The Charlotte Jewish News - October 2013 - Page 11
Communttv News
Jews in NASCAR? Surprising But True!
By Steve Goldbej-g
Baseball has always been con
sidered a popular sport amongst
Jews. Basketball as well, and foot
ball. Golf and tennis, too. But
NASCAR? Not so much.
But when race week for the
Bank of America 500 at the Char
lotte Motor Speedway begins the
second week in October, the Jew
ish presence at the track will be
significant.
About a dozen or so years ago,
1 was sitting with a some other
journalists between interview ses
sions on the annual January
NASCAR Media Tour. Aside
from our common appreciation
for the sport, we quickly realized
that among the 200 writers, pho
tographers, and broadcasters
there, we were the only ones as far
as we knew who were Jewish.
Mike Harris, who lived in
Raleigh, was the motorsports edi
tor for the Associated Press at the
time. Lewis Franck lived in the
homeland of New York City and
was a contributor to Reuters and
Autoweek among others, while I
wrote on NASCAR for publica
tions including Time, Business
North Carolina, and Charlotte
Magazine.
What prompted our discussion
was the fact that the entertainment
outing for that year’s tour was
going to be a visit to The Comedy
Zone where Borsch Belt come
dian Jackie Mason was rehearsing
his upcoming Broadway show.
Had they thought this out? It was
tough enough to understand
Mason’s hard core New York de
livery when you were Jewish. For
all these mostly southern-based
NASCAR media, we thought we
would have to translate.
And thus was bom the Jewish
Motorsports Press Association.
Mike, Lewis, and 1 were the char
ter members of this group that
didn’t then and doesn’t now offi
cially exist. But we had a mission.
We would translate Mason's Yid
dish-laced delivery to the good oT
boys and then lobby for kosher
hot dogs at the track and a Jewish
driver in NASCAR’s diversity
program.
The three of us tried to think of
a Jewish stock car driver we could
adopt as the champion of our
cause and immediately thought of
Greg Sacks who raced on
NASCAR’s top two levels from
1983 to 2005. winning the Fire
cracker 400 in 1985. After all, he
was from Long Island and his fa
ther’s name was Arnie. He has a
daughter named Rachel. But
we’re still not sure about him.
Thanks to Buz McKim, the his
torian for the NASCAR Hall of
Fame, I've recently learned that
the 50s and 60s saw several driv
ers with Jewish roots drive on
NASCAR’s top level, guys with
names that sounded more like law
fimi partners than gearheads.
Danny Weinberg won a Grand
National, now the Sprint Cup se
ries, race in Hanford, CA, in 1951
driving a Studebaker. Racing
under the name Ben Benz,
Bernard Friedland from Far Rock-
away, Long Island, started nine
Grand National races in 1958-59.
Others who Could possibly get
mentioned in an Adam Sandler
racing-themed Hanukkah song in
clude Paul Goldsmith who won
the last stock car race run on the
Daytona Beach road course in
1958 and Larry Frank who won
the Southern 500 in 1962. But like
Sacks, there’s no definitive an
swer yet.
For sure there’s Gene Felton,
an Atlanta born UNC graduate
who only ran one Cup race, the
Dixie 500 in 1976. but who was
very successful as a road racer,
winning four IMSA titles and
competing at the famed 24 Hours
of LeMans. Felton now restores
old stock cars for buyers who
want a little extra horsepower on
their morning commute.
So the JMPA still isn’t an actual
organization, but perhaps it should
be.
In the following years as
NASCAR grew to be one of
America’s biggest sports, so did
the press corps and pretty soon
you could organize a minyan in
the media center. Jenna Fryer is
the lead on NASCAR for the AP
now. Viv Bernstein covers for the
New York Times. There’s Bob
Pockrass at The Sporting News,
Jeff Gluck at USA Today, and
Robert Edelstein, who wrote a bi
ography of Charlotte Motor
Speedway co-founder Curtis
Turner, at TV Guide. Randy
Covitz is the racing writer for the
Kansas City Star. The editor in
chief for Speed.com, now seem
ingly folded into the overall Fox
Sports site, is Tom Jensen, who as
Viv Bernstein wrote in her blog,
was organizing his son’s upcom
ing Bar Mitzvah party at the
NASCAR Hall of Fame. .
