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Up to this point, no one has mentioned the individual who wrestled the most with NASCAR's racial issues -- the late Wendell Scott.
Those of us who go back a long ways can remember Chris Economaki's occasional "cameos" when Scott and his sons were depicted --- usually struggling in the pits, on the ealy TV coverage of NASCAR
Or the apocryphal story of ol' No 34's best-known Grand National win -- at whch NASCAR temporarily diaqualified him, placed him second and awarded the trophy (and perhaps more to the point, a smooch from a white beauty queen ) to Buck Baker.
(And in fairness, NASCAR quickly acknowledged the faux pas. and restored everything (except the smooch, of course) to Scott the following day.)
The point I want to make here is that NASCAR has had to tread more carefully in avoiding issues related to "the shade of difference" than any other major sport-sanctioning body. And done a pretty credible job, IMHO.
And to Mr. Scott and his heirs .... a sincere thanks. You got more respect than was immediately apparent.
There's also Bill Lester, who had moderate success in the truck series in the early to mid 2000's. Last I knew he was racing Grand Am cars. I was fortunate enough to meet his parents standing at the concession stand at the Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield, CA during the 2003 season. They seemed like great people and I became a fan of his that day.
Some sports are just not going to intergrate much more than they are now. It is what it is. Let's face it, making up only 13% of the population allows you to only integrate so many sports. And black people are not interested in all sports... so of course they cant all be integrated. And Nascar is one of them that will not be integrated much further.
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) to Buck Baker.
