Beer Drinkin', Racin' 'n Football

[Texas Lawdog]

"From every part of the globe", the thrill of victory and the agony of the FEET!

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Had that yesterday! No victory, just the agony of the feet

[Texas Lawdog]

Let's hear it for the agony of the FEET!

[Leo Tanner]

Gotta talk ta Del bout sizin ya proper fer some boots
     
     I'd guess that skiin' feller I mentioned afore had "agony of the everything".  I recall hearin years ago that he even swallered his toungue in that little mishap


Leo

[Arcey]

Gottah tip the hat ta the Red Bull team taday. The only reason they weren't the laughin' stock of NASCAR last season was Michael Waltrip Racin' was worse.

Today 2nd 'n 12th. Good runs. Vickers just needs some luck other than bad. 'Dinger gets better with badly needed seat time. They're developin' Scott Speed in the minors for a third cup entry. A bottomless check book. It's all comin' tagether.

[Texas Lawdog]

It's going to take folks drinking alot of those little cans of energy to support 3 or 4 teams for Red Bull.

[Arcey]

That's the truth. Don't think I'd drink it onna bet but they gottah be makin' a fortune all the money they spend on motorsports. Everything from motorcycles to that flyin' circus they call air racin',  Like ta know what they spend on that F-1 thingy.

Rumors I'm hearin' is they're lookin' for 'nother shop with more room. 

[Texas Lawdog]

I'm sure that they will go ahead and expand to 4 teams on Cup. I hope the Toyo teams will share info to make all of them stronger.  KK was the class pf the field.  Mopar is behind the rest of the brands but maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Arcey]

Y'all know I own Toyotas. Has nothin' ta do with it. Ta see an organization started from scratch last year ta rise up 'n become a legit threat in their second year against the excellence of the established winners just thrills me silly. There's blood, sweat 'n tears in there. I believe in hard work 'n dedication.

Mikey is doin' 'nuff ta bleed his sponsors for all they're worth 'til he finishes his monument to him. Bill Davis has destroyed his credibility by throwin' all the Dodge development 'n technology open to Toyota. All he can do now is build trucks. Blaney deserves better.

Gibbs 'n Red Bull are deadly serious. It's startin' ta show.

[Texas Lawdog]

The Toyos can only get stronger as the season goes on. These next 10 or so races will be critical to all the teams.

[Arcey]

Initially, Lee White said they weren't interested in cup. They were goin' after the F-150 with Tundras. They found success pretty quick.

Then they decided to move to cup. The Nationwide stuff as a tag along. Affilatin' with Davis, Waltrip 'n Mateschitz, folks, includin' me, had a chuckle. Imagine those folks racin' against Hendrick, Childress, Gibbs 'n Roush. Then, Gibbs defects 'n Mateschitz ain't just there ta show the logo. Ut oh.........

I'm impressed with Red Bull. I don't think they're kiddin'. They're still gonna get slapped down for a spell. But they're gonna get back up. Every time they do they're gonna be stronger.

[Texas Lawdog]

Racin' at Michigan this weekend.  Michigan is usually a Ford track, maybe Roush can flex a little muscle.  I'm still hopin' that Matt the Brat will get goin' again and catch up with Cousin Carl and Biff.

[Arcey]

Ut ohhhhhhhhhhh....................................

Jun 10, 7:42 PM EDT

Former official sues NASCAR over harassment claims

By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer

Latest News
Former official sues NASCAR over harassment claims

As an aspiring racing official, Mauricia Grant had grown used to working in a man's world.

When she finally made it into NASCAR, Grant was appalled at the way she says she was treated beginning from her first day on the job until her firing last October.

Now she's suing NASCAR for $225 million, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

"I loved it. It was a great, exciting, adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world," Grant told The Associated Press. "But there was an ongoing daily pattern (of harassment). It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top.

"It's just the way things are in the garage."

The 32-year-old Grant, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her termination. In the lawsuit, she alleged she was referred to as "Nappy Headed Mo" and "Queen Sheba," by co-workers, was often told she worked on "colored people time," and was frightened by one official who routinely made references to the Ku Klux Klan.

In addition, Grant said she was subjected to sexual advances from male co-workers, two of whom allegedly exposed themselves to her, and graphic and lewd jokes.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, lists 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination beginning when she was hired in January 2005 through her October 2007 firing.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said the organization had not yet reviewed the suit.

"As an equal opportunity employer, NASCAR is fully committed to the spirit and letter of affirmative action law," Poston said, adding NASCAR has a zero tolerance policy for harassment.

