NASCAR on BET? Drive for Diversity goes reality TV
August 31, 2010
NEW YORK (AP)—Jessica Brunelli is a fan of “Jersey Shore” and “The RealWorld,” so the 17-year-old race car driver knows just how addictive reality TVcan be.
Addictive enough to draw in viewers who don’t know Jeff Gordon from JeffBurton? That’s the gamble behind “Changing Lanes,” a new show that airs not ona sports network but BET.
Yes, BET. Where better to reach a completely new audience? “ChangingLanes” chronicles 10 young female and minority racers in NASCAR’s Drive forDiversity program as they compete for four spots on a team.
“I’ve got friends here who don’t know about racing, and they’re going towatch it and I think give it a lot more respect,” said 16-year-old driverDarrell Wallace Jr.
It’s got all the staples of reality TV: contestants living in a housetogether and getting eliminated one by one. Well, not all the staples—Brunelliis relieved the show sticks to the drama on the track and in the drivers’ backstories.
Rapper/actor Ludacris narrates the eight-episode series, which premieresWednesday night.
The show is the brainchild of Max Siegel, who spent two seasons running DaleEarnhardt Inc. until the team merged with Chip Ganassi Racing. His sportsmarketing agency now runs the Drive for Diversity program, which has struggledto produce racers for NASCAR’s top series.
Siegel’s team, Revolution Racing, fields cars for the contestants on theshow.
This is a sport where sponsorship is critical to success and each driver islike his or her mini-corporation. Siegel figures there’s nothing like a realityshow to introduce companies to the personalities of up-and-coming racers.
“That’s a hope,” Brunelli said, “that someone takes a liking to youpersonally.”
