Only one minority member has competed in NASCAR full-time during the sport's 61-year history. The late Wendell Scott, an African-American from Virginia, was a Cup Series regular throughout the 1960s and into the early '70s. He raced hard and fair on a shoestring budget, earning the respect of his better-funded white colleagues. NASCAR has never had a full-time female driver, and Juan Pablo Montoya is the only Latin American driver to succeed in Cup. Max Siegel wants to change all that. He bills himself as a "sports and entertainment executive, author and film and TV producer" who runs the 909 Group, a sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing firm. He was an executive at Dale Earnhardt Inc. for more than two years before creating the lower-tier Revolution Racing team as part of NASCAR's seven-year-old "Drive for Diversity" program. Despite some success at lower levels, the program to attract women, Hispanics and African-Americans to Sprint Cup is still waiting for its first success story.
AutoWeek: What's the goal of your diversity efforts in general and your Changing Lanes reality-TV show on BET?
Max Siegel: We're educating the public and sponsors about racing, we're introducing these young drivers to the world, and we're celebrating winning and winners. The show focuses on the selection process, which began with a couple of hundred r?sum?s. That led to 30 drivers at our "combine," which led to the eight finalists, from which we got four drivers for Revolution Racing.
AW: NASCAR has had a diversity program for years, with little to show for it. How does your program differ, and what do you expect?
MS: Before, different teams got money to help be part of the effort. It was up to them how they wanted to be involved. I started Revolution Racing to bring all the diversity drivers together. This is the best class of young men and women we've ever had.
AW: Other series have always had diversity in the driver ranks without a specific recruiting program like this. Why is it needed?
MS: There's an industrywide responsibility to create opportunities. Seven years ago, NASCAR felt its diversity program was the socially responsible thing to do. Our growth area is now women, Hispanics and African-Americans. Frankly, it's good for business for racing to look more like America.
AW: How do you categorize Changing Lanes?
MS: It is what it is. It's not cast for drama, not like Hard Knocks. It's a reality docu-series, where you'll see real emotion among these young people.
AW: How do these kids progress?
MS: We make sure they're meeting performance benchmarks before they move up. They need to show their talent and their dedication. We'd like to see them [in NASCAR's lower series] in three or four years.
