NASCAR statement on Rainbow/PUSH Conference

Much has been said about NASCAR's participation in Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push Conference. We appreciate your interest in NASCAR and want to address your concerns. We know all of our fans support NASCAR's leadership position in the area of diversity because it is the right thing to do and is a means to broaden the appeal of our sport and attract the best and brightest talent in America. NASCAR does not endorse political views. NASCAR endorses DIVERSITY.

While we have supported the Rainbow Coalition's work on diversity issues, we do not endorse many of Reverend Jackson's political views or any other political views. That being said, we feel the annual Rainbow Push National Conference in Chicago brings together many of America's corporate leaders to address and focus national attention on issues important to minority communities throughout America, including civil rights, leadership, education, health, home ownership and other key areas important to all Americans. Our participation in this conference helps us communicate our support of these important issues as well as NASCAR's and the motorsports industry's ongoing efforts to bring greater diversity to our sport.

We take our commitment to diversity projects very seriously and have made great strides in recent years with projects like the support of the Urban Youth Racing School, our Diversity Summer Internship Program, scholarships to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions, our partnership with the NASCAR Technical Institute and most recently, the NASCAR College Tour presented by the Coca-Cola Company.

NASCAR has taken a leadership position in promoting diversity within our organization and throughout the motorsports industry because we believe diversity is part of what makes our country great. NASCAR is truly an American sport and we want our sport to look like America. Based on this conviction, we continue to create opportunities for EVERYONE to be a part of the NASCAR community.

We would also like to stress once again NASCAR's on-going support for America's men and women in uniform, who serve the American public through the military, whenever they're in harms way.

Mike Helton

President, NASCAR, Inc.