It has been a stormy month for NASCAR. On June 10, the association banned displays of the Confederate flag from all its racetracks. Less than two weeks later, it reported that a noose had been found in the garage of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only Black driver, at Talladega Speedway in Alabama, igniting an FBI hate-crime investigation and a controversy over whether a moving show of support for Wallace from his fellow drivers was built on a false premise.
Lenny Miller watched all of these developments with a perspective that few men share. A native of Lawrenceville, N.J., who as a kid raced go-karts on streets and tracks around Trenton, Miller, 58, is the former co-owner and president of the Miller Racing Group. His father, Leonard, grew up in Philadelphia's western suburbs and in 1972 founded the Black American Racers Association. The two of them became the first Black team owners to win a NASCAR race when Franklin Butler III won at Old Dominion Speedway in 2005.
I spoke with Lenny Miller on Wednesday morning by phone about Wallace, these recent incidents, and the complex relationship between Blacks and auto racing. His remarks have been edited for conciseness and clarity.
