Is NASCAR guilty of DEI favoritism?

Question

Katherine Legge, whose lone national series oval start came 7 years ago in 2018, was approved by NASCAR to compete in the recent Cup race at Phoenix Raceway.

Her Cup debut went exactly like a lot of fans expected. It took her four laps to spin out, and she later spun out again, colliding with veteran driver Daniel Suarez's car, derailing a potential top five finish for him.

Two other drivers with more racing experience than Legge, both male, were not allowed to even try to qualify for the race.

Is NASCAR guilty of favoring an inexperienced female driver over experienced male drivers?

What do you think?

DJB72 · Accepted Answer

My first girlfriend's dad was a F1 mechanic. At that point a few women had competed in F1 but never for long. Not because they weren't excellent drivers, but because at the top of their physical ability they couldn't compete with the men.

Lung capacity - the 12% additional capacity a man has increases stamina in a 2 hour race

Muscle mass - higher testosterone levels mean men in peak condition have a far higher muscle ratio so when they race for 2 hours or more pulling over 3G on corners their bodies are more able to cope

I can't name them as I don't follow the sport, but I've seen dragsters driven by women that blow the crap out of the male competition over the dragster strip. Reflexes, control, far superior to the male drivers. But not in a 2 hour race.

I don't know if NASCAR is guilty of DEI practices, but I know all Motorsport has to limit the number of cars on the track or drivers die. She may have outqualified as a result of previous race results or there could have been technical reasons why she drove and some of the men didn't. Unless they've suddenly got Bud Light as NASCAR sponsorship I don't see DEI being something any Motorsport would tolerate because one mistake can cost a lot of lives in a sport where they're already obsessed with making things safer so we don't have any more high-profile deaths the way Senna, Ratzenberger, Alboretto and dozens of others died and guys like Nikki Lauder ended up so terribly injured.

MisterWack · Accepted Answer

She allegedly has a record of: 3 championships, 6 wins, and 15 podium placements in the span of her racing career.

I don’t know a lot about NASCAR, though I will say women aren’t the main demographic or even drivers. Women don’t really make it this far, so to see Katherine Legge racing in NASCAR is pretty cool.

I say this, why didn’t we have girls playing boys’ sports back before 1950s & 1960s? Because it was pushed on society as a ‘boy’ only thing then someone in the school decided to let girls have a sports group of their own for like Tennis or Volleyball or Gymnastics or Frisbee then more followed. As a direct result, less girls saw it as a ‘boy’ only thing and took part because its fun. I’m sure Katherine Legge has a rich career of how she got into the world of NASCAR & I believe we should give more women the chance to rise to the challenge.

Just my opinion, that you should be able to be the driver of your own destiny and not let people get in the way.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Probably not. It's more about attracting demographics to the support by having more diversity. If they can get women following nascar and maybe an African American who can succeed that is potentially a lot of revenue

sage2021 · Accepted Answer

I'm curious about why the other two guys weren't allowed to race that day? Was it so that she could race?

OlderAndWiser · Answer

I don't know anything about NASCAR but whenever I hear a discussion like this, my first question is something like: Is this all of the facts or is there more to this story? I;m certainly not accusing you of withholding information but there may be more facts which are not widely known.

Shiprex · Answer

I don't know how many women do that sport but suspect there aren't many and that there are probably more than 2 men who "didn't get" to compete because of limits posed by the safety advisers of the sport. Whether she qualified for it or not I do not know but motorsport isn't a sport many women go into for reasons they themselves decide. I don't think there's any DEI issue here though

NicholasRedone · Answer

@aviatortom is it just me Tom or the NASCARS now look not anywhere near the tough carburettors of the 2000s even?

Spencer10 · Answer

Jim Clark had never raced on an oval before when he took on Indianapolis... should he have been prevented from competing? Clearly unqualified. Wonder how he did?

exitseven · Answer

I do not think it was DEI. Maybe some high level NASCAR official got some lovin?

zagor · Answer

I care about as much as I care about NASCAR, which is not at all.

SaoirseS · Answer

There's no doubt more to the story.

GAGsucksballs89170 · Answer

DEI favors white women, the most

Anonymous · Answer

Clearly yes, there is no other explanation.

Dongie · Answer

Sounds like it.

Is NASCAR guilty of DEI favoritism?

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