Settlement Should Bring Positives for NASCAR

Hopefully the old motto of "any publicity is good publicity" is ringing true this week for NASCAR fans after nearly every news outlet reported the same thing Thursday: NASCAR has settled a $225 million lawsuit over discrimination.

The case, filed with just as much if not more fanfare back in June, involved a former female official -- Mauricia Grant -- claiming sexual harassment, racial discrimination and other not-so-rosy things that happened during her tenure with NASCAR.

Grant was the first black female to serve as an official within the sport.

News of the settlement came via NASCAR and both sides are refusing to divulge exact figures financially, but a terms of the deal included neither side taking fault for the actions cited in the original lawsuit. And knowing that NASCAR suspended and then fired two officials named in the suit after an internal investigation earlier this summer, I'd imagine the sanctioning body realized it was in a case it couldn't win outright.

I'm sure there were a few faults in Grant's case -- they are almost necessary when you file such a large suit -- that harmed some of claims, but in the long run, this settlement indicates two things to me.

For one, it indicates NASCAR dropped the ball at some level in making sure their work environment truly was free of the alleged practices. Simply, the suit wouldn't have had any standing if NASCAR could have proven they were completely innocent in the matter.

Two, and likely more importantly, it hopefully sets forth a proactive approach to its move toward diversity. The sanctioning body will be forced -- and it's probably outlined in the settlement at some level -- to make sure it has more than just policies in place to prevent such actions and also to make sure it has effective ways to police them.

Sure, Grant probably made a pretty penny thanks to her case and some of the highly inappropriate actions she saw, but NASCAR fans musn't look at that side. Instead, think about how this can make NASCAR a better place in the future.