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Valrico's Cherry Lands NASCAR Diversity Berth

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2008

When Valrico's Michael Cherry first got invited to try out for a berth in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program in 2006, the adventure didn't go so well.

Cherry returned from the Testing and Evaluation combine at Virginia's South Boston Speedway only to have his girlfriend's SUV and much of his racing gear stolen from his family's property as they slept off the long drive home.

And he didn't make the team.

But Cherry, 18, was invited back again in October. Again, he was one of 24 minority drivers chosen from more than 200 applicants to compete for one of the eight spots on the team. Again, he was assessed on his ability to drive a stock car, provide feedback about its characteristics and perform media and promotional responsibilities.

This time, the news is good.

When the 2008 class is announced today at a wide-ranging NASCAR news conference in Concord, N.C., Cherry will be one of the eight drivers named, both he and NASCAR officials have confirmed.

"I felt like I did a lot better this year at the combine; I wasn't as nervous," Cherry said from a hotel in Ashland, Va., where he was already meeting with his new team owner. "I knew everybody. I wasn't so nervous or anxious in front of the camera. It's exciting to get chosen and not have to take that phone call saying we didn't make it."

The program, managed by Access Marketing & Communications of Charlotte, N.C., aims to increase minority and female participation in NASCAR by giving drivers and crewmen a start at the grass-roots level. Participating team owners, with partial funding from the program, field cars for the drivers.

The team owners, not program administrators, decide which drivers get selected.

"From an owner's perspective, they're looking for what every other owner in the sport and in sports in general is looking for: the athlete that gives them the best opportunity to win," said Marcus Jadotte, who as NASCAR's director of public affairs oversees all of the organization's diversity initiatives.

Cherry, the 2007 Sportsman champion at Clewiston's Hendry County Speedway and the first black driver to win at Gibsonton's East Bay Raceway, will drive for Frank Deiny, a well-known Virginia short-track racer whose team owns several track championships. Cherry will compete in NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series (formerly the Dodge Weekly Racing Series) at four-tenths-mile Motor Mile Speedway near Radford, Va.

Deiny said Cherry wasn't blistering fast at the combine, but he chalked that up to his lack of short-track experience and was impressed with how coachable he was.

"One of my rules here is you got to listen," Deiny said. "I've been driving since I was 3 years old, so I can help you get around a racetrack the fastest way. If you listen, I'll help you. If don't, I'll stop. Michael listened the whole time I worked with him as an instructor at the combine."

Cherry is the son of Jimmy and Marsha Cherry, who are white. Michael's biological father is black.

At Motor Mile Speedway, Cherry's car will carry the No. 34 of the late Wendell Scott of Danville, Va., the only black driver to win a race in NASCAR's premier division. Reminiscent of cars Scott drove, Cherry's 2008 Chevy Monte Carlo will be painted baby blue with a white roof and white flames going down the side.

Deiny sent a photo of the car to his longtime friend, Wendell Scott Jr.

"We did that as a tribute to him," Deiny said. "Wendell Scott Jr. is one of the main reasons why I'm in the D-for-D program, and he's one of the main reasons why Michael is here."

Cherry will be joined on the team by three other newcomers and returnees Jesus Hernandez, Lloyd Mack, Michael Gallegos and Paul Harraka. Sarasota's Danny "The Hammer" Martin, who like Cherry made a return trip to the combine, was not selected. Martin is of Native American descent.

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