The article
New Executive
Brings Diversity
To Nascar Team
By ADAM THOMPSON
December 14, 2006
The issue of diversity has haunted Nascar for years. The popular stock-car racing association has long hoped that increased minority participation would equal more paying customers from the minority communities that often eye it warily.
For all the success of the circuit, the occasional Confederate flag still pops up among the hundreds of thousands in crowds at U.S. auto-racing tracks, just as the occasional African-American driver tries to penetrate the upper reaches of the sport -- so far unsuccessfully. And as other sports have discovered, having athletes who are minority-group members can be less important to effecting real change than making inroads into the ranks of management.
So today, Nascar might be taking a big step in changing its image by announcing that Max Siegel, a black gospel-music executive, will become the No. 2 executive at Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company named after the iconic driver who was its founder.
[Nascar executive]
Max Siegel, the new No. 2 executive at Dale Earnhardt Inc., will become Nascar's highest-profile black executive.
The highest-ranking black official connected to a Nascar team, Mr. Siegel will have the direct decision-making power, contacts and checkbook to help change that equation.
Marcus Jadotte, a Nascar spokesman who is black, says of Mr. Siegel's hiring: "As an African-American executive, I think it speaks to the openness of the Nascar industry and really is a positive signal for us."
Teresa Earnhardt, Mr. Earnhardt's widow and the company's chief executive officer, says she wasn't trying to promote diversity when she sought Mr. Siegel out to oversee DEI's marketing, promotion, sales and sponsorship. She runs a business whose properties include a racing team headlined by her stepson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., an auto dealership and Champion Air, a charter flight company that flies the team to races. Mr. Siegel also will oversee the family's charitable foundation.
Though the elder Mr. Earnhardt died in a 2001 crash, his name still racks up top-10 licensed-goods sales among Nascar drivers. Ms. Earnhardt sees Mr. Siegel as the man who can best maintain the racer's legacy, while using his extensive contacts to attract a larger audience and expand her company into other areas, such as real estate.
Ms. Earnhardt says she actively looked outside her industry: "Most of the other team owners are just so passionate about the need for speed and the competitive aspect of it. That's what drives them. ... I never could find someone who could take the blinders off and see outside that."
Mr. Siegel, 41 years old, was born in Indianapolis to an African-American mother and a white, Jewish father. He graduated from Notre Dame law school and later served as an agent for pro athletes Reggie White and Tony Gwynn, along with several gospel musicians. And he nearly teamed up with Eddie DeBartolo, former owner of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers, and ex-football players Mr. White and Ronnie Lott to buy a Nascar team.
Mr. White's death two years ago derailed the deal as the contracts were being readied, Mr. DeBartolo says.
Mr. Siegel comes to Nascar from Zomba Label Group, a unit of Sony BMG, where he was a vice president as well as president of the gospel division. (He can boast 10 of the top 25 albums on the latest Billboard gospel chart.)
Mr. Siegel realizes that the idea of a music executive in his position may seem counterintuitive. "Am I a casual fan compared to a fan [in the stands]? Yes," he says. "Am I passionate about this industry, this sport? I'm very passionate about it."
In deciding to come to Nascar, he says, "in the back of my mind, I'm thinking being an African-American in this sport is different. I was candid. I told the search firm beforehand that if that was an issue we had to get it on the table, because I didn't want to waste their time or mine. It never came up in any of our conversations."
Nascar has made real efforts to bring more color to its ranks. All teams are encouraged to undergo diversity training, and organizational VIPs now regularly tour historically black colleges to drum up interest and spot potential employees. Still, its minority drivers remain on the fringes of its highest echelons and sometimes hear racial taunts from fans.
In August, a former pit crewman sued Nascar for race discrimination in U.S. District Court in Manhattan; Mr. Jadotte says Nascar immediately banned the team employees involved in the incident from participating in all events, years before the suit, still pending, was filed.
Sam Belnavis, chief diversity officer for Roush Racing, a Nascar team, sees progress in the industry's diversification efforts. He says he was the only African-American when the company hired him four years ago. There are six now, albeit out of more than 250 employees, and Mr. Belnavis isn't discouraged by the continuing imbalance. "Now the effort is less taxing," he says of the push to diversify. "I don't have to keep reminding individuals of diversity opportunities."
Mr. Siegel arrives at DEI as the company approaches a crossroads. Mr. Earnhardt Jr., who ranked as the fourth-most popular active U.S. athlete by a phone poll by ESPN last year, could leave the team when his contract ends after the 2007 season. He increasingly has branched into other areas of entertainment, hosting a satellite radio show and appearing in a commercial with rapper Jay-Z.
Mother and stepson don't always see eye to eye: "Right now the ball's in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a Nascar driver or whether he wants to be a public personality," she says. Mr. Earnhardt Jr. was unavailable to comment.
The competitive field isn't getting any easier. Forbes ranked DEI a disappointing eighth among 15 Nascar teams this summer.
Tim Brown, a retired pro-football player who has known Mr. Siegel since their days at Notre Dame, has been trying to get involved in Nascar ownership for nearly two years. He says that being a black racing fan carries a stigma among African-Americans.
Eyeing the sport now, Mr. Brown says, "I'm certain that when [Nascar] officials look at it and see what they've done, they'd have to admit that they can do more."
what a load of crapola, "decide if the wants to be a NASCAR car driver"
