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This week NASCAR’s at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the annual Drive for Diversity Combine. The event brings together some of motorsports best young female and minority drivers to compete for a small number of spots in NASCAR’s D4D program. This year the class includes 26 drivers from 10 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The drivers, according to NASCAR:

“will be evaluated by a select committee on multiple fronts including on-track performance, marketing and media aptitude, physical fitness and personality.”

The ultimate goal for the drivers is of course a ride, in this case for the NASCAR backed Revolution Racing, while for NASCAR it’s to attract more minority and female drivers and fans.

This season the program has been among the most successful with prospects Sergio Pena and Darrell Wallace Jr. winning a combined six Pro Series races. It’s the most NASCAR wins of any D4D class to date.

Even with the success, NASCAR is now finding the limits of the program. Pena and Wallace, both in their sophomore year of the program, are reaching the end of what they can do in the series. Both are conceivably ready for opportunities in ARCA or the Nationwide or Truck Series but with a stagnant sponsorship market and shrinking teams, finding a ride independent of NASCAR is no easy feat.

Continuing as it is under the direction of Max Siegel and John Story at Revolution Racing, the D4D program is… what it is. It’s true that it’s a great opportunity to identify and cultivate talent. But if there is nowhere for these drivers to go once they’ve grown out of the program, has it really been successful? Has it really accomplished anything?

It was a step in the right direction when NASCAR put more resources and more emphasis into the program a couple of years ago. It had, up until then, been pointless. Even now though, after eight years, the program has yet to produce a regular competitor in a national series.

Still, I think it more important than ever for the sport find ways to build diverse audiences and fields. I’m just not sure, even with the added emphasis and added resources, the current model is going to work.

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I’ve written here before about my affection for lawsuits – and so long as your not involved, who doesn’t? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t enjoy the prolonged nature of them, or all the ill-will they no doubt create – and as I said, I don’t want to be involved. But the information that they generally dispense is wonderful!

Want to know how much a mid-level Cup crew chief makes? There’s a lawsuit for that. Want to know how little money the sport’s back markers will take from sponsors? There’s a lawsuit for that. Want to know the questionable stuff one of the sport’s safety manufacturers is up to? Guess what? There’s a lawsuit for that.

This season has had no shortage of those lawsuits and the interesting insights they provide.

Robby Gordon v. Extenze:

I’ll call this Extenze lawsuit number two. We’ll get to number one in just a moment. After losing his ride at Front Row Motorsports at Michigan (something we told you first), Kevin Conway and his sponsor Extenze found a new home at Robby Gordon Motorsports. Conway ran seven races for RGM, finishing no better than 30th. Thanks to lackluster performance, Gordon had to step-in to keep the car in that very valuable top-35 position in owner points. Robby says he got the greenlight from Extenze to replace Conway – they claim otherwise. Robby is now suing Extenze’s parent company for $690,000.

This one’s interesting for it’s contract specifics. $230,000 to sponsor a car for one race. That’s not much. And we saw what that gets you at RGM – a start and park ride.

Front Row Motorsports v. Extenze/Kevin Conway

This is Extenze lawsuit number one. And tack Kevin Conway onto this one. Front Row Motorsports sued Extenze parent company Biotab and Conway for $2.754 million shortly after the team booted them out the door. They allege non-payment on part of Biotab and Conway’s $5.4 million, 15 race deal.

The most surprising part of this one is that Conway was getting paid $540,000 plus 10% of any sponsorships he brought in. Oh and if you’re curious, Front Row did slightly better than RGM, pulling in $360,000 per race for those first 15 races – still though, not much.

Scott Speed v. Red Bull Racing

We don’t know a whole lot about this one yet, but it’ll be interesting if/and when it becomes available. Speed was released by Red Bull Racing shortly after the end of the season, a move that everyone has been expecting – Speed may or may not have been aware. After a seven and a half year relationship Speed said he was fired through fax – a move that did not sit well with him. It’s not exactly clear what Speed wants out of the deal – money or a ride, maybe both – but I’d assume we’ll find out soon.

