EXPOSURE FOR HBCUS CONTINUES WITHIN NASCAR
Former FAMU staffer driving efforts to recruit minority pit crew workers
Grambling State represented in 64th Annual Daytona 500.
In the past two months, NY Racing Team’s No. 44 has featured three historically Black college and university logos on its Chevrolet Camaro.
The sleek black race car, driven by Greg Biffle, first featured Grambling State University at the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, Florida A&M University during the Pennzoil 400 on March 6 and Stillman College on March 20 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
All three captured wide attention on social media from people all over the world, as the owner of the car and Grambling State alumnus John Cohen aims to gain exposure for HBCUS within the American auto racing sanctioning body.
The exposure generated by Cohen’s entries comes at a time when HBCU recognition and pride is sweeping the nation, a factor that bodes well for Black America and for organizations like NASCAR, intent on proving diversity and inclusion are more than corporate buzzwords.
A look at NASCAR’S three programs
For over the past two decades, NASCAR has continued its race toward the association’s diversity and inclusion through three programs: A diversity internship, a general “Drive for Diversity” initiative and supplier diversity.
Each program is designed to engage and attract more minorities and women into the multi-million-dollar world of auto racing.
Among the three programs, the Drive for Diversity, which includes both a driver development program and a pit crew development program, recruits from HBCUS most often.
A key player is Phil Horton, who served as head athletic trainer at Florida A&M University in 1985-90. Horton, a 1983 graduate of North Carolina A&T University, is the pit crew coach for the Drive for Diversity pit crew member development program.
After many years working as an athletic trainer on the collegiate level and later for the NBA’S Milwaukee Bucks, Horton was introduced to NASCAR when he became a personal trainer for former professional stock car driver Ernie Irvan.
“Being an athletic trainer and knowing the ergonomics of movement, I decided to come up with a philosophy for training and coaching techniques for the pit crewman,” Horton told the Tallahassee Democrat. “I sold that to different teams and became a pit crew coach.”
In 2009, Horton was hired as the pit crew and driver training coach by Max Seigel. Seigel had left his position as president of Global Operations at Dale Earnhardt Inc. to manage NASCAR’S Drive for Diversity program with his own company, Rev Racing.
The pit crew program’s primary focus is recruiting minority and women Division 1 athletes, specifically from HBCUS.
“It was Max Siegel’s goal long ago to ensure that minorities are represented in the sport of NASCAR,” Horton said from his home in Concord, North Carolina. “We currently have 55 that are in the program.”
Some HBCU alums that have gone through the pit crew side of the program are Jordan Paige, a former football player from Clark Atlanta University; Keiston France, a former tennis player from North Carolina A&T University and the first African American woman in a NASCAR Cup Series pit crew, and Brehanna Daniels, a former basketball player from Norfolk State University.
Notable NASCAR drivers that have gone through Drive for Diversity include William “Bubba” Wallace Jr. and Daniel Suárez.
Jusan Hamilton, senior director of racing operations and event management for NASCAR, says part of his job is to oversee the Drive for Diversity competition program.
The driver side of Drive for Diversity partners with iracing, a virtual simulation platform that’s an online replica of NASCAR races, to find new and interested talent.
“This driver program recruits young drivers, as early as 12 to 13 years old to begin climbing up the ladder system,” said Hamilton, who in February became NASCAR’S first Black race director in Daytona 500 history. It specifically looks “to target diverse youth that haven’t had traditional access to racing but have the passion and talent for it.”
Hamilton used 19-year-old Rajah Caruth, a Caribbean man raised in Washington D.C., as testament to the program.
Caruth, who had no prior experience racing on a track, was noticed by Rev Racing from his presence on iracing. From there, he was invited to the youth driver combine to showcase his talent in a youth race car, Hamilton said.
Now, the Winston-salem State University sophomore races full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing and parttime in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Making strides toward change
Horton recalls a time in 2005 when there weren’t a lot of minorities in the sport.
“At one time, I was the only minority individual in a competition role on pit road,” Horton said. “So, it was hard for me to go out and recruit African American athletes to come in to be pit crew members.”
Horton says he would talk to potential recruits and their main concern surrounded the waving of the Confederate flag at races.
“It was a huge turnoff for African Americans,” said Horton. “It was perceived as unwelcoming to the Black community.”
In 2020, Bubba Wallace spoke out against the controversial tradition of waving the Confederate flag at races. NASCAR later banned all Confederate flags at racetracks, a move that Horton says “cleared a major hurdle for everyone.”
“It shows to African Americans that NASCAR is at least trying to present the olive branch in welcoming everybody into the sport,” Horton said. “With that initiative, NASCAR is doing a great job.”
Tallahassee resident Charles Gatlin, an avid NASCAR fan since the late 70s, was among those watching the Pennzoil 400 on March 6, just days after the FAMU wrapped car was promoted on social media.
The car wasn’t prominently displayed on television because of mechanical issues.
Gatlin, who retired from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and is a longtime FAMU Boosters member, says NASCAR’S efforts in diversity and inclusion are “awesome” and he believes it will continue to grow.
“NASCAR could open new doors but it’s up to minorities to step through that door,” Gatlin said. “I look forward to seeing more Black drivers on the NASCAR circuit besides the three minority drivers that are out there now.”