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Commitment to diversity

'Changing Lanes' showcases D4D effort under Revolution Racing
By Rick Houston, Special to NASCAR.COM
September 1, 2010 - 9:39am
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Forget about black, white, Hispanic, female and any other label that's out there. The competitors featured on Changing Lanes are racers to the core. Series premiere is 8 p.m. ET Wednesday on BET.

And here's the very moment you'll be convinced: In the series' second episode, 16-year-old Darrell Wallace Jr. heads into the final day of the Drive for Diversity Combine with a temperature of 103 degrees. Later diagnosed with the H1N1 virus -- Swine Flu itself -- Wallace is excused from making his all-important run in a K&N Pro Series East machine until later in the day. It's obvious the kid is hurting. He rests in a motorhome before finally crawling, almost literally, into a car to make his run.

Turns out, the laps were the fastest of the day's 16 finalists and more than good enough to get him a spot in the D4D program. Black, white, Hispanic, female ... it doesn't matter. Wallace is a driver. Nothing more, nothing less. After the series was filmed, Wallace became the youngest driver and the first black to win a race on the K&N Pro Series East tour. He won at Greenville Pickens Speedway in March, and then again in July.

CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE STORY ON NASCAR.COM | VIDEO: FEEL THE RUSH OF 'CHANGING LANES'