Former members of the
NASCAR’s ink stained kvetches
were Seth Livingston at USA
Today and Sarah Rothschild for
the Miami Herald.
On the broadcast side, Eli
Gold, who also voices Alabama
football, works for the NASCAR
owned Motor Racing Network.
Through Viv, I learned that Steve
Richards, a pit reporter for Per-
fomiance Racing Network radio is
a member of the tribe, and shares
the same real last name as Jon
Stewart, which is Leibowitz.
Then there is Steve Newmark
who is not only Jewish but one of
the most influential men in
NASCAR as president of Roush
Fenway Racing.
He’s not the first member of the
tribe to hold a high position in
NASCAR. Texan Kenny Bern
stein gained fame as a champion
drag racer, the first driver to ex
ceed 300 mph. Bernstein also
owned a NASCAR team from
1986-95, notching three Sprint
Cup wins with drivers Ricky
Rudd and Brett Bodine.
Max Siegel, currently the CEO
of USA Track and Field, the son
of a Jewish father and African-
American mother, served as Pres
ident of Global Operations for
Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race
team started by the late NASCAR
champion from 2007-09.
Until June of 2012, Jay Abra
ham had spent 11 years at
NASCAR as COO of the
NASCAR Media aroup and Pres-
dollar business side of one of the
top teams in NASCAR that fields
cars for star drivers Carl Edwards,
Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.,
Trevor Bayne and Travis Pastrana.
They’ve won two Sprint Cup and
four Nationwide Series Champi
onships.
The son of the son of the son of
a rabbi, he grew up in Chapel Hill,
(Continued on page 15)
NASCAR ”s Steve Newmark
ident and CEO of NASCAR Im
ages.
Jon Schwarz is the Senior Di
rector of Integrated Marketing
Communications for NASCAR in
New York City, joining the circuit
from Bank of America in 2011.
On the sponsorship side, local
Jewish owned businesses helped
the wheels go round for race
teams and tracks. Radiator Spe
cialty Company, the business
started by I.D. Blumenthal and his
brother Herman in Charlotte, was
a supplier and sometimes sponsor
of NASCAR teams, including
driver Buddy Baker, with their
Liquid Wrench, Gunk, and Solder
Seal products.
Rockingham, North Carolina,
is famous for four things. One is
“The Rock,” the speedway that
hosted a pair of Sprint Cup races
for four decades until 2004. The
other three are Levines - Sher
man, Leon, and Alvin, who, like
NASCAR, found their center in
Charlotte. Leon’s Family Dollar
Stores have sponsored cars on the
Nationwide Series in the past.
A lawyer by trade, Newmark is
responsible for the multimillion
Josh Rubin’s Plumbing, LLC
LICENSED - BONDED - INSURED
COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL
Layouts for slabs - Rough-in and Finish
Water Heater Repairs and Replacement
Kitchen/Bath Remodeling
Toilets, Tubs, Faucets, Sink, and Disposal
Repairs/Replacement
- 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE -
NC State Lie. #29197 SC State Lie. #M110508
704-517-4918
What will you do
to become more
successful in your
business or career?
• Sales Development
• Leadership Development
• Career Management
• Career Transition
Complimentary Consultations
Contact Harvey Smith
704-604-1655
CafolinaBusinessGoach
FREE CONSULTATION
Medicare Supplement
And Long Term Care
What long term care is and why you and your loved
ones are at high risk for needing care at home or in a
facility.
Why the limited benefits from Government
(Medicare or Medicaid) are not a good choice for
your long term care needs.
At what age should you consider buying long term
care insurance. You will be surprised to know why
and how buying at a younger age is better for you.
Compare different Medicare Plans and determine
which is best for you.
Find which company offers the most competitive
rates for the plan you want.
Milton Goldstein, CLTC
Certified Long Term Care Specialist
Charlotte, NC: (704) 442-5618
Cell: (205) 907-0670
E-mail: miltgold@bellsouth.net
Visit my Web Site
www.goldsteinltc.com
Licensed in 11 States