NASCAR and Winston Cup drivers Terry Labonte and
Derrike Cope "acted quickly and appropriately by
indefinitely suspending, fining and firing" two white
employees involved in a racially-oriented incident toward an
African-American employee of another team last week,
according to an editorial in the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Such
"boorish behavior" could "drive away both sponsors and fans.
Certainly it could hinder NASCAR's move to broaden its fan
base. And officials know the growth of that base lies in
diversity. ... NASCAR's actions set the right tone for the
kind of organization it wants to be. It was the smart
response to a stupid incident" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/14).
In Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern wrote that while NASCAR execs
"put together a good plan of damage control for dealing with
the incident," it "will likely put even more pressure on
NASCAR and its teams to start hiring more blacks and other
minorities." Mulhern: "NASCAR could start at home, because
it has only two black officials on staff" (W-S JOURNAL,
8/14). NASCAR Dir of Communications John Griffin said about
10% of NASCAR's 220 employees are black (HARTFORD COURANT,
8/15). In Charlotte, David Poole wrote that the "longer the
sport's face stays all-white the more attention will be paid
to that fact." Poole: "The sport's progress in increasing
diversity must be pushed at every opportunity. Good
intentions are no longer enough" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/14).
GET SMART: CNBC's Garrett Glasser examined NASCAR's
efforts to broaden its fan base. Ryan, Beck's John
McAlpine: "There was a perception, particularly among the
advertising community, that [NASCAR] is for Southeastern-
based rednecks. It's not." NASCAR VP/Marketing George
Pyne: "Our fans have become better educated, a little more
affluent, younger -- our fastest growing segment of our fan
base is under 18." McAlpine, on the consolidation of
NASCAR's TV rights: "They will probably get about $300
million for TV rights, and they'll probably get another $100
million in new ancillary rights" ("Business Center," 8/13).
