The NASCAR College Tour visited Johnson C. Smith University last week, and a group of about 50 students gathered at Biddle Hall to hear from African Americans the stock car racing company hopes represent a significant part of its future. There was Marc Davis, a 19-year-old driver and team owner in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series. There was Arionne Allen, a 23-year-old who went through NASCAR’s Diversity Internship Program. There was Mike Phillips, a senior manager for track services, who helps run emergency crews at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. For the past nine years, NASCAR has sent a team of officials every year to historically black colleges and universities. The goal is to recruit minorities into a sport that hasn’t always welcomed them. JCSU was the last of five stops on this year’s tour; the others were at Clark Atlanta and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Virginia State University in Petersburg, and Delaware State University in Dover. The college tour dovetails with NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, a 5-year-old initiative that tries to develop minority and female drivers and pit crew members.(Charlotte Observer)(10-20-2009)
