6675: Profiling Black Drivers. In NASCAR.

From The New York Daily News…

NASCAR teams up with BET for new ‘Changing Lanes’ show

By Richard Huff, Daily News TV Editor

Black Entertainment Television, a network keyed to African-Americans, will air a show next season with NASCAR, a sport that has tried for years to improve diversity within its ranks.

“Changing Lanes,” a docu-reality series expected to launch in 2010, will spotlight drivers in NASCAR’s “Drive for Diversity” program.

“I wanted to see more opportunities created in NASCAR for people of color, especially on the competition side,” said Max Siegel, a former record executive turned stock car insider.

Siegel, who had been president of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., took the idea to Jay Abraham, who runs NASCAR Media, the sport’s production arm, and together they shopped it to networks. BET will announce the show today as part of its new programming presentation.

“We’re going immediately into creative meetings,” Siegel said. “We’ll come up with a pretty quick production schedule.”

BET has bought 10 episodes of the hour-long show.

NASCAR has a number of on-and-off-track diversity programs, including the “Drive for Diversity,” which backs female and minority drivers in feeder series for the sport’s top level. Some of those drivers will participate in the reality show, said Siegel.

“Every week, there’s a lot of competition, on-track performance, a lot of back story, and getting to know the participants,” Siegel said. “We want the audience to get to know what it takes to participate at this level.”

“Changing Lanes” is far from the first reality series to delve into the sport, however.

FX aired “NASCAR Drivers 360,” a show that followed drivers on and off the track. ABC tried a celebrity series pairing stars with drivers in a race competition. And TLC aired “NASCAR Wives.”

None, however, has focused exclusively on drivers who are women or of color.

“We want to tell a true story that is racing authentic,” he said.

Few of these sports-related reality shows have become mainstream hits, however.

“For people who don’t know racing,” Siegel said, “it has drama built into it. There’s a lot of speed. There’s a lot of complexity in racing. Those are the key touch points to make an entertainment product successful.”

Does that mean villains and heroes? Well, not exactly.

“I don’t know that you necessarily need any villains,” he said. “What people need are good story lines. Look at [”Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”]. We want to do things that, obviously, cast NASCAR in the exciting and fun light that it is. We won’t script it in a way where we’re creating villains and rivalries.”

Siegel said NASCAR officials have gone a long way in diversifying the sport, noting that there’s been an impact off the track, but he acknowledged that until there’s a top female driver or one of color, NASCAR will continue to be criticized.

“I do think fans will catch on when we do have a star that people can connect with,” Siegel said, hoping to have a hand in that with “Changing Lanes.” “It will have an impact.”