change. If it's good for the sport, if it's good for everybody, they will embrace it. It may take some time, but they will."
7 DAY ARCHIVE SundayMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday INSIDE TODAY'S ISSUE: All-Star qualifying is tonight Truck team lands sponsor Newman/Wife plan animal shelter benefit Junior's car chief in the pits again Kellers team announces promotion Starr Wins Pole for Truck Race at Lowe's Purvis waits for medical clearance for Nazareth event Wilkesboro struggles after NASCAR NASCAR drives North Carolina woman's every purchase New sponsor making quiet move into spotlight Drivers to watch at Lowe's Shame on You, ESPN and About That Tony Stewart/Darrel Waltrip Thing Cup Scene readers speak out about Talladega
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TODAYS FRONT PAGE<
MAGICIAN?
In order for any sport to truly appeal to the masses, it has to attract all the masses. NASCAR's attempt to grow the sport in the last few years has gone from the road side to the super highway, with only one tiny pothole.
In the past several years in an effort to diversify the sport, NASCAR has tried to make efforts to reach minorities. Often the attempts were small or failed. Bill Lester remains the only African American to compete in any of NASCAR's top three divisions. Five African American men have driven in NASCAR's top division, known now as the Nextel Cup Series, according to NASCAR statistical services research. This year, several black drivers are running short track races with support from NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. A 2002 ESPN/Chilton poll found that 25 percent of NASCAR fans are non-white. Statistics compiled by NASCAR show that it has been the fastest growing sport among African-Americans and Hispanics during the past seven years. African-American fans have increased 18 percent -- approximately two million people -- since 1995. Hispanic fans have increased 38 percent -- approximately three million people -- since 1996. Thursday, NASCAR announced another diversity initiative headed by NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Johnson, 44, was named executive director of the new Executive Steering Committee for Diversity, which will try to identify and attract African-American and Hispanic participants. The committee also will help NASCAR develop programs to increase the sport's visibility in urban communities. ``We see this as a great opportunity to let people know they're welcome into NASCAR and also a great way for NASCAR to give itself an opportunity for people to sample our sport,'' said NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne, who oversees the sanctioning body's diversity programs. Johnson, who will work without a salary, said he grew up attending races and believes the sport can be sold to minorities. ``I think the more minorities the program touches, the [better] it will work,'' Johnson said. ``This is funny because I've done this so many times. You know how many retailers I had to educate about minorities, or vice- versa? I had to educate Starbucks on minorities, their trends, how we are, so on. We don't eat scones, you know. We have sweet potato pie, peach cobbler in my Starbucks.'' What Johnson sees in NASCAR is a major merchandising and marketing opportunity for minorities, much as Daytona does. And it looks as if Johnson is ready to test the waters and put NASCAR's programs to the test. In less than 20 minutes Johnson not only pitched for NASCAR deals for his 70 Starbucks coffee shops and his big-city theaters, but also for more minority vendors at the tour's many tracks. Johnson appears to be interested in a minority-owned die-cast collectibles supply operation. There were indications he was willing to push for some minority to take an ownership stake in a Cup racetrack, which, coming just a week after the settlement of the Ferko suit, made NASCAR officials wince. Johnson, who became a successful businessman after retiring from the NBA in 1991, said he's exploring the possibility of purchasing a race team, but he needs more time for research. He said he will be a hands-on diversity leader. "Whether I'm an owner or not, if I can touch lives and make sure minorities can come up in this sport somehow, then I've done what I wanted to do," he said. "Do I know it's going to take a lot of hard work? Yes. Do I know it's going to take some time? Yes. But I'm patient. I'm here for the long haul." For most of its 55-year history, NASCAR has been dominated by whites. The only African-American to regularly compete in the elite Nextel Cup division was the late Wendell Scott, who ran 495 races from 1961 to 1973. He won one race and one pole. Johnson's appointment comes one week after NASCAR announced it was taking race dates from traditional Southern tracks, ending its Nextel Cup association with Rockingham and taking one race date from Darlington. Since 1997, the sport has expanded to tracks in Chicago, Kansas City, Kan., Las Vegas, Miami and Fontana, Calif. The goal has been to grow the sport on a national scale. Johnson said he's aware NASCAR has some fans, including those who fly Confederate battle flags at races, who might not be open to an influx of minorities. But