Race car driver Michael Rodriguez claims NASCAR banned him from a Drive for Diversity event for looking too white. He alleges NASCAR officials labeled him “the poster boy for the Ku Klux Klan” … even though he’s part Puerto Rican.
According to a federal lawsuit filed by Rodriguez in Pennsylvania, he says he was accepted into the elite Drive for Diversity program back in 2005 — a program designed to “provide opportunities for female and minority drivers.”
But when he showed up to the combine, NASCAR made him feel “unwelcome” because he has fair skin and light blue eyes.
During the combine, Rodriguez claims he suffered a head injury 20 minutes before his first race but was cleared by doctors. He says he still wasn’t allowed to drive and then he allegedly heard race officials comparing him to members of the KKK.
The next year, Rodriguez claims he once again applied for the D for D event but he says that, during the selection meeting, his photo was placed on an overhead projector and an official said “he is the poster boy for the Ku Klux Klan and we can’t have him at the combine.” Rodriguez says he wasn’t accepted into the combine that year or in 2007.
He’s suing NASCAR and a marketing company for an undisclosed amount.
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