TODAY CHEVROLET ANNOUNCED THE SECOND ANNUAL NASCAR CHEVROLET DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP. JIM CASSIDY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, RACING OPERATIONS AT NASCAR, ALBA COLON, CHEVROLET NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES PROGRAM MANAGER AND KEN BARRETT, GM CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, met with members of the media to discuss the scholarship terms, outreach, how this scholarship can further the diversity movement already happening within NASCAR and many other topics. Full Transcript:
MODERATOR:
“We have a special announcement today; one that we’re all very excited about. In 2015, four undergraduate students were awarded scholarships after winning the NASCAR Chevrolet Diversity Scholarship Contest. Those students won $20,000 in total, for scholarships, had a VIP experience at Texas Motor Speedway; and we have some folks here with us today to talk about that. We have a special announcement about 2016 as well.
Joining us from Chevrolet, Ken Barrett, Chief Diversity Officer for General Motors, Alba Colon, Program Manager for Chevrolet Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations.
Let’s get started with the questions. What is the NASCAR Chevrolet Diversity Scholarship Contest?
BARRETT:
“It’s great to be here this morning and certainly it’s great for Chevrolet to once again be partnering with NASCAR for the NASCAR Chevrolet Diversity Scholarship. The best thing about it is that it was $20,000 that’s going to be provided to four students. Really, what we’re trying to do is to connect with the diverse community, but also how it relates to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and STEM education. For us, it’s critical to find that STEM talent. And we challenge each of the students to actually be involved by submitting some technology they actually see in NASCAR and then being able to provide a 90 second video that they can upload to YouTube. From there, they’ll compete to see who that winner is. It’s a great program and it’s great for Chevrolet to once again partner with NASCAR.”
ON THE STEM CONNECTION, HOW DOES THIS FIT OVERALL INTO WHAT CHEVROLET HAS GOING ON FROM THE DIVERSITY AND STEM STANDPOINT?
BARRETT:
“I think for us, Chevrolet has a long legacy and a long history of being able to reach out to many different communities out there across the nation. I think for us, it really is all about technology and innovation. So, when we look at that side of it, and we do have our vice president from performance racing right here, Jim Campbell, in the audience today; but Jim is really all about that in looking for that next game changer, if you will, on the track. And to do that, we’ve got to be able to make sure we’re finding diverse talent from everywhere, especially in the STEM field. It’s critically important to Chevrolet; and I know it’s critically important to NASCAR as well. We want to be able to get that technological edge that not only makes us a winner in the marketplace, but on the race track.”
MODERATOR:
ALBA, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO SEE THIS PROGRAM LIVE THROUGH NASCAR, THE INDUSTRY, AS WELL AS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH NASCAR?
COLON:
“First of all, thank you everybody for being here and for having us here. Also, my parents would have been happy if I had gotten that $20,000 to help for college when I was doing that (laughter). It is a big deal. Let me give you a couple of numbers really quick. Seventeen percent of the United States population is Hispanic. If we look at STEM careers, only 6.5 percent are Hispanics. There’s a huge gap there. This scholarship helps to bring some of those Hispanics, some of those under-represented groups, an opportunity to start their STEM careers. And it’s a big deal, not only for NASCAR, but also for Chevrolet. That’s something where we are helping the next generation. And, we need more STEM careers in the sport and in everything that we do. So, this is a great opportunity to help with that.”
MODERATOR:
CAN YOU PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF HOW STEM, (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH), BEING UTILIZED TODAY IN OUR SPORT OF NASCAR?
COLON:
“Pretty much on everything. I was telling somebody yesterday that in everything you touch and do, there is an engineer who has been involved. But, we talk here about track examples. The banking of the track and how the track has been developed, and we talk about race car design and shock absorbers and how put that engine together, everything that we do there is a STEM career involved. Field technology, solar energy, and everything that touches this sport is related to STEM. That’s why we are looking to help the next generation to work on that. A 90 second video is where they can talk about how that technology is being used and how it helps here. They can submit that and we will look at all of that to see about accuracy and we will be looking for creativity and also production. So, have fun for 90 seconds talking about the latest and greatest here, and how it helps in this sport.”
MODERATOR:
JIM, WHY IS THIS CONTEST IMPORTANT AND WHAT IS OUR ROLE IN IT?
