Over the course of the past 24 hours, word has come out that one of the newer faces to the NASCAR garage area will be changing gears in how he works with the sport.Max Siegel, hired on as the company president at the then-Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Febuary of 2007, will now lead NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program in addition to returning to an Indianapolis law firm to specialize in sports and entertainment.
The move was predicated by DEI's merger with Chip Ganassi Racing in November that diminshed the need for Siegel's efforts at the newly-named Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. Prior to the merger, Siegel was the highest-ranking African-American executive in the NASCAR garage.
Before the merger, Siegel had seen some rough days for the team that was founded by NASCAR's late 7-time champion Dale Earnhardt.
Just months after Siegel signed on with the team, its cornerstone driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended contract and part-ownership negotiations with the team and bolted for a new opportunity at Hendrick Motorsports. The move ultimately put the operation in a slow tailspin with driver Martin Truex Jr. earning the team's only win in June of 2007. Sponsorship woes, somewhat tied to performance and also tied to the economic downturn, forced the team into the merger with Ganassi.
During that time, the team was owned by the late-driver's widow, Teresa, who made it a habit of staying out of the public eye. Siegel made himself much more available and seemed to take on the executive face of the company.
The day-to-day role Siegel, and his sports marketing company, 909 Group, will take with the diversity effort will "increase its reach inside and outside the sport; create mainstream marketing programs for the initiative; and further involve the entire NASCAR industry, particularly top-tier teams and sponsors" according to a NASCAR press release.
Certainly, NASCAR's move to keep Siegel in the sport is a good one as he has shown a commitment to understanding the world of NASCAR. His background in sport marketing and law can't hurt, either.
Hopefully, the Drive for Diversity effort -- it's had some modest success, but no driver has made a swing in to the top levels of NASCAR quite yet -- will get a much needed shot in the arm with Siegel's involvement.
