NFL star Ray Lewis turned away by NASCAR? Starts Champ Car team
7 Comments Published April 10th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Baltimore Ravens’ LB Ray Lewis joined Craig Shemon and James Washington to discuss his new venture into Champ Car racing. Lewis has teamed up with Gale Sayers to create the S&L Racing Team which is focused on creating opportunities for minorities and women. Craig wanted to know why Ray did not buy a NASCAR racing team…
Craig Shemon: “You said you got turned down. Now NASCAR claims to have this really open door policy trying to get more minorities involved in their sport. What did you mean by that?”
Ray Lewis: Well, whatever policy they have, we hit a lot of walls. Because it takes huge sponsorships, it takes huge commitment, from so many different people in the NASCAR world who actually put so much into the NASCAR world. And I tell you, me and Gale and [my partner] time and time and time again we had people confirm that they were gonna help us, and then at the last minute, they back out. And I’m telling you it’s just really rough. So whatever program they have in place, it might be in place, but it definitely did not help us through the process that we were trying to go through.
that “program” is called money.
interesting choice… champ car?
tough to say, maybe involvement in a MURDER might be even too much for NASCAR
So sad. what are we even talkin about. NASCAR has sold out enough already. Keep the diversity out. They can have all they want in champ car and the like. Need we forget the sport was started by a bunch of late night white boy racers runn from the cops…Tradition doesnt run deep enough in this sport. just a bunch of babies, just like the nba or nfl. good riddance.
well,i may not be white,and i dont aprove of racism,but nascar was
much better back in the day,before it started to try to be “cool”
now i dont want no problems at a nascar race,but it was better
before it went mainstream
Why Champ Car? Why don’t they just start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series or one of the NASCAR Regional Series instead and work their way up as they gain notoriety and sponsors that will stick with them. Going to Champ Car is a mistake…it’s going to fold in a few years, or come crawling back to Indycar, no offense to the drivers in the series…they’re all great (though I hate Sébastien Bourdais). I still watch it occationally, but only because of drivers like Paul Tracy, Will Power, and Graham Rahal. The reason these high profile owners have trouble most of the time is because they set their standards too high, just start at the bottom and work up like everyone else, it’s alot easier and alot more respectable.
Champ Car is cheap to get into this year, and wide open with all the rookies!