CASSIDY:
“It’s nice to be here at such an iconic facility with an iconic brand, who is a very good partner of ours with Chevrolet, and to be talking about something that will ultimately take the sport to the next level. The growth of it is incumbent upon us working together to develop programs like this. Now that we’re in year two, we’re off and running. This scholarship provides, I think Alba put it nicely; it’s an opportunity in a fun way to get involved and be introduced to the sport. From our standpoint, it’s a big opportunity to introduce the best and the brightest students to our sport now, so that they can look at it and consider is as they develop their career paths. Right now, it’s every opportunity that we get to work with our partners and to develop the programs that will open the eyes and to make students from all backgrounds aware of what our sport has to offer is an opportunity that we’re not going to miss. And the scholarship really falls right in line with that.”
MODERATOR:
WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT CHEVROLET’S OVERALL MISSION IN DIVERSITY AND STAMINA. HOW DOES THIS FIT INTO NASCAR’S OVERALL VIEW OF BOTH OF THOSE PROGRAMS?
CASSIDY:
“Yeah, I think it is certainly very additive to a portfolio of programs that we already have in place. I think it fits nicely in a number of scenarios. I think, the combination of a STEM-focused program, a diversity-focused program, and bringing young people into the sport will again shape our future in a way that I would argue is more important than anything else we’re doing on or off the track. We’ve got a number of programs. Alba is a close ally on a regular basis, as is Chevrolet always, but Alba on a regular basis, we’ve got good opinion leader programs; we’ve got Dawn Harris and Gloria Molina in the audience today. And on any given week, you’ll see us bringing students out, whether it’s in conjunction with NABJ or the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and these students will be coming out and learning more about the sport and how STEM interacts with the sport and how really, the opportunities are endless. It’s really a blank canvass. And so when the students come in, not knowing much about the sport, they leave with quite an in-depth view of it and a new outlook on what they might intend to do down the road. So this scholarship in particular is a very nice layer to that, and we couldn’t be happier to partner with everyone on it.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW THE SCHOLARSHIPS ARE JUDGED AND HOW YOU GIVE THEM OUT:
COLON: “The deadline is October 15. They have to come with a 90 second video. It is open to students already attending school between 18 and 25 years old. They will be evaluated on their technical speaking on their accuracy. We will verify the information that they are providing is correct. Also, creativity and their production, there will be a group together between Chevrolet and NASCAR that will be evaluating that. After that we will provide the top-four will get a scholarship and a VIP opportunity to come later in the year to the Texas and get a whole VIP experience getting together with NASCAR management, Chevrolet management and also the opportunity to meet the different Chevrolet drivers. I will give you an example like last year they met Ryan Newman who we know is an automotive engineer. He had an opportunity to better explain from his side how engineering is helping as a driver. They got to meet many engineers in this sport and so on. It is a little bit of fun but we want them to understand the sport better and to show them what this sport is.”
WHERE DO THEY GO TO ENTER THOSE VIDEOS?
BARRETT: “Yes absolutely. Go towww.chevy.nascardiversity.com. You can upload your 90 second video; something tied to technology in NASCAR.”
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT EXACTLY IN PRESENTED IN A VIDEO?
BARRETT: “It could be things directly related to NASCAR and the circuit and the track. It could be banking with respect to that. It could aerodynamics in the vehicle itself and innovation that has been specific to a vehicle.”
COLON: “There was one when you are talking about aerodynamics about in 90 seconds how the aerodynamics have become in respect to drag and downforce and explain how the car was built. I know that 90 seconds doesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me 90 seconds can give you time to explain a lot of things. There was another about downforce and how downforce works. It shows the spoiler of the vehicle, different things they have done to the front. Those kind of things that we don’t want NASCAR to see when we do when we go through inspection and so on. There was also a video explaining about the banking. They try different things. They use their imaginations.”
IN WHAT OTHER WAYS ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH PEOPLE WITH THIS INFORMATION?
BARRETT: “Thanks that is a very comprehensive question and a good question and a fair one. I think that a lot of dealerships have actually been involved with this and many different venues. I think Jim (Cassidy) brought up the good point it’s a combination of multiple engagements that we do across the space, across the spectrum. Alba mentioned the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, what we do with respect to that, what we do with SAE is what we do with FIRST Robotics, so there are many different STEM initiatives that we do with the World in Motion and what not that reach out different segments of education level. Whether it happens to be in middle school or in high school or even earlier to get folks exposed and youngsters exposed to STEM education and the value of a STEM education and what you can do with it. I think that we continue to do that at least from the Chevrolet stand point to be able to get that message out. I know NASCAR has been aggressive about it too, but we take your point and will certainly take a look at what types of things we could do at the dealership level as well.”
