NASCAR Driver Development Program
The NASCAR Driver Development Program program is a development system instituted by the American auto racing league NASCAR. The program's purpose is to attract minority and female individuals to the sport, primarily as drivers, but also including ownership, sponsorship, and crew member roles, and to attract a more diverse audience to the sport. Before an applicant is accepted into the program, their resumes are checked by NASCAR officials. The system is similar to a driver development program where applicants progress through minor-league and regional racing levels to prepare them for a possible shot at one of NASCAR's three national series. The program was started during the 2004 season by NASCAR marketing executives in order to attract female and minority fans and drivers to the historically white and male-dominated sport. The year before, Joe Gibbs Racing, along with former athletes Reggie White and Magic Johnson, had started a similar program.
NASCAR changed the name of the program to the "Driver Development Program" in 2025.
History and structure
Context
Several factors have been attributed to the absence of minorities in stock car racing. One is the costs of auto racing and dependency on sponsorship dollars, with many minority individuals and families lacking the capital to enter the inherently expensive racing world. Others believe that minority youths are more drawn to conventional "stick-and-ball" sports such as basketball. A key factor is the overt racism in the country that had plagued other sports as well, but was particularly strong in American stock car racing due to its roots in the South. This included the presence of Confederate flags in the infields of many tracks at both the regional and national levels. For these reasons, NASCAR has been slower to racially integrate than other major sports in the country. In spite of the lack of minorities and women in the sport, some claim that on paper NASCAR provides a more-balanced playing field than other sports.The first and most notable African American driver in the sport is Wendell Scott, a former bootlegger who broke the color barrier in the 1950s and raced competitively in inferior equipment and with sub-par support, while contending with discrimination and threats from fans and other drivers. Scott's only win at the Cup Series level came at Jacksonville Speedway Park in 1963. The win and the trophy was initially given to Buck Baker, and Scott did not receive official recognition until a month later, when he was given a small wooden trophy with no nameplate. Only seven black drivers have ever competed at NASCAR's top level, most notably Scott, Bubba Wallace, and Willy T. Ribbs.
In 2019, Driver Lacy Kuehl, age 12, was the youngest ever signed youth development driver. NASCAR gave Kuehl the Young racer award at NASCAR's Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Kuehl raced in the 2019 Summer Bojangels Shootout and 5 other races, including Atlanta Speedway.
Female drivers have been equally scarce within auto racing. Although there was a time when women were banned from entering the pit area during races, there has been no official legislation preventing women from participating during most of NASCAR's history. Sara Christian drove in the inaugural Cup Series race at Charlotte Speedway in 1949, and is the only woman in Cup Series history to score a top five finish. The most notable woman in the sport was Janet Guthrie, the first woman to compete in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. Guthrie scored five top tens over 33 career starts in NASCAR's top three series. Another notable driver was Louise Smith, known as "the first lady of racing". Smith made 11 starts in what is now the Cup Series, and was used to promote the sport in the 1940s by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. A total of 15 women have made starts in the Cup Series.
Origins
In 1999, manufacturer Dodge began a diversity program, selecting Mexican driver Carlos Contreras to drive a Dodge Ram for Petty Enterprises in the Craftsman Truck Series. In December 2000, Dodge announced that veteran African American driver Willy T. Ribbs would drive in the Truck Series for the full 2001 season in a factory-backed effort for Bobby Hamilton Racing. Ribbs, who had made starts in the Cup Series, Indy Car and Champ Car, was part of the continued diversity effort by Dodge, selected from a test program that included Bill Lester and Tim Woods. Ribbs ran 23 out of 24 races in the 8 Dodge Motorsports Ram truck, finishing 16th in points but with no top 10 finishes. Lester ran 5 races in BHR's 4 truck with a best finish of 18th, then replaced Ribbs in the 8 truck for the 2002 and 2003 seasons, scoring a pole at Charlotte in 2003 and finishing 17th and 14th in points in the two seasons respectively. He would leave BHR after 2003 due to lack of sponsorship. Female driver Deborah Renshaw moved into BHR's 8 truck in 2005, finishing 24th in points. Erin Crocker also ran two races for BHR in 2005, before moving on to Evernham Motorsports in 2006 and 2007.In 2003, Joe Gibbs Racing partnered with former NFL player Reggie White to start a team that would assist minority drivers in rising up the ranks of the Motorsports world. In 2004, the team came into form with assistance of Gibbs' Cup and Busch Series sponsors Home Depot, MBNA, and Rockwell Automation. The original two drivers were Aric Almirola and Chris Bristol, who drove cars numbered 20 and 18 respectively at two different short tracks in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. Almirola and Bristol returned in 2005, with both drivers running number 92 to honor the late Reggie White.
