NASCAR’s Reckoning On Race And Culture

By Khalilah Brown-Dean,

James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, Catie Talarski

Published September 1, 2021 at 1:26 PM EDT

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, and team owner, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty stand for the national anthem prior to the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on June 22, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

This episode originally aired on July 7th, 2021

For the first time in league history, a non-white racer has won NASCAR’s Cup Series. Kyle Larson’s win comes only a year after the sport banned one of it’s most well known symbols. On this week's Disrupted, we replay a conversation on NASCAR’s push for diversity with racing legend Bill Lester.

GUESTS:

Daniel McFadin, Lead Reporter and Editor for Frontstretch, and host of the podcast “Dropping the Hammer”; Read McFadin’s five part series about NASCAR in the wake of the George Floyd murder
Bill Lester, semi-retired professional NASCAR driver and author of the memoir ‘Winning in Reverse’

Disrupted is produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski. Our interns are Kelly Langevin and Maisy Carvalho.