December 27, 2008
By Brenda Benedict
It is Christmas morning and I’m sitting here in front of the Christmas tree. There are stacks of gifts under the tree waiting to be opened. The house is very quiet and I love these few precious moments of calm before the family arrives and the fun begins.
In a similar way, the NASCAR world is sitting in the calm right now just waiting for the fun to begin. What gifts did NASCAR receive this year?
The end of the much-publicized discrimination suit has to be a gift that makes NASCAR happy.
Marcia Grant, a 32 former NASCAR technical inspector, had sued NASCAR last June for $225 million alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
The suit was settled in mediation in early December-just in time for Christmas.
Although the terms of the settlement are not being made public, just to have the suit out of the news has to make NASCAR very happy. This is one story that NASCAR would like to keep under ‘wraps’ and hope it quietly goes away.
"We're glad to have the case settled on mutually acceptable terms," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "NASCAR remains dedicated to maintaining a professional work environment for all employees at all times, and we wish Ms. Grant well in her future endeavors."
David Poole expressed these thoughts about the settlement that I agree with wholeheartedly, “Let’s hope this lawsuit leads to a commitment from NASCAR to ensure that its officials treat each other with more respect and more dignity than what was apparently happening between January 2005 and October 2007 when Grant worked there.”
NASCAR received a gift with another bit of good news that concerned Dodge’s support of NASCAR for the next race season.
At first the news was great was it was later tempered a bit. But the bottom line is that Dodge Motorsports will continue to support NASCAR in some form.
At first it was reported in on-line sources that although Dodge was not going to change their involvement in NASCAR even though they were experiencing a huge downturn in their business causing the company to close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month around the holidays because of sagging sales. It seemed too good to be true and it was.
A later update brought the bad news that Dodge is going to reduce their 2009 NASCAR budget by more than 30%. The explanation from Dodge Motorsports was that the reduction is due in part to the “team-merger between Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, which removes Ganassi's former three-team Sprint Cup operation from the Dodge fold. But Dodge will also cut back on at-track car displays, track sponsorships and promotions. It will, though, continue to support Penske Racing, Gillet Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises as planned”
A Dodge spokesman said, "We'll definitely be on the track in 2009,"
That is good news for NASCAR, not great news.
The automakers are going through unprecedented hard times. We wonder how they can justify the large lay-out of cash for NASCAR support and yet, Dodge says that NASCAR has helped move products.
NASCAR did not need another story of a sponsor backing away from the sport.
Another gift to NASCAR concerned a television show. I was happy to see that Dave Despain, the host of the Sunday night TV program Wind Tunnel, has been re-signed by SPEED to a two-year deal. I always look forward to this popular fan-participation show to hear interviews with drivers and those associated with the racing world. I appreciate Despain knowledge of racing and his honest approach to the latest news from NASCAR. I read on Insider Racing News that I am not alone in enjoying Wind Tunnel. “The Wind Tunnel format has proven popular in the garage area, as many of the players tune in on Sunday evenings to get their fix.”
One gift under NASCAR’s tree has to be the story of James Hylton, a 74 year legendary NASCAR competitor, will be attempting to compete in the 2009 Daytona 500. Hylton, who began his racing career in the 1960’s, attempted last year’s Daytona 500 but was taken out by clutch problems in Gatorade 150 qualifying event. He will make another try this February.
When news of his Daytona ride came out in November, Hylton stated, “Christmas has come early for me. I am thrilled to be able to fulfill the promise that I made to the fans in 2007 of returning for one more Daytona 500. My main goals are to become the oldest competitor to ever run the Daytona 500.”
To quote Humphrey Bogart, “This is the stuff that dreams are made of.”
This brings me to the last gift under NASCAR’s tree. And this is a present for all fans as well. The start of the new season is less than 50 days away. We are all looking forward to the 2009 season. I am anxious for the focus to be on positive news about exciting racing with competition that keeps me on the edge of my seat.
Happy New Year to racing fans everywhere.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