he doesn't see a major problem. "I can't control what happens with flags," he said. "I can't control what people want to put in their cars. The only thing I can control is making sure these programs are run in the correct manner and make sure minorities are touched in the right way. . . . There are some things that have been going on in NASCAR for years. I can't change that. I'm not here to change NASCAR. I'm just here to try to involve more minorities in the sport of NASCAR." Johnson said he believes most white fans will accept a successful black driver. "We're at a stage in sports today that whites know that diversity is good," he said. "Why do you think there are more people watching golf when Tiger Woods is in the hunt?" He said he's reminded of the days when he played against Larry Bird in the NBA. "What happened was whites said, 'Wow, Magic can play.' And blacks said, 'Woo, Larry Bird is pretty good.' We're at the stage where that's not as big an issue as it was 10 years ago.' "Nobody likes change, but they will embrace change if it's good for the sport. It may take some time, but they will embrace it." Retired NASCAR champion Bobby Allison said Johnson has a real chance to bring diversity to the sport. "Magic has been able to really get a lot of positive response out of people from all walks of life -- people that are in the group and outside the group," Allison said. "He's an influential guy, so let's see if he can help that deal out." Lester, the only black driver regularly competing in any of NASCAR's top three divisions, said Johnson will make a difference. "If [minorities] get a taste of NASCAR, they'll embrace it just like we have stick and ball sports," Lester said. "It just takes a catalyst such as Magic -- someone of that stature -- to really bring this to national attention."
• Continue support of the Drive for Diversity program, which puts qualified minority drivers and crew members with lower-series teams to develop their talent. Four African American men and one white female are driving Late Model stock cars at various Southeastern short tracks. Five African American crewmen have been hired by Craftsman Truck teams, and one African American crewman has been hired by a Busch Series team through this program, run by Access Marketing and Communications. • Institute a supplier diversity program where minority-owned companies can bid on various NASCAR projects. • Place 33 minority college students into racing-related internships. • Continue a tour to historically black colleges that make students aware of career opportunities in NASCAR. • Offer scholarships to the NASCAR Technical Institute, which trains people to work on stock cars. Series officials want Magic Johnson to complete selection of the diversity committee he'll co-chair, assist in grassroots programs that develop minority drivers and crew members and increase the sport's visibility in urban communities. "As long as we're touching minorities in different ways, whether it's the scholarship program, the internship program, the drivers, the crews, on and on and on, to me that means we're successful," Magic Johnson said. "Hopefully one of those drivers or two or whatever will have a chance and an opportunity one day to go up against Jeff Gordon on the big-boy circuit. If that happens, that would be a blessing for everybody. "But if it doesn't happen, I want you to know that's not going to be saying that we're not successful because if we send a lot of minorities to college, if we get more and more minorities to come out to the track, it's going to be different ways where we measure success." Robert Johnson already benefits from NASCAR's push to include minorities in a sport dominated by whites since the series' first race in 1948. He is one of the six crew members placed with a racing team through the Drive for Diversity program. The Greensboro resident, who is in the process of moving to the Charlotte area, joins Roush Racing in June. He'll work in the paint shop during the week and be a crewmember on weekends for Roush's Craftsman Truck Series team with driver Jon Wood. It's a job Robert Johnson desired in the early 1970s. He followed his father's interest in mechanics but wanted to be a part of a racing team. He wrote NASCAR as a teenager, telling the organization who he was and his interest in the sport. "No response," he said. "No answers. It was useless." Sitting near Robert Johnson on Thursday was 21-year-old Michael Smith, a junior at N.C. A&T. He knew nothing of NASCAR when his family moved from South Central Los Angeles to Greensboro at age 15. Now, he wants to be an engine builder in the sport. While some will question if NASCAR will follow through on the programs and ideas it mentioned, Magic Johnson's presence left little doubt to Smith that change is coming. Smith has seen the business Johnson placed in under-served minority communities and watched movies in Johnson's inner-city LA theatre. "I know him to be a man of his word," Smith said of Johnson. "I trust that when he says he's in it for the long run, he's in it for the long run."
If so, the chance to work in NASCAR won't take Smith as long as it did Robert Johnson.
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