African-Americans
Editorial Roundup: Florida

By The Associated Press Mar. 02, 2022 07:10 AM EST
South Florida Sun Sentinel. February 25, 2022. Editorial: Rick Scott’s un-American plan to ‘rescue America’ Rick Scott just opened his...

Jusan Hamilton, Daytona 500 race director, poses for a photo during activities at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Jusan Hamilton becomes 1st Daytona 500 Black race director

By Dan Gelston Feb. 17, 2022 01:51 PM EST

AP-Sportlight-Week Ahead

By The Associated Press Feb. 17, 2022 11:05 AM EST
Feb. 18 1924 — Theresa Weld Blanchard wins her sixth and final U.S. figure skating championship. Sherwin Badger captures his fifth straight and final...

Bubba Wallace (23) heads down pit road before going out on the track to run laps during NASCAR auto race practice at Daytona International Speedway, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Wallace grudgingly relives 2020 turmoil in new Netflix doc

By Jenna Fryer Feb. 16, 2022 01:51 PM EST

Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, second from left, and NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji, second from right, are joined by Warrick Scott, left, and Frank Scott, right, from the Wendell Scott Foundation as they poses with the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro SS Iwuji he will drive in the upcoming 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Iwuji will run his first full season in NASCAR with backing from Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and General Motors. (Garry Eller/HHP for Chevy Racing via AP)
Iwuji teams with Emmitt Smith on full NASCAR Xfinity season

By Jenna Fryer Feb. 09, 2022 01:44 PM EST

FILE - Ernie Francis Jr. is introduced before an SRX Series auto race Saturday, July 17, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. Ernie Francis Jr. has been hired to drive in Indy Lights this season in a move that could promote him into IndyCar as part of the series’ Race for Equality & Change initiative. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Francis Jr. to race Indy Lights, eyes spot in IndyCar

By Jenna Fryer Jan. 27, 2022 01:14 PM EST

FILE - Four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, Al Unser, poses with the Borg-Warner Trophy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Al Unser was the third member of one of America’s most-accomplished racing families to die in 2021, following his older brother Bobby, a three-time Indy champion, and Bobby Unser Jr. Al Unser was one of four drivers who won the Indy 500 a record four times, with victories in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler, File)
Aaron, Elder overcame hate to achieve records, milestones

By Bernie Wilson Dec. 27, 2021 03:41 PM EST

FILE - Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron holds aloft the ball he hit for his 715th career home in Atlanta. Aaron, who endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruth but went on to break the career home run record in the pre-steroids era, died early Jan. 22, 2021. He was 86. (AP Photo, File)
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2021

By Bernard Mcghee Dec. 10, 2021 01:48 PM EST

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, leads Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, during the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at the Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry is F1's best duel in years

By Jim Vertuno Nov. 03, 2021 02:49 AM EDT

Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win NASCAR Cup race since 1963 after rain shortens event at Alabama speedway

Oct. 04, 2021 04:28 PM EDT
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win NASCAR Cup race since 1963 after rain shortens event at Alabama speedway. ...

FILE - In this June 22, 2020, file photo, Kyle Busch, left, and Corey LaJoie, right, join other drivers and crews as they push the car of Bubba Wallace to the front of the field prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega Ala. In an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR's only Black driver, dozens of drivers pushed the car belonging to Wallace to the front of the field before Monday's race as FBI agents nearby tried to find out who left a noose in his garage stall over the weekend. Wallace became just the second Black driver to win at NASCAR's top Cup Series level when rain stopped the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Milestone for Bubba Wallace as he earns 1st NASCAR victory

By Jenna Fryer Oct. 04, 2021 04:10 PM EDT

Iowa race track cuts ties with announcer after racist rant

Jul. 22, 2021 04:23 PM EDT
ALGONA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa race track said Thursday that it will cut ties with an announcer who went on a racist rant against Black fans and athletes who...

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2012, file photo, Mario Andretti, left, talks to Willy T. Ribbs before the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. IndyCar is making an improved push to diversify its fanbase and its driving field. Ribbs and George Mack are the only two drivers to ever start an Indianapolis 500. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
IndyCar courts Black fans, drivers in its push to diversify

By Dan Gelston May. 28, 2021 03:22 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2012, file photo, Mario Andretti, left, talks to Willy T. Ribbs before the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. IndyCar is making an improved push to diversify its fanbase and its driving field. Ribbs and George Mack are the only two drivers to ever start an Indianapolis 500. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
IndyCar courts Black fans, drivers in its push to diversify

By Dan Gelston May. 28, 2021 03:22 AM EDT

Kyle Larson celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Column: Larson can't outrun past, only change conversation

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 08, 2021 02:52 PM EST

Bubba Wallace gets into his car after a weather delay during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Wallace becomes 1st Black driver to lead lap at Daytona 500

By Dan Gelston Feb. 15, 2021 12:43 AM EST

FILE - Naomi Osaka, of Japan, wears a protective mask due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, featuring the name "George Floyd", while arriving on court to face Shelby Rogers, of the United States, during the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York, in this Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, file photo. In a most unusual year already thrown into chaos by the coronavirus pandemic, many athletes took unprecedented steps when a nationwide reckoning on race spilled into the streets of American cities after the killing of Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
Athletes act: Stars rise up against racial injustice in 2020

By Cliff Brunt Dec. 29, 2020 01:41 PM EST

Force Indy to launch as part of IndyCar's diversity efforts

Dec. 03, 2020 03:01 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Team Penske will mentor a new entry in the IndyCar ladder series that will be owned by a Black businessman as part of a new “Race for...

Urban Youth Racing School founder Anthony Martin, left, and his wife Michelle Martin pose for a photo at the school, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Philadelphia. The school has made it its mission to introduce inner-city youngsters, most of them black, to the motorsports world. (AP Photo/Dan Gelston)
Racing school for minorities extends olive branch to Larson

By Dan Gelston Nov. 04, 2020 11:18 AM EST

FILE - In this Feb, 8, 2020, file photo, Kyle Larson climbs into his car as he gets ready for a NASCAR auto race practice at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Larson will be back in NASCAR next season driving the flagship No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson signed a multi-year contract Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, 2020, with Hendrick that ended his seven-month banishment from NASCAR for using a racial slur while playing an online racing game. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
Hendrick hires banished Kyle Larson to drive flagship No. 5

By Jenna Fryer Oct. 28, 2020 11:46 AM EDT