NASCAR, Rev Racing sued for ‘discrimination’ against white males

A group called America First Legal is behind a lawsuit that aims to target NASCAR and Rev Racing for “discrimination.” The legal group is led by Stephen Miller. Miller was an advisor to former President Donald Trump. The group seeks to get the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate NASCAR and the racing team.

Rev Racing is a team that works with NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity initiative. The program over the years has sought to promote female and minority drivers. Famous alumni of the Rev Racing program are Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suárez, Paige and Natalie Decker, Ryan Vargas, and more.

America First Legal is hoping the EEOC will investigate NASCAR and Rev Racing. They want an investigation for “illegal discrimination against White, male Americans.”

This is another in a long string of lawsuits and complaints that AFL has brought forth. They have tried to oust Morgan Stanley, Major League Baseball, Starbucks, and others for having “discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” according to BloombergLaw.

The complaint targets the “diversity driver development program,” as well as “diversity pit crew development program,” and “NASCAR diversity internship program.” The claims say that these initiatives violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination based on race and sex.

Rev Racing was founded in 2010 by Max Siegel. Siegel was put in charge of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program after the 2008 season. Since then, the team has competed in the various ARCA regional and national series. Then, this season, they added a Truck Series program.

Nick Sanchez drives that truck. Sanchez also earned Rev Racing their first-ever ARCA Menards championship. Starting in 2023, the program’s Truck Series team has an alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports. However, KBM was bought out by Spire this year.

The team also has California-born driver Jack Wood on their roster in ARCA.

Ryan Vargas on NASCAR Drive for Diversity, Rev Racing

As mentioned above, Rev Racing and the Drive for Diversity program have played a big role in the careers of NASCAR stars today. In motorsports, funding is king and oftentimes it decides who races and who doesn’t.

For driver Ryan Vargas, Rev Racing and Drive for Diversity helped him establish himself in the sport. It culminated in 2018 in the ARCA Menards Series East, with Vargas running a full-time season.

Now as an Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series driver, Vargas looks back on his time with the team as vital. I reached out to Vargas for comment on the lawsuit. This is what he had to say:

“At the end of the day, Rev Racing and [Drive for Diversity] extended to me a lifeline to stay in racing. They extended my career and helped me get my first shot in NASCAR.

“The program gave me an opportunity to continue racing after my family and I could no longer continue doing so ourselves. They’ve done this for dozens of minority and female drivers and allowed many to have a shot in the sport.”