Nascar Places 2 Officials on Administrative Leave

By Dustin Long The Roanoke Times

BROOKLYN, Mich. — NASCAR chairman Brian France suggested that a lawsuit filed this week by a former series official claiming discrimination might not be all it states.

"I can tell you not to jump to conclusions about what the lawsuit attempts to say," France said Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

Yet, The Associated Press reported that NASCAR suspended two officials who are accused in the lawsuit with exposing themselves to Mauricia Grant, the former series official. Both Tim Knox and Bud Moore have been placed on indefinite administrative leave, although France declined to say why they faced such discipline.

Grant’s lawsuit contends that Knox exposed himself on April 14, 2007 at a work gathering after the Texas race. The lawsuit alleges that Moore exposed himself to Grant in October 2006 at the hotel where series officials stayed while working at Memphis.

Grant, who worked as a technical inspector in the Busch Series from 2005 to October 2007, filed a $225 million lawsuit this week. She claims 23 specific incidents of sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of racial and gender discrimination.

France reiterated Saturday that Grant did not follow prescribed procedures to report such incidents. Grant said in a conference call with reporters earlier this week she reported such incidents to supervisors but never went to NASCAR’s human resources department. France said that NASCAR met with officials this week in Kentucky and Michigan to review its policies.

France said that NASCAR’s investigation of Grant’s claim continues.

While this lawsuit revives questions about NASCAR’s diversity, France said he wants the sport to be more diverse, a statement he’s made often in the past.

"It’s a sport that is evolving, and it’s a sport that is reaching out in a lots of different ways to be more diverse not just because it’s a socially good idea, it’s a good idea for a whole host of different reasons," he said. "We’re an American sport. We need to look and feel more like America.

"We’re trying to attract a new audience, and I helped lead it for a number of years. We’re never happy that we haven’t reached all our goals. We’re happy with our approach, the route we’re on and what we stand on.

"Things that are in that claim are absolutely, completely inconsistent with where this sport is going."