NASCAR is being sued over a 'race' issue-a driver claims he was banned from a Drive for Diversity event for looking too "white", dubbed by racing officials "the poster boy for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)".
NASCAR driver Michael Rodriguez claims NASCAR race officials labeled him "the poster boy for the Ku Klux Klan" (KKK); race car driver Rodriguez is actually part Puerto Rican.
According to a Federal lawsuit Rodriguez has filed, the driver says he had an impressive resume that got him accepted into the elite NASCAR "D for D program" in 2005: a program designed to "provide opportunities for female and minority drivers."
But the lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania, claims that when Rodriguez actually showed up for the combine, people made him feel "unwelcome" because he suffers from 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 physicians, but suspiciously wasn't allowed to drive; shortly after, Rodriguez says he was banned from the track, and the driver claims he heard race officials comparing him to members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The following year, says Rodriguez, he again applied for the "D for D" racing event but that, during the selection meeting, his photo was placed on an overhead projector and a race 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, and again repeatedly denied for the following year (2007).
Race car driver Rodriguez is suing NASCAR-and a marketing company-for an undisclosed amount. NASCAR isn't commenting-yet.