02/15/2018
Roush Fenway Racing Honored at 11th Annual NASCAR Drive For Diversity Awards
CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2018) – Roush Fenway Racing received the prestigious Team Award during the 11th Annual NASCAR Drive for Diversity Awards on Thursday, Feb. 15. The award goes to a team that engaged driver, OEM and sponsor support to effectively reach fans on and off the track in support of NASCAR’s diversity and inclusion goals.
Roush Fenway has prioritized working with the Drive for Diversity program by hiring crew members, drivers, corporate staff and interns from NASCAR Diversity’s ranks.
The team has emphasized support for NASCAR’s diversity goals on its pit crews and counts a number of Drive for Diversity graduates among its ranks in recent years. Three D4D graduates – tire carrier Kevin Richardson, tire changer Rafael Diaz and Jackman Mike Russell — pitted Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s No. 17 car to two wins and a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff appearance in 2017. Russell and Diaz were awarded the 2016 NASCAR Crew Member Diversity Award for inspiring awareness of NASCAR through competitive performance and outreach activities. Diaz and Russell became the first D4D crew members to win a national series championship when they pitted Chris Buescher’s No. 60 car to the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship. Additionally, Diaz was named to NBC’s Pit Crew All-Star team in 2017.
Roush Fenway also promoted the NASCAR Diversity program in fielding graduate Darrell Wallace Jr. in the No. 6 Mustang during the 2015-2017 season. The team worked with Wallace and NASCAR Diversity to promote the program through traditional and digital media outreach.
In addition to competition, Roush Fenway has also emphasized the Diversity program in its corporate office. The organization annually participates in the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program, taking on students from diverse backgrounds for a 10-week internship program that offers college students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to gain hands-on experience within their fields of study.
Roush Fenway is the second recipient of the Drive For Diversity Team Award. Patriot Motorsports/Circle Track Racing received the first in 2017.
