Harraka gives NASCAR's diversity program a boost

USA Today

By John Kekis, AP Sports Writer
MONTREAL — NASCAR's Drive for Diversity reaches another milestone Sunday when Paulie Harraka makes his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"I'm excited. I've definitely been looking forward to this opportunity," said the 20-year-old Harraka, who is of Syrian descent. "It's a good opportunity to learn a lot."

The program, dubbed D4D, seeks to develop minority and female drivers and crew members. Drivers take part in an evaluation combine in the fall for the opportunity to compete with an established NASCAR team at the developmental levels the following race season.

Harraka, who will be a junior engineering student at Duke University this fall, is the first D4D driver to win a race in a NASCAR regional touring division. He won twice and was 2009 rookie of the year in the NASCAR Camping World West Series.

The first test at NASCAR's second level proved somewhat difficult for the driver from Wayne, N.J. He was 36th-fastest in Saturday's first practice in 17 laps around the tricky 14-turn layout in the No. 87 Chevrolet for owner Joe Nemechek. That was nearly 4 seconds behind pace-setters Jacques Villeneuve and defending race winner Carl Edwards, and Harraka followed that with a 37th in only four laps in the final session, more than 5 seconds behind leader Max Papis.

"It's not intimidating, but it's a little frustrating because we don't have the car where I need it," Harraka said "The guys are working really hard just to try and figure out what we need to do. We've made a lot of changes. Hopefully, they're the right ones."

The crew hit on something. Harraka was second-fastest of six cars in his qualifying group and will start 31st.

Harraka and the D4D program will be featured in a documentary series called "Changing Lanes" that's scheduled to debut next week on BET Network. The eight-episode season follows a group of hopefuls vying for a spot on Max Siegel's NASCAR Revolution Racing team.

The diversity program is in its sixth season.

Pedal to the Metal: BET Speeds Up its Fall Lineup With the Groundbreaking New Series 'Changing Lanes,' Premiering Wednesday, September 1 at 8:00 P.M.*

Start your engines as BET Networks, in partnership with the NASCAR, gears up for the premiere of its new docu-reality competition series, CHANGING LANES, on Wednesday, September 1 at 8:00 p.m.*

"We are thrilled to kick off our fall lineup with this fresh, new docu-series and provide our viewers a window into the often overlooked world of aspiring minority and female NASCAR drivers," said Loretha Jones, President of Original Programming for BET Networks.

Narrated by award-winning rapper and actor Ludacris, CHANGING LANES chronicles the search for the next generation of minority and female racecar drivers in America's most-watched form of motorsports. The eight episode season follows a group of hopefuls vying for a spot on Max Siegel's NASCAR Revolution Racing team.

"This has been an historic year on-track from Revolution Racing and NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. CHANGING LANES positions viewers to experience the road which led to this landmark success," noted Max Siegel, CEO of Revolution Racing and Creator/Executive Producer of CHANGING LANES. "We knew when creating this show that there was nothing like it on television because NASCAR is a unique and specialized world."

The contestants are part of NASCAR's leading driver development program, Drive for Diversity, which provides opportunities for minority and female drivers to compete in one of NASCAR's highest levels of professional racing.

"The partnership between BET and NASCAR is unique and exciting and breaks new ground for both properties," said Marcus Jadotte, Managing Director of Public Affairs for NASCAR, who oversees the sanctioning body's diversity programs. "We believe the stories of these aspiring young drivers captured in the show will resonate with the NASCAR audience and BET viewers alike."

"One of NASCAR Media Group's main objectives is to expose the wonderful sport of NASCAR to new and diverse audiences," added Jay Abraham, COO of NASCAR Media Group. "Working on a project like CHANGING LANES with a top-notch organization like BET has been a great experience and we're excited about bringing the enthusiasm and passion of racing to the Network's loyal viewers."

While there have been other reality series to delve into motorsports, CHANGING LANES is the first show to focus exclusively on minority and female drivers. The series kicks off at NASCAR's Drive for Diversity Program Testing and Evaluation Combine, where thirty drivers experience a rigorous application process. The ten drivers selected for the team compete through several elimination style contests with four finalists winning the opportunity to qualify for the Toyota All Star Showdown in Irwindale, CA.

CHANGING LANES is executive produced by Jay Abraham, Jim Jorden, Ken Mok and Max Siegel along with BET Networks, NASCAR, NASCAR Media Group, 10 x 10 Entertainment and The 909 Group.

For more information on CHANGING LANES, please visit www.bet.com. Also, follow CHANGING LANES on twitter, http://twitter.com/changinglanesTV and http://www.twitter.com/max_siegel

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

Read more: Breaking News - Pedal to the Metal: BET Speeds Up its Fall Lineup With the Groundbreaking New Series 'Changing Lanes,' Premiering Wednesday, September 1 at 8:00 P.M.* | TheFutonCritic.com http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2010/08/18/pedal-to-the-metal-bet-speeds-up-its-fall-lineup-with-the-groundbreaking-new-series-changing-lanes-premiering-wednesday-september-1-at-800-pm/20100818bet01/#ixzz0x7Oawf6y