Diversity has been in the news in NASCAR for several years now, and while the concept is sound, the actual results of diversity programs have been somewhat less than stellar. In terms of real change, there has been much money followed by much talk, with little enough to show for it
Broken down, diversity in motorsports means opening up opportunities to ethnic and gender groups that traditionally have not had the same chances to break into the sport as the majority. The purpose is to make NASCAR racing as appealing to all racial groups as it seems to be to its core following.
Diversity is the latest buzzword in NASCAR, though it is doubtful that it will completely erase the words "aero push" from the lexicon. NASCAR has its program, with high-profile names like Magic Johnson involved, and many of the teams and sponsors in the sport either participate with NASCAR or have their own programs.
Joe Gibbs Racing, through its sister company Joe Gibbs Performance, is putting more than words into its diversity folder. It's putting dollars and resources behind a program to help drivers from diverse backgrounds in the seat of a stock car.
Gibbs, owner of JGR and currently head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins, teamed with legendary defensive lineman Reggie White (see sidebar) in the program. White, an ordained Baptist minister, approached Gibbs some time ago about getting into the sport, and the two old rivals cooked up a driver development program with diversity at its core.
Step By StepDrivers Aric Almirola and Chris Bristol are the drivers currently in the program, and both spent the '04 season racing Late Models at short tracks in North Carolina. Almirola raced at Ace Speedway, while Bristol was a regular at Caraway Speedway. Both won races and poles in 2004, and this season the plan is to take the next step up the ladder.
Almirola, 21, is of Cuban descent and is a native of Tampa, Florida. "If there's an asphalt track in Florida, I've raced on it," he said, and he looks at this opportunity as a way out of short-track racing and into the big time.
"Basically the program was designed to bring minorities into racing," Almirola said. "It's done that, and not only has it done that, we've been very successful at it. I don't think people thought minorities could come into the sport, win races, and qualify on the pole like we've done this year."
In his season at Ace Speedway, Almirola won twice and earned two poles. At the end of the season, there was a big Super Late Model race at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina, and Almirola won the pole. "I really won three races, but one of them was taken away," Almirola said with a laugh. "The officials found a little incident with a valvespring. It was very minor, but that's neither here nor there."
Spoken like a true racer, huh? Almirola, for 21 years old, is quite wise in the ways of motorsports, having been a fan since early childhood. So what was a young Hispanic kid from Tampa doing following racing on Sunday afternoons while growing up, much less dreaming of being a part of it?
"Naturally, I thought NASCAR was predominantly populated by white people, but regardless, I enjoyed the sport," Almirola said. "I watched it from the time I was a little kid. I remember sitting on the couch watching Dale Earnhardt, and it was exciting to me. I have always been fascinated by racing. It's never mattered to me the race of the sport. This has become an opportunity for me to get involved, and it's become a very good opportunity and a successful one."
Almirola makes no bones about where he wants to go in the sport, and he says this diversity program at Joe Gibbs Racing is his ticket to the big time.