In the lawsuit, Grant said she complained numerous times to her supervisors about how she was treated, to no avail. On one occasion, Grant said Nationwide Series director Joe Balash, her immediate supervisor, was dismissive of her complaints, explaining her co-workers were "former military guys" with a rough sense of humor. "You just have to deal with it," she says Balash told her.

On another occasion, she alleged Balash participated in the harassment.

"Does your workout include an urban obstacle course with a flat-screen TV on your back?" she claimed Balash asked her during the week of July 28, 2007 while working in Indianapolis.

Grant told the AP her two younger sisters witnessed racial discrimination against the official while visiting her at Daytona International Speedway in 2006 and encouraged her to document every incident going forward.

The lawsuit details a series of those alleged incidents:

- Grant was forced to work outside more often than the white male officials because her supervisors believed she couldn't sunburn because she was black.

- While riding in the backseat of her car pool at Talladega Superspeedway, co-workers told her to duck as they passed race fans. "I don't want to start a riot when these fans see a black woman in my car," she claims one official said.

- When packing up a dark garage at Texas Motor Speedway an official told Grant: "Keep smiling and pop your eyes out 'cause we can't see you."

- When she ignored advances from co-workers, Grant was accused of being gay. She also claimed co-workers questioned the sexual orientation of two other female officials.

After her termination, Grant said she went over her notes and recognized "a pattern of retaliation and discrimination."

"It didn't diminish my love for the sport of auto racing, but the job wasn't always the easiest thing to go to every day," she said.

Grant said she routinely complained to her supervisors. Two weeks after her final complaint, Grant said she was warned during the week of August 18, 2007 at Michigan International Speedway that she had engaged in "conduct unbecoming of a NASCAR representative" and would be fired unless she changed her behavior. She said the warning stemmed from a confrontation with a track official who stopped her as she passed through a gate to use the restroom.

Roughly two months later, Grant was fired, and NASCAR cited a poor work performance in ending her employment. The lawsuit claims other than a previous warning for using "street" language, Grant had never been disciplined for job performance and routinely received positive reviews.

"It is time for NASCAR to realize that not everbody is going to be bought off and not file a complaint," said Grant's attorney, Benedict P. Morelli of Morelli Ratner PC. "Not everybody is going to be intimidated and not file a complaint. Not everybody is going to be blackballed and not file a complaint."

In addition, the suit claims official Heather Gambino was fired in 2006 for complaining about a sexually hostile work environment. The suit also claims former official Dean Duckett, who is black, was reprimanded and ultimately fired last November for using "aggressive language toward a white co-worker."

Among those identified in Grant's suit are Balash, assistant series director Mike Dolan, supervisors Alan Shephard and Dennis Dillon, NASCAR's senior manager for business relations, the human resources director and 17 of Grant's fellow officials. All of the defendants are white.

"My supervisors all praised me. I was hanging in there with the guys," she said. "I am an athletic person. I went over the wall and faced malicious crews and competitive crew chiefs, and I was right there and held it down and was never lazy about it.

"And I knew that once I was terminated, there wasn't going to be an opportunity for me to find another industry like NASCAR to practice my craft."

[Texas Lawdog]

That just goes to show you that there are still a bunch of red neck male chauvnist pigs in NASCAR.

[Arcey]

I finished reading the complaint a few minutes ago. Some of it resonates of the truth, or her perception of it.

The first thing I learned from eight years of having those things handed to me with the direction to 'look into this', it's only one side.

I smell a nuisance settlement.

[Texas Lawdog]

YEP!

[Lucky Irish Tom]

The thing that amazes me about those cases is when they get filed after someone is terminated.  If it was so unbearable why sisn't they bring it to the courts sooner.  Not saying the case might not have some validity, but to me it loses some credibility when it seems to be retaliatory like this one.  I agree that it will probably be buried under a sealed settlement order.

[Arcey]

Shoes are droppin'.

The AP quotes a former co-worker, who was named in the complaint, as sayin' the incidents she cites did occur 'n she willingly participated. This individual has resigned his position with the sanctionin' body to take another job.

NASCAR officials claim they were unaware of any of it until the papers were received. They're also sayin' proper procedures, as prescribed by their employees' manual, had not been followed.

[Texas Lawdog]

Baffle them with BS.

[Lucky Irish Tom]

It's already popping up on the news wires as the unsavory side of the racing industry.  As usual the news are making NASCAR appear guilty before they have even had a day in court.