WHY ISN’T DANIEL SUAREZ’S IMAGE BEING USED IN THIS PROGRAM?
CASSIDY: “I would say those are really good questions and insight and observations from your side. I would day in Daniel Suarez’s case in particular Daniel is a beacon for the sport. I would say that to your earlier question we can always get better in this area and we are working hard to get better. I would say that we need to from a sanctioning body stand point we are running very hard, but we are very mindful of being very authentic in our approach and making sure we have got the foundation in our programs so that when we do achieve success stories like Daniel Suarez or Bubba Wallace or Kyle Larson. That we are prepared and we can back up that example that we are ready to put forth a lot of energy from an exposure stand point. We are ready to do that with Daniel and we will be ready to do that with others, but that came with a fairly long runway of building a foundation of stock car racing in Mexico which started taking place probably north of 10 years ago with the concept taking place probably 15 years ago. We have got a long way to go. I’m confident and proud of the progress we have made, but complacent by no means going forward. To your point about getting into cities, we have a few items that Gloria (Molina) and Dawn (Harris) know that we have talked about and as we look into the future and continue to build our programs that will certainly continue to be on our radar screen.”
HAVE MEDIA OUTLETS THAT TAILOR TO THE HISPANIC AND THE BLACK COMMUNITIES HAVE THEY BEEN RECEPTIVE TO PROMOTING THIS PROGRAM? HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO THOSE PUBLICATIONS?
COLON: “I think that NASCAR can answer better that question, but I just wanted to mention something and to also answer your question. This is the second year that we are doing this. Today is the official launch of the program. We are using this first to get exposure out there. We are looking also for ways to improve. Trust me all these ideas we are taking notes, we have a couple of people in the back already taking notes on how we can do this better. We are trying to connect also with how the younger people communicate. We understand that social media is everything for them. We are putting this out there to all the channels, not only the ones NASCAR uses, but also all the other channels that we use from Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and so on trying to communicate out there what is the program about. We will continue doing that through the process. We are learning today. All of you have great ideas that we are taking and we will take to make this to grow this to be a really big deal. We are very committed, NASCAR and Chevrolet to make this scholarship work. We have made a lot of progress from the first year, but we still have a long road to go and we are looking forward to all your comments to help us to get there.”
HOW IS THE INVOLVEMENT OF WOMEN GROWING IN NASCAR?
COLON: “When I came to the sport and let’s be honest my story I know it is out there, but I was pretty much one of the first engineers, one of the first females and one of the first Hispanics in the sport. To see where we have grown it is amazing. The places that we go, the drivers that we have, as a Hispanic, let’s be honest when I saw Daniel Suarez win that race in Michigan, as a Hispanic that was a huge moment. That was a huge moment for me. We used to have other drivers that have come before him that have won, Juan Pablo Montoya, also we have Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson now, Bubba Wallace there are a lot of drivers. Where the sport was before and where they are going also with the NASCAR Diversity program and all the other programs that Chevy is putting out there it is huge. To see Danica as a driver now you see more female engineers in the garage. Now many crew chiefs are engineers so from many aspects not only the Hispanic, but also a woman, the STEM careers are booming here in the sport. That is what we are looking for the next generation that is coming after us that will continue doing this.”
CASSIDY: “We are just finishing up the end of a 10 week program that we have had our NASCAR Diversity Internship program. We’ve got 26 or 27 students as part of that program right now that are both within the sanctioning body, with teams, with tracks, with agencies, with OEM’s and that program is not new it’s 16 years old. We have graduated probably north of 400 students from that program creating opportunities year after year often times again enlightening the students when they come in to the opportunities within the halls of NASCAR. From a driver’s stand point we have our drive for Diversity program. There are six drivers currently in that program. We’ve got four cars in the K&N Pro Series East and two late model teams. Specifically we’ve got Ali Kern a young woman who is from Ohio driving in the K&N Pro Series East and Madeline Crane that is running on a regular basis in our late model program at Hickory Motor Speedway.”