NASCAR involvement
The NASCAR-based program was conceived in the 1990s, officially implemented in 2004 by NASCAR chairman Brian France, and based largely off input from White and NBA star Brad Daugherty. D4D was one of several programs instigated to increase viewership and audience diversity as well as provide income for the sport, along with the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup and series in Canada and Mexico. NASCAR hired Access Marketing & Communications, a company started with money from NASCAR given to the Rainbow/PUSH initiative of Rev. Jesse Jackson, to find drivers, conduct a testing combine, and set the drivers up with owners who would receive stipends to fund competitive rides at short tracks in the Dodge Weekly Racing Series. The first Drive for Diversity combine, featuring 12 drivers and 28 pit crew members, was held in January 2004 at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina, with five drivers and six crew members selected. After two seasons, several reports surfaced of teams not receiving adequate funds, while other teams owners did not supplement the NASCAR investment with additional funds, leading to limited results on the track. Another shortcoming of the early D4D classes was the age of the participants, as many of the drivers were over the age of 30 and past their prime. Due to the lackluster performance, NASCAR cut ties with Access Marketing after 2008 and proceeded to hire Max Siegel to revamp the program.In its current state, the program accepts around 6–10 drivers. 20 or so prospective drivers between the ages of 14 and 26 are invited to a testing combine, in which NASCAR evaluates each driver's résumé, on-track lap-times, driving knowledge, physical fitness, communications skills, and media aptitude. Siegel meanwhile started the Rev Racing team in 2009 to train the selected drivers in an academy-like setting, with drivers being fielded in the Weekly Series or the touring K&N Pro Series East and West. In addition to investing $3 million in the program, Siegel himself is also responsible for finding sponsorship for the drivers. Since the inception of the current program, Rev Racing has been fielding competitive rides with funding from companies such as Toyota, Nike, Inc., and Sunoco and have had several drivers move on to the national series.
The Drive for Diversity also includes a pit crew development program to identify and develop minority and female pit crew members. Like Cup Series teams, the program seeks out former competitive athletes, then puts them through a combine which includes conventional drills and racing-specific drills. According to Siegel, the pit crew program has a 100 percent placement rate throughout NASCAR.
Controversies
In November 2023, America First Legal, an organization founded and led by Stephen Miller, a former Senior Advisor to President Donald Trump, filed a petition to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate NASCAR and Rev Racing for the program leading to "illegal discrimination against white, male Americans." in violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Impact on NASCAR
The overall impact of the D4D program and NASCAR's diversification efforts have been minimal, as the drivers from the program are often starved of opportunities and sponsorship dollars once they graduate from the program. ESPN analyst, team owner, and former NBA all-star Brad Daugherty acknowledges some progress, claiming the sport is "more inviting than it was ." But he also believes "owners are a little scared...Corporate America just isn't ready to take a lot of chances with their dollars on a non-known entity." Several drivers had left the program early in its history, citing issues with the equipment and resources provided to them. Some state that the absence of funding is systematic across the sport, with many young drivers' careers being stalled out before they make it to a higher level or a more competitive ride.Into the 2010s, the diversity program's impact appears to be increasing, with one of the biggest problems being the continued perception of NASCAR as an all-white and non-inclusive institution. Max Siegel stated that "the biggest barrier in diversifying audience is the perception," with D4D driver Dylan Smith noting that "people associate NASCAR so much with racism." NASCAR spokesperson Marcus Jadotte believes that the NASCAR fan base will broaden as more minorities and women move up through the sport's ranks.
Some drivers, such as former Hendrick Motorsports and Rusty Wallace Racing development driver Chase Austin, have refused to join the D4D due to the possible stigma of affirmative action.
Any impact still pales in comparison to other auto racing series, with the mixed Lewis Hamilton winning seven Formula One world championships since 2008, Antron Brown winning the 2012 NHRA Top Fuel championship, sisters Ashley, Courtney and Brittany Force running competitively in the NHRA's Funny Car and Top Fuel divisions, and several female drivers competing simultaneously at IndyCar's top level.