11048: Tia Norfleet Talking Fast…?

From Sporting News…

Racer Tia Norfleet accused of lying about NASCAR career

Nearly two years ago, Tia Norfleet told Sporting News that she was working toward becoming the first female African-American driver in NASCAR and hoping to pave the way for other African-American drivers to enter the sport.

Since then, she’s been promoting herself as an accomplished driver working her way through the NASCAR ranks and claims that she plans to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this year.

But, according to a report in The New York Times, much of what Norfleet has been promoting is not true.

According to a March 6 story in The New York Times, Norfleet is not licensed to compete in NASCAR and has drawn the ire of NASCAR officials for the way she has been promoting herself.

“I am uncomfortable with Tia representing herself in the way that she has,” Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR’s vice president for public affairs and multicultural development, told The New York Times.

In May of 2011, Norfleet, the daughter of former NASCAR driver Bobby Norfleet, told Sporting News that she planned to make her NASCAR debut later that year and hoped pave the way for other African-American women to race.

“That’s one of the things I want to change,” Norfleet said in an interview with SN’s David Steele. “We want to bring a different light to NASCAR. You ask the average person, black, what NASCAR is, and they say, ‘You drive around in a circle, and that’s it—so what?’

“Well,” she continued, “they don’t see anyone there they recognize, or that they can identify with.”

Norfleet has made similar comments and told a similar story in several media interviews over the past two years, including with such media outlets as ESPNw, The Washington Post, Huffington Post and Essence Magazine.

Now one website is calling her story a hoax and comparing her to Manti Te’o.

According to The New York Times, much of Norfleet’s story does not ring true.

According to The Times, a press release distributed by Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, which represents her, claims that Norfleet is “the first and only African-American female driver in NASCAR and ARCA.”

Norfleet’s website, TiaNorfleet34.com, also says that she planned to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this year.

But according to The Times, Norfleet is not licensed to compete in NASCAR nor ARCA, another stock-car racing series, and the only NASCAR-sanctioned event she has competed in was in a low-level event last year at the Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., where she completed just one lap before parking her car.

The Times also reports that Norfleet, who is from Augusta, Ga., has a criminal record in Georgia and Virginia and was found guilty in 2005 and 2009 of assault and drug-related offenses.

“Ms. Norfleet is one of thousands of individuals who have purchased licenses in the Late Model Division of our sport,” Jadotte said in an e-mail. “I am uncomfortable with attempts Ms. Norfleet and her representatives have made to forgo the sport’s development process.”

NASCAR has run a Drive for Diversity program since 2004 designed to help develop minority drivers and has selected several African-American drivers to participate in the program. African-American driver Darrell Wallace Jr. came through the program and currently is racing full time in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series.

NASCAR officials said Norfleet, whose father participated in the truck series in the early ‘90s, has been invited to apply for the program but she has never applied and therefore never received an invitation to participate in the program’s tryouts.

When asked by the Times about her career and claims about her racing background, Norfleet said, “I’ve been racing in non-sanctioned races before. I’ve been racing forever. For as long as I can remember. I race in non-sanctioned races.”

Norfleet responded to The Times report on her website by saying, “I'm not going to let a biased, smear campaign stop me. I've been dealing with this type of obstruction since I got my license back in 2010.”

10421: Tia Norfleet Driven To Win.

From ESPN…

Tia Norfleet took fast track to history

By Adena Andrews

Tia Norfleet has always been comfortable behind the wheel, even when she couldn’t see over it.

At the age of 4, Norfleet, the daughter of NASCAR pioneer Bobby Norfleet, hopped into her mother’s minivan. The keys were in the ignition, so Tia decided to go for a joy ride. She hit the gas—and the front porch.

A race car driver was born.

Tia Norfleet, the daughter of NASCAR pioneer Bobby Norfleet, races for her father’s team and debuted in NASCAR on Aug. 4 at the CMC Supply Twin 100s, finishing 23rd.

“Tia lived to drive,” her father said. “When she was about 9, if she did well in her karate class, I’d let her drive home.”

Bobby nurtured his daughter’s talents, and she took advantage. On Aug. 4, Tia, 24, became the first African-American woman to race in NASCAR. She placed 23rd out of 25 competitors at the CMC Supply Twin 100s at Motor Mile Speedway in Fairlawn, Va.

Turns out, the little girl who drove a souped-up Hot Wheels convertible hot rod until the wheels fell off is now pushing speeds of up to 200 mph in NASCAR’s late-model K&N Pro Series.

At 14, Norfleet started in go-kart racing. She graduated to drag racing, where she won 37 of 52 events. In 2004, she began driving stock cars, driving for her father’s team, Bobby Norfleet Racing.

“It’s crazy that blacks are still achieving firsts in sport,” Tia said, “but at the same time, it’s amazing to see we are evolving as a people. We can do the things we always wanted to do because our ancestors have paid the price for us to be where we are.”

In 2004, NASCAR started its Drive for Diversity program to give minority and female drivers the opportunity to compete. NASCAR wants minorities and women to have other opportunities in the motorsports industry as well. The goal is to nurture diverse talent—and broaden the sport’s audience.

NASCAR’s history has been peppered with specks of color, groundbreakers such as Wendell Scott, the first African-American NASCAR driver; Bill Lester, the first African-American driver in a Busch Series race; and Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American Formula One driver. And Bobby Norfleet.

The Norfleets acknowledge they would like NASCAR to become more diverse but say the sport has been welcoming to them.

“I’ve had so many positive people supporting me, and not just black people,” Tia said. “Of course, there are the negative people that say certain things behind a computer, but I don’t pay attention to those things. They talked about Jesus, so I know they will talk about me.”

Her father added, “Drivers and owners know me and my history with the sport, so they make an effort to make our team and Tia feel welcomed. It’s like a family.”

Breaking new ground doesn’t weigh on Tia because, having grown up with a mother who is a minister, she has learned to use her faith whenever things seem daunting.

“I take the responsibility of being a role model and do the best that I can with it,” she said. “I focus on what I have to do, and I always say, ‘Lord, let your will be done and use me in the way you see fit.’”

The toughest part of her journey has been less about color and more about money. Racing is an expensive sport. With few sponsors, the Norfleets have relied on family, friends and neighbors—in addition to selling their home—to fund Tia’s career.

“We were robbing Peter to pay Paul then turned around and took Paul’s money to pay for Tia to race,” Bobby said.

Some sponsors considered Tia, but the Norfleets recognized that not all money was good money.

“We’ve turned down lots of sponsorships because we don’t do alcohol and tobacco,” she said.

Luckily for the Norfleets, Tia’s skills have drastically improved since her wreck as a toddler. She is sponsored by Verizon and is in talks with other companies to fund her drive into history.

“I told her from the beginning that being a driver was not going to be easy, but we are opening doors for the future,” Bobby said. “Hopefully, Tia’s journey will make it easier for the person that comes behind her.”