freedom
07-31-2001, 11:56 AM
Cracking The NASCAR Color Line
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
Gentlemen, start your engines! The adrenaline is pumping and the crowd is in awe. Cars are traveling at speeds of up to 180 mph. And these aren't just any cars; they are sleek, shiny, PHAT high performance racing cars.
But there aren't many African Americans in the crowd. And even fewer African Americans behind the wheels of the fancy racing machines that are featured in NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) events.
Where are the black fans, and why doesn't the sport attract those brothers who talk about their cars as if they were women? Will auto racing go the way of golf and tennis, two previously overwhelmingly white sports that have recently been dominated by black superstars, attracting waves of new black fans?
"There aren't many blacks" in NASCAR, admits 34-year-old Monroe Simmons. The Mt. Vernon, New York, resident is a NASCAR crewmember helping a friend who's racing his Formula 4 car in a New Hampshire event. "I've worked on a pit crew and whites looked at us like, 'Damn, now they are trying to take over this, too.'" While his primary duties included changing tires, filling the gas tank, tightening bolts and performing general pre-race maintenance, Simmons says he's also there to provide his friend with moral support.
That kind of community may be necessary to overcome the perception that auto racing is not only a white sport, but a white Southern one as well. Some African Americans think that auto racing is for "hillbillies" or white "trailer trash" — a segment of the white population from which many blacks habitually steer clear. Says Angela Walker, a 34-year-old from Virginia, when asked whether she has ever attended a race: "Every time I hear about the NASCAR, I think of backwoods people, and my coworker who liked it, and that's what they make me thing of."
This perception isn't ungrounded in reality. There have been sightings of Confederate flags hanging off of trucks parked at racing events. But some are trying to combat these negative perceptions.
"It has historically been known as a Southeastern sport," says David Pepper, head of marketing and public relations for Bobby Hamilton Racing in Nashville, Tennessee. "From 1948 to 1968, all the races were conducted in that region, but now we have tracks all around the country."
And as the venues become bigger and better, Pepper says, the fan base is also growing and becoming more diverse. "I don't know why there are fewer African Americans in attendance; maybe it hasn't caught on yet, but it's changing as word gets around," he says. "American people are seeing that we [in NASCAR racing] represent everything that's good about America, and we don't keep anyone out."
Historically, African Americans have participated in the sport. During the 1930s and 1940s, black racecar drivers hosted an annual event in Indiana, and names like Bill "Bullet" Scott, Red Oliver, Wendell Scott, Malcolm Durham and, more recently, 42-year-old Willie T. Ribbs will go down in the annals as black auto racing greats who managed to attract black fans.
Ribbs began his racing career more than 20 years ago, but it wasn't until 1991 that he became the first African American to race in the Indy 500. He's also the only African American driver competing full-time in NASCAR's top races, participating under the auspices of the Dodge Diversity Program, which has placed him and Latino driver Carlos Contreras in the Craftsman Truck Series.
"Dodge is on the cutting edge, doing their part to give people opportunities," says Pepper, whose group has Ribbs on a one-year contract. The driver will compete in about 23 races during the 2001 season, which runs from February to November.
Often touted as the fastest-growing sport in America today, auto racing generates millions of dollars in advertisement revenues, and experts believe that auto racing has the potential to encompass all segments of society. "There's a tremendous opportunity for the African American community to become involved in NASCAR," says Bill Doyle, Vice President of Performance Research, a Rhode Island-based company that analyses sporting events for potential sponsors.
Doyle addressed the "real" numbers that attend NASCAR events. "A study in 1999 revealed that one percent of fans is African American, but this doesn't take into account those television viewers," he says. "So, if there are 25 million NASCAR fans nationwide, then only about a quarter million would be African American — truly an opportunity for growth potential."
For the moment, though, most African Americans regard auto racing as a curiosity, an all-white endeavor that courts danger without exhibiting any obvious sense of style. The death this spring of Dale Earnhardt, the sport's premier superstar, prompted a wave of public mourning that had many blacks scratching their heads.
Beyond the lily-white atmosphere that surrounds it, the sport battles a misperception that it isn't truly a sport, demanding physical excellence in the same way as football or basketball, says Pepper. But, he says, it delivers the same jolt of excitement. "I challenge new fans to first watch a race on television and then come out to the track, and if you can say that 40 pristine, beautiful cars racing at 170-180 mph, three inches apart is not exciting, then this sport is not for you."
According to Performance Research, 81 percent of NASCAR fans own their own homes, 50 percent have attended college, 75 percent are married and about 50 percent have incomes of $50K or more. And, of course, 66 percent of fans are male.
The top purses during the 2000 racing season were $1 million for the Craftsman Series, $2 million for the Busch races and $4 million for the Winston Cup races; when adding product endorsements, the potential income from racing becomes even more impressive.
Will African American athletes ever compete for these riches? Simmons is pessimistic. "Brothers will never be welcomed to the NASCAR circuit; that's for those 'Jim-Bob' rednecks," he says.
Pepper disagrees, challenging African Americans to come to the sport first as fans. "If anyone in the country, regardless of background or ethnicity, would like to be entertained for two to four hours," they should come to a race, he says. "It's the family sport for the common man."
