Catchfence

Paulie Harraka, a rising junior, is not your typical Duke athlete.

Harraka’s sport is auto racing, not basketball or football. He is set to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in Montreal in the No. 87 Chevy for NEMCO Motorsports on Sunday, and the track isn’t all he’s had to navigate.

NASCAR has been trying to diversify its driving ranks, and Harraka, 20, who is of Syrian heritage, is part of the process. Harraka, a sociology major from New Jersey, is one of 10 drivers who will be appearing in a new racing reality TV show called “Changing Lanes” that bills itself as part of the search for “the next female or minority driving sensation,” according to a news release for the show.

The eight-episode series has already been filmed and will air on BET starting Wednesday.

In 2004, NASCAR, which says 40 percent of its fans are women and 20 percent are minorities, started the Drive for Diversity initiative, which seeks to develop minority and female drivers and crew members. Harraka went through the program in 2007, where he emerged as the fastest driver in that batch of participants.

“One of NASCAR’s key goals is to have the sport look more like America,” said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR’s managing director of public affairs. “In order to continue to be the premier racing series in the world, we need to expand the pool of talent. That was the thinking behind it.”

- News & Observer