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BREAKTHROUGH: Truck driver Davis is first black to race this season in one of NASCAR's top three series
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Published: September 7, 2008
RICHMOND, Va. -- NASCAR's search for its version of Lewis Hamilton continues to be wide open, its Tiger Wood, its Michael Jordan, its Danica Patrick, its Ashley Force. And this weekend it's Marc Davis' moment in the spotlight, the man at the plate hoping to hit a long ball.
This vast, wide-ranging NASCAR marketing machine is -- if you can find time to just stand still for a moment and watch it work -- is like some marvelous perpetual-motion machine; or maybe a roulette wheel with so many of those little ivory balls that something is always hitting.
NASCAR isn't just Sunday afternoon racing in circles. It's a spider web of businesses and opportunities, with, yes, a high profile for three, four or five hours on the track each week, but with much, much more.
NASCAR execs are always making something happen, or trying to make something happen. Maybe something good, maybe something so-so, maybe something "Ugh," such as the winged car.
But there is always something going on, and sometimes even bizarre -- such as Marc Davis this weekend.
"This is a big day for me; I have been preparing for it all my life -- a chance to race in NASCAR on a national level," said Davis, 18, who happens to be black.
Not here in Richmond, though, but out there in St. Louis.
Davis qualified 12th and finished 16th, on the lead lap:
"It's definitely a big accomplishment, and a relief," he said. "We had never really been in the Trucks before, never been to Gateway before. Gateway was a really tough track. And the Trucks were a whole lot different."
And, on a different level, up in Philadelphia, depending on the weather, the NASCAR-backed Urban Youth Racing School is to hold its annual Kart Grand Prix in the center city this weekend, with some two dozen inner-city youths, ages 13 to 19. The school, 10 years running now, is an intriguing inner-city project.
To keep up with things in this sport, you better not be wearing soggy old running shoes.
NASACAR rarely sits idle, except for a few weeks around Christmas, between the early December banquet in New York and early January Daytona 500 testing.
So while yesterday here was a rare day off, with Tropical Storm Hanna swirling through Richmond International Raceway and stock-car teams briefly idled, it was likely the calm before the storm, because today's Rock & Roll 400 could be one of the wildest races of the season.
This track is fast and exciting, which is why NASCAR execs have been trying to build copies in New York and Seattle, created 20 years ago by legendary promoter Paul Sawyer. And all but one of the playoff spots have been filled, so those 11 guys can play it fast and loose, and the three going for that last spot -- Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne -- can't afford to play it conservatively.
But while NASCAR men here spent yesterday bowling in the rain and waiting for the fireworks to begin, out in St. Louis NASCAR marketers were busy promoting Davis' Truck tour debut in yesterday afternoon's Truck tour race at Gateway -- Davis, who could be NASCAR's next Joey Logano.
Davis, who two years ago became the second black racer to win at venerable Hickory Speedway, in the Late Model stage of his slow climb up the NASCAR ladder, is, like Logano, in the Toyota camp, part of Joe and J. D. Gibbs' long-running diversity program, kicked off several years ago by the late Reggie White. On the quarterpanel of his Truck this weekend: Howard University's WHUR 96.3 Radio. NASCAR marketing at its finest.
Here's the kicker: Toyota's Davis this weekend is running a factory-backed Chevy Silverado for a team now owned by Randy Moss, the New England Patriots' wide receiver whose new NASCAR operation is a GM-backed venture. (So those doom-and-gloomers wondering what struggling Detroit may think about its massive investment in NASCAR racing can put this in their pipes and smoke it.)
Considering the constant bickering between Toyota and General Motors racing men this season over engines, and not at a very low decibel level either, it is rather remarkable that the rivals have managed to pull together to get Davis in this historic start -- he'll be the first black racer this season to run in one of NASCAR's three national touring series.
Davis' next step is still unsettled, though he could well be back in Moss' Truck this week at Loudon, N.H., a no-brainer considering that track is less than 90 minutes from the Patriots' Gillette Stadium (although Moss will be playing in New Jersey next Sunday).
Davis has been in the Gibbs' diversity farm system for several years now, and there have been not-so-kind comparisons between Logano's faster track and Davis.' Now Davis gets a chance to show that he should be on a faster track.
Perhaps NASCAR's best boot-strapper has been Aric Almirola, whose father was born in Cuba and fled Fidel Castro, has made it to NASCAR's Cup series, as one of its promising diversity stars, with Chevrolet's Dale Earnhardt Inc. Almirola also comes out of the Gibbs' diversity program. Where Almirola winds up next season is still unclear, but DEI wants him running Cup full-time, if there's sponsorship. This season Almirola has been sharing a ride with Mark Martin (who starts 17th in the 400).
Davis wants to follow suit.
So, despite their seeming intransigence on any changes for the disliked winged car, NASCAR execs certainly aren't sitting idle just watching things swirl around them.
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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