Jeremy Mayfield v. NASCAR

Did anyone watch Lamb Chop as a child? They had the song that never ends, and NASCAR has the lawsuit that never ends (at least it feels that way).

Judge Graham Mullen dismissed Jeremy Mayfield’s suspension related lawsuit against NASCAR in May, but Mayfield has fought on. In an October request asking Judge Mullen to reconsider his ruling, Mayfield made claims NASCAR Chairman Brian France had a vendetta against him. He cites an incident in 2006, where France supposedly made a drunken phone call from California to the tower at the Brickyard 400 demanding Mayfield be black flagged. NASCAR says France was in Orlando at that time, and Mayfield’s team owner, Ray Evernham, says he was the one who called Mayfield in, a story corroborated by crew chief Chris Andrews.

As this lawsuit seeps into another year, I think I speak for many when I say I can’t wait for this to be over.

NASCAR v. Access Marketing & Communications

Add the Drive For Diversity program, an outside marketing agency, and apparently some bad record keeping and you’ve got yourself a good, old-fashioned dispute.

In March NASCAR filed suit against Access Marketing & Communications as it sought to determine how much it owed the company. NASCAR alleges it owes nothing, while company owner Greg Calhoun says he is owed “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The interesting thing with this one is the disclosure that NASCAR spent in the neighborhood $2 million a year administering the D4D program. That’s a lot of coin – and there hasn’t been much to show for it. Kind of makes you wonder what’s being spent on the current effort with Max Siegel.

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About this time last year I wrote a post about NASCAR’s diversity. I called it “Strive for Diversity.” You see I’m among those who think there is value in having people of different backgrounds in our sport. We’re all at our best when we judge people for who they are and not what they look like.

In fact one of my very favorite things about sport is that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from; if you’re talented and devoted you can be successful. Sure, you may not become a millionaire or famous, but you can still have success (though I’m aware NASCAR is a little different than other sports). Sport can serve as a great equalizer.

As NASCAR held it’s Drive for Diversity combine this week, an effort to find ten talented, young minority drivers, I got to thinking about my post from last year. And you know I’m still not sure the NASCAR way is the best way

Since we spoke last, the program has changed quite a bit. Instead of placing drivers with teams across the country, NASCAR announced a while back they would begin fielding teams for those participating. They hired former DEI executive Max Siegel and his 909 Group to oversee the program.

Under the banner of Revolution Racing, Siegel and partner John Story (another former DEI exec) will run the 10 teams on behalf of NASCAR. Siegel has also, along with producer Ken Mok, created a show to air on BET promoting the program.

Now that’s all well and good, but I still have a hard time believing that forcing the issue is the answer. Perhaps one of these drivers is the next big thing, but until one of them wins (a lot), no major team is going to take a second look at them. NASCAR can provide an opportunity, but they can’t create raw talent (time will tell if they have that necessary talent in the new class).

I said above that sport is a great equalizer, and while I think NASCAR does have it’s differences, talent will win out in the end (yes, even over money). The fact is if you’re not any good, no one is going to pick you up. If you’re mediocre, no one’s going to pick you up. Only the best make it to the upper echelon of the sport.

Stepping back to NASCAR’s involvement though, they had originally refused to be directly involved with the teams that fielded these drivers, instead turning that over to independent team owners, citing a conflict of interest. Apparently that opinion changed, though I think clearly the conflict still exists.

The fact is, the program has a negative stigma inside the sport. It’s a joke to many who have seen lackluster results in its five year existence. Now with NASCAR directly involved, I think when one of these drivers does shine through, they will have to deal with people arguing they’re only good because they’re in NASCAR’s equipment. I don’t know if I was in one of these driver’s shoes, if that is something I would want to deal with.

I know what you’re saying right now: “Journo you’re quick to criticize but you have no solutions.” And honestly I’ll admit I don’t.

One thing I can tell you for sure though is that we need a more diverse sport. We’ll be better off for it and we’ll likely attract an even larger fan base.  I’m skeptical D4D can work, but I just don’t have a good alternative.