The Only Race That Matters
NASCAR Is Working to Cultivate New, and Diverse, Talent. Introducing the Simmons Brothers -- Catch Them if You Can.

By Matthew Stanmyre
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, July 20, 2007

Jason Simmons gently massages the exterior of his navy blue racecar with a soft towel, leaving the sharp scent of polish to waft in the air. A few feet away, his brother, Keenan, kneels on the gravel with a lug gun and tightens the bolts on the front tires of his own white-and-orange racecar in a quick succession of pop-pop-pops.

Inside their trailer at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, an assembly line of food is set up in aluminum trays. Crew members in baseball caps and T-shirts bide their time before the race in lawn chairs, smoking cigarettes, sipping sodas and referencing old jokes.

"The cars are running good this week," Keenan says with a grin, a red baseball cap yanked backward on his head. "We're all excited to see what happens."

The scene is not that different than that at the rest of the track, other than this detail: Keenan, 20, and Jason, 19 -- as well as their crew -- are black. Only one other driver at the track, which opened in 1952, is a minority.

Outside of their pit, men in cutoff T-shirts and NASCAR hats wander about the grease-speckled infield, some with tattoos of crosses, dragons or Yosemite Sam with pistols raised. Most of the racers at ODS come from Virginia outposts such as Broad Run, Warrenton and Stephens City, but Keenan and Jason make the 3 1/2 hour drive from their neighborhood of red-brick row houses and duplexes in the Mount Airy section of northwest Philadelphia.

"Being out here at the track -- this is what we love to do," said Jason, who, like his brother, races in the Legends division. "This is where we want to be."

"It's cool to have them here," said Roger Austin Jr., a 23-year-old from Nokesville who is one of the top Legends drivers. "Racing traditionally, they say, is a Southern sport. But it's starting to change. You're starting to see more diverse fields."

Cars in the Legends divisions look like vintage automobiles, but are smaller and use a motorcycle engine. Racing in that division at a small track such as Old Dominion, Keenan and Jason are far from their long-term goals of racing on a NASCAR circuit. But they represent a demographic NASCAR is seeking to reach as it tries to broaden its audience.

According to Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR's managing director of public affairs and also its head of diversity efforts, NASCAR has sought to cultivate minority talent through its Drive for Diversity program, which provides racers financial support and an opportunity to compete in a season-long NASCAR-sanctioned series. One product of the program -- 17-year-old Marc Davis, who is from Silver Spring -- recently signed a developmental contract with Joe Gibbs Racing; he competes in the Grand National division, NASCAR's premier developmental series.

Minorities also are targeted through the NASCAR-sponsored Urban Youth Racing School. Keenan and Jason enrolled in the school in Philadelphia in 1999; a second chapter opened last year in the District.

So far, the 10-year-old program has included 1,300 participants, according to founder Anthony Martin. It aims to teach inner-city youths the intricacies of the motorsports industry, and though a marquee driver has yet to emerge from its ranks, graduates have gone on to NASCAR internships and jobs on racing teams, Martin said.

"They're making inroads, but they need to accelerate the pace," said truck series driver Bill Lester, the only black driver currently racing in any of NASCAR's top professional divisions. "We've had the Drive for Diversity program for a number of years now, and haven't really had anyone graduate into NASCAR in any significant way."

"Even the situation with me and my brother, we have people from NASCAR following us," Jason said. "I believe they're doing everything they can with the money they're [providing for] the Drive for Diversity program and the racing schools."

Students in the program learn about racecar mechanics, as well as NASCAR and its history. They also write essays, study driving techniques and race go-karts.

"What you learned in the classroom you eventually got to practice on the track," Keenan said. "If it wasn't for the school, we probably wouldn't be where we are."

Since 2000, they have strapped themselves into mini cup cars -- stock cars built on a miniature scale -- and go-karts at tracks such as South Boston Speedway in southern Virginia, Arnold's Formula "E" Karting Center in Oaks, Pa., and Wall Township Speedway in New Jersey.

The brothers rented a trailer each weekend, loaded up their car and drove to the races. Two years ago, they met the man they rented the trailer from, John Freeman, a former drag racer and mechanic who once worked for legendary race team owner Roger Penske.

Freeman and his wife, Connie, were so impressed with Keenan and Jason they decided to help them. They bought Keenan a 1934 Ford Legend for $10,000 -- so the brothers no longer had to share a car -- as well as $5,000 worth of parts and tools. The Freemans cover roughly half of the $60,000 that it costs to fund each racing season; the brothers' family pays the other half. Freeman also is Keenan's crew chief, and Freeman's cousin, Harry McCall, oversees Jason's car.

"If me and their dad don't pay for it, who's going to?" Freeman said. "When I met them, they sold me. They sold the whole deal, by their personalities, by the way they were dressed, by the conversations they had with me."

One of the biggest hurdles facing the brothers is a common one for drivers at the lower rungs of racing -- finding sponsorship to propel their careers. Their father, Leon, makes pitches to Philadelphia area businesses regularly, but to date there have been no takers.

"I'm used to uphill battles," Freeman said. "If you're good at what you do, your work will speak for itself. Eventually, someone's going to notice you, and that's your break. But in order to get your break, we have to be out here."

The brothers are showing signs they may be nearing that break. Last weekend, both Keenan and Jason turned in their fastest qualifying times at ODS, with Keenan starting his Legends race on the pole. Jason finished third -- his best showing to date -- but Keenan failed to finish after being involved in a nasty wreck on the eighth lap.

"All we can do is just keep fighting hard," Jason said. "We're definitely on a mission. We've put too much into this to stop now. All we can do is keep pushing forward, and hope for the best."