Not an Image NASCAR Wants You to See
The ugliest side of NASCAR’s past, one that included the difficulties experienced by Wendell Scott, have mostly been just that, a thing of the past.
Or so I thought.
Then along come the story of young Jon Denning.
Denning competed in the Whelen All-American Series in 2007 and various Late Model series’.
Denning was born and raised in Springfield N.J, and raised in the Jewish faith. Earlier this month Denning visited Israel where he granted an interview (free reg req’d) with some rather disturbing quotes if the charges are true and at this point I have no reason to doubt them.
In order to further his racing career he moved from the northeast to Virginia and experienced what he describes as a “culture shock.”
Speaking of his new Virginian home and the mostly Southern Baptists that live in the area he claims to have had “people, even those I was working with and tightly associated with, kept trying to force Jesus on me.”
Some would tell him “Your luck would be better if you came to Jesus,” and associates suggested blown-out engines, flat tires and other failures would disappear once he converted.
At this point in the story nothing really stood out for me. There are religions that either have members or in a couple of cases the institution itself can be shall we say… pushy in their beliefs and there desire for others to join in the same beliefs.
That changed.
Denning expressed the opinion that NASCAR has no interest in allowing someone of the Jewish faith into it’s circle (no pun intended), “Frankly, I don’t think [NASCAR] cares for one,” he said.
Denning makes a very explosive charge that at some level the organization is practicing anti-semitism.
Denning also claims to have applied for NASCAR’s Diversity Program and has been turned down three times allegedly being told “in official letters that the minorities program applied only to women, Hispanics and blacks.”
Whether that’s true or not is hard to say without the letters being made public, something given the gravity of the charge should happen.
For the record Andrew Giangola, director of business communications, who also is involved in communications for the Diversity Program, says NASCAR is “fully committed” to diversifying.
“NASCAR is a mainstream American sport, and we want to look more like all of America,” he said. “Diversity is our top corporate priority.”
That’s a very generic statement and pretty typical of “corporate speak” one hears at many levels in many businesses. There is no indication in the article that Giangola is looking into the charges made, charges that include people cursing “Jews and put[ing] down minorities,” in the Modified Series.
(NOTE: The programs website seems to verify Giangola’s quote and plainly states the program, “seeks to develop minority and female drivers and crew members. The program supports drivers in the NASCAR Grand National Division and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.”)
Denning said without a sponsorship he’s “uncertain about his future” and has “begun an internship on the New York Mercantile Exchange.” That may be true but it’s also apparent he’s signed to drive for Xtreme Motorsports with plans to run the 2008 Nationwide Series although no sponsorship is listed on site nor is one listed on his personal site.
Anti-semitism along with many racial issues are the hottest of hot buttons to deal with and these allegations should be looked into at the highest level of NASCAR. If history is any indication the powers that be will be slow to react and that’s a far from ideal in this situation.
They need to act now, if PCNA doubts the importance of it I’d suggest he do his “google thing” by punching in “Jon Denning Jewish” and see how many references it calls up both in the local Jewish press and foreign.
As a side note, this story says “Denning is the first Jewish Nascar driver in 20 years, according to the organization
Sounds like his problem is with the diversity program. Which is ironic and funny but then I dont support any program that discriminates on the basis of skin color or gender. It sure gets tricky trying to figure out who is the biggest victim when divvying up the spoils instead of just competing honestly.
A.J. I should have caught that mistake considering I posted a note about the East Series sponsorship moving to Camping World.
That ref has been deleted, thanks. Also if you check his website he claims to have run in the “NASCAR Whelen Weekly Series 2007,” and it’s ref’d on other stories online.
Regardless, I thought of the “scam angle” of trying to wedge his way into the Diversity Program and still keep that thought as a possibility.
For that reason alone NASCAR should do whatever they can to verify the charges. That should be fairly easy if the alleged notes from NASCAR stating “that the minorities program applied only to women, Hispanics and blacks.
Denning is tilting with windmills. Part of the “diversity” fiction is that Jews are not a “minority,” though they number only 2% of the country — far less than either blacks or Hispanics. But then, white men from Spain are not considered Hispanic by the Diversity Czars, either.
Even Jews from South and Central America are excluded from diversity programs. Not what we mean by Hispanic.
But hell, if there is only one Jew in NASCAR, wouldn’t one more increase their diversity? Is there some reason their high-sounding goals apply only to blacks, women and dark-skinned non-Jewish Hispanics?
George B - I don’t buy the “Jewish thing” either, however the concern I have are the bigoted taunts or other racial remarks that may have been made.
That part of the story should be looked into, if they are false it would also lay to waste his efforts at crying his way into the Diversity Program.