First published: July 31, 2001
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"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
Gentlemen, start your engines! The adrenaline is pumping and the crowd is in awe. Cars are traveling at speeds of up to 180 mph. And these aren't just any cars; they are sleek, shiny, PHAT high performance racing cars.
But there aren't many African Americans in the crowd. And even fewer African Americans behind the wheels of the fancy racing machines that are featured in NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) events.
Where are the black fans, and why doesn't the sport attract those brothers who talk about their cars as if they were women? Will auto racing go the way of golf and tennis, two previously overwhelmingly white sports that have recently been dominated by black superstars, attracting waves of new black fans?
"There aren't many blacks" in NASCAR, admits 34-year-old Monroe Simmons. The Mt. Vernon, New York, resident is a NASCAR crewmember helping a friend who's racing his Formula 4 car in a New Hampshire event. "I've worked on a pit crew and whites looked at us like, 'Damn, now they are trying to take over this, too.'" While his primary duties included changing tires, filling the gas tank, tightening bolts and performing general pre-race maintenance, Simmons says he's also there to provide his friend with moral support.
That kind of community may be necessary to overcome the perception that auto racing is not only a white sport, but a white Southern one as well. Some African Americans think that auto racing is for "hillbillies" or white "trailer trash" — a segment of the white population from which many blacks habitually steer clear. Says Angela Walker, a 34-year-old from Virginia, when asked whether she has ever attended a race: "Every time I hear about the NASCAR, I think of backwoods people, and my coworker who liked it, and that's what they make me thing of."
This perception isn't ungrounded in reality. There have been sightings of Confederate flags hanging off of trucks parked at racing events. But some are trying to combat these negative perceptions.
"It has historically been known as a Southeastern sport," says David Pepper, head of marketing and public relations for Bobby Hamilton Racing in Nashville, Tennessee. "From 1948 to 1968, all the races were conducted in that region, but now we have tracks all around the country."
And as the venues become bigger and better, Pepper says, the fan base is also growing and becoming more diverse. "I don't know why there are fewer African Americans in attendance; maybe it hasn't caught on yet, but it's changing as word gets around," he says. "American people are seeing that we [in NASCAR racing] represent everything that's good about America, and we don't keep anyone out."
Historically, African Americans have participated in the sport. During the 1930s and 1940s, black racecar drivers hosted an annual event in Indiana, and names like Bill "Bullet" Scott, Red Oliver, Wendell Scott, Malcolm Durham and, more recently, 42-year-old Willie T. Ribbs will go down in the annals as black auto racing greats who managed to attract black fans.
Ribbs began his racing career more than 20 years ago, but it wasn't until 1991 that he became the first African American to race in the Indy 500. He's also the only African American driver competing full-time in NASCAR's top races, participating under the auspices of the Dodge Diversity Program, which has placed him and Latino driver Carlos Contreras in the Craftsman Truck Series.
"Dodge is on the cutting edge, doing their part to give people opportunities," says Pepper, whose group has Ribbs on a one-year contract. The driver will compete in about 23 races during the 2001 season, which runs from February to November.
Often touted as the fastest-growing sport in America today, auto racing generates millions of dollars in advertisement revenues, and experts believe that auto racing has the potential to encompass all segments of society. "There's a tremendous opportunity for the African American community to become involved in NASCAR," says Bill Doyle, Vice President of Performance Research, a Rhode Island-based company that analyses sporting events for potential sponsors.
Doyle addressed the "real" numbers that attend NASCAR events. "A study in 1999 revealed that one percent of fans is African American, but this doesn't take into account those television viewers," he says. "So, if there are 25 million NASCAR fans nationwide, then only about a quarter million would be African American — truly an opportunity for growth potential."
For the moment, though, most African Americans regard auto racing as a curiosity, an all-white endeavor that courts danger without exhibiting any obvious sense of style. The death this spring of Dale Earnhardt, the sport's premier superstar, prompted a wave of public mourning that had many blacks scratching their heads.
Beyond the lily-white atmosphere that surrounds it, the sport battles a misperception that it isn't truly a sport, demanding physical excellence in the same way as football or basketball, says Pepper. But, he says, it delivers the same jolt of excitement. "I challenge new fans to first watch a race on television and then come out to the track, and if you can say that 40 pristine, beautiful cars racing at 170-180 mph, three inches apart is not exciting, then this sport is not for you."
According to Performance Research, 81 percent of NASCAR fans own their own homes, 50 percent have attended college, 75 percent are married and about 50 percent have incomes of $50K or more. And, of course, 66 percent of fans are male.
The top purses during the 2000 racing season were $1 million for the Craftsman Series, $2 million for the Busch races and $4 million for the Winston Cup races; when adding product endorsements, the potential income from racing becomes even more impressive.
Will African American athletes ever compete for these riches? Simmons is pessimistic. "Brothers will never be welcomed to the NASCAR circuit; that's for those 'Jim-Bob' rednecks," he says.
Pepper disagrees, challenging African Americans to come to the sport first as fans. "If anyone in the country, regardless of background or ethnicity, would like to be entertained for two to four hours," they should come to a race, he says. "It's the family sport for the common man."
First published: July 31, 2001
------------------
"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them"
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom" -Malcom X