Race cars

IN THE run-up to today's Daytona 500, the biggest day in the long NASCAR season, you wouldn't expect Sam Belnavis, the co-owner of the No. 16 Ford, to stray far from trackside. But in addition to keeping up with his race car's qualifying speeds, he's also been doing some driving himself-between Daytona and Orlando where, as head of Roush Racing's diversity development program, he's been scouting minority drivers competing at night on local tracks.

It may shock fans and nonfans alike that one of NASCAR's premier racing teams is engaged in such a project. For all its successes-NASCAR is the nation's fastest-growing sport-its participants and fans remain almost comprehensively white. NASCAR's only black driver, Bill Lester, competes in the sport's third tier, the Craftsman Truck Series, Belnavis is the only African-American car owner, and Confederate flags still compete with checkered ones on NASCAR campgrounds.

But diversity is a growing priority for the sport, and Belnavis is not alone in his efforts. ''All of our teams realize the value in promoting diversity," says Tish Sheets, NASCAR's director of diversity (yes, there is such a thing). ''They're all competing to find the next great racer of tomorrow, to find racers that people will embrace. And urban communities would embrace a great driver they could identify with."

For its own efforts to encourage diversity, NASCAR has sought the public relations help of ex-NBA star Magic Johnson and put together a typically aggressive approach. A series of television commercials airs this weekend in honor of Black History Month and the contributions of the sports' few African-Americans, including Belnavis and the sport's first black driver, Wendell Scott. It's also launched an inner-city youth racing program in Philadelphia, as well as driver training for a group of promising minority (and female) hot shoes hoping to make it big.

And earlier this month, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as House Speaker Dennis Hastert, joined NASCAR officials at a press briefing to announce an initiative aimed at minority recruitment. The plan aims to offer students at historically black colleges job opportunities working on pit crews and in auto engineering, or in more traditional off-track work in business development, accounting, and marketing. ''If the goal was just about putting a few African-American drivers in some cars, I'd be less excited," says Representative Mel Watt, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus and represents a district of North Carolina in the heart of NASCAR country. ''This is about finding job opportunities in all aspects of the racing industry."

NASCAR officials realize, however, that they face significant hurdles. ''The old Southeastern redneck heritage that we had is no longer in existence," NASCAR president Mike Helton felt the need to tell reporters at the Capital Hill news gaggle.

It's not just its reputation the sport is up against. ''Basketball is played every day in the African-American community, but how do you get involved in racing?" Belnavis asks. ''It's not cheap to start racing-we're talking $100,000 for a car, a hundred bucks for every tire you go through. This really adds up."

Bill Lester's racing c.v. bears this out. Lester earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley and worked at Hewlett Packard before taking up racing on the weekends. ''I wasn't born with a car to drive, or a chance to compete," Lester said this week, over the roar of engines at Daytona.

But are NASCAR's motives pure, or is it merely courting the virtually untapped minority demographic? The question seemed not to concern the parties involved. ''There are charitable reasons to encourage more people to take an interest in racing, but from NASCAR's perspective there are also financial reasons for that as well," says Watt. ''There's no reason to be embarrassed by self-interest."

Not that NASCAR has ever been embarrassed by self-interest. Asked whether a superstar minority driver could do for racing what Tiger Woods did for golf, NASCAR's Sheets said: ''I grin from ear to ear just thinking about it. After Tiger, you had people who had never thought about golf before suddenly watching it and playing it and feeling connected to the game. We want that, for sure."

Geoffrey Gagnon has written about sports for Wired and Outside.