Courtesy of TheNASCARinsiders.com

This week NASCAR’s at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the annual Drive for Diversity Combine. The event brings together some of motorsports best young female and minority drivers to compete for a small number of spots in NASCAR’s D4D program. This year the class includes 26 drivers from 10 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The drivers, according to NASCAR:

“will be evaluated by a select committee on multiple fronts including on-track performance, marketing and media aptitude, physical fitness and personality.”

The ultimate goal for the drivers is of course a ride, in this case for the NASCAR backed Revolution Racing, while for NASCAR it’s to attract more minority and female drivers and fans.

This season the program has been among the most successful with prospects Sergio Pena and Darrell Wallace Jr. winning a combined six Pro Series races. It’s the most NASCAR wins of any D4D class to date.

Even with the success, NASCAR is now finding the limits of the program. Pena and Wallace, both in their sophomore year of the program, are reaching the end of what they can do in the series. Both are conceivably ready for opportunities in ARCA or the Nationwide or Truck Series but with a stagnant sponsorship market and shrinking teams, finding a ride independent of NASCAR is no easy feat.

Continuing as it is under the direction of Max Siegel and John Story at Revolution Racing, the D4D program is… what it is. It’s true that it’s a great opportunity to identify and cultivate talent. But if there is nowhere for these drivers to go once they’ve grown out of the program, has it really been successful? Has it really accomplished anything?

It was a step in the right direction when NASCAR put more resources and more emphasis into the program a couple of years ago. It had, up until then, been pointless. Even now though, after eight years, the program has yet to produce a regular competitor in a national series.

Still, I think it more important than ever for the sport find ways to build diverse audiences and fields. I’m just not sure, even with the added emphasis and added resources, the current model is going to work.