As the newest media deal starting in 2025 suggests, NASCAR is way ahead of NHRA when it comes to viewership and popularity. But in a recent EPARTRADE video, Stewart-Haas Racing boss Tony Stewart revealed that NHRA is better off than NASCAR as far as diversity and inclusiveness are concerned.
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NASCAR has predominantly been a sport for men. Only a handful of women have taken to the arena of stock car racing to this day. For Tony Stewart, that is perhaps the one thing that keeps NHRA ahead of NASCAR.
The 3X Cup Series champion said, “I think it’s refreshing. I remember in 2020 when we finally got to go to the US national and Leah (Pruett) goes, hey let’s go up to the line. I’m like, what are we doing? She’s like we’re gonna go watch the juniors run.”
Stewart was amazed to see how many females were there amongst the kids, getting ready to race it out fair and square. According to Smoke, the one thing that is very underplayed in the sport of NASCAR is the amount of diversity. “I don’t think people have played on it enough or grasped it enough as much as (NHRA),” he added.
NASCAR is working hard to create diversity in the sport. As of today, it has Bubba Wallace representing the African-American community, and it has just Hailie Deegan representing women in NASCAR’s top-tier racing series.
“You look at how hard they are working to try to get it and literally you got to an NHRA race, you don’t have to try at all, it is right there in front of you,” he stated.
NASCAR’s number one initiative to develop diversity in its programs
Although there have been several strides over the years to include female talents in the sport, it is a fact that there are no female speedsters in the Cup Series today. One might ask, why? ARCA Menards Series driver Tony Breidinger opened up about it.
“It’s great that men and women can compete in NASCAR. But I think that inequality is still there and it kind of stems off of the fact that we are lacking on funding,” she said. However, NASCAR is working day in and day out to make the sport more inclusive.
NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program caters to this purpose. Its alumni include Cup drivers like Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez. NASCAR never had a female pit crew member until 2012, when Christmas Abbott became one. In 2017, Brehanna Daniels, also an alumnus of the Drive for Diversity program, became the first black female tire changer in the history of NASCAR.
