Catchfence

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 1, 2010) – Twenty-three students from across the United States have been selected to participate in the 2010 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program that starts today and gives minority college students the opportunity to complete 10-week, paid summer internships within the NASCAR industry.

Since its inception in 2000, interns have gained experience working in marketing, engineering, public relations, licensing, diversity and public affairs. Participation in the program has led to full-time positions in the industry for a number of past interns.

“The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program has introduced hundreds of students from diverse backgrounds to professional opportunities in NASCAR,” said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR’s managing director of public affairs, who oversees the diversity department. “The program has played an important role in NASCAR’s efforts to attract the best and brightest to our industry.”

The program features internships offered by NASCAR offices, sponsors, licensees, teams, tracks and broadcast partners. In addition to NASCAR and GRAND-AM corporate offices in Daytona Beach, Charlotte, New York, and Los Angeles, the following companies are participating in 2010: Roush Fenway Racing, The SPEED Channel, The 909 Group, International Speedway Corporation (ISC), Daytona International Speedway, Just Marketing International, Catalyst Public Relations and Octagon.

The current intern class began their NASCAR experience with an orientation session during the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The group visited the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, the Sam Bass NASCAR Art Gallery, Revolution Racing headquarters, and attended the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman. In addition, the group met with a number of key people in the NASCAR industry including NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew members, drivers, and NASCAR executives.

Each year, the internships are available to college sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students across the country. To be eligible, students must be in good standing with their school and community and have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average.

In addition to the internship program, NASCAR awards diversity scholarships in tribute to NASCAR legend Wendell Scott, has an at-track diversity mentorship program and a college tour that visits historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions.

Attached is a list of the students and their colleges. More information on the internship program is available at www.nascardiversity.com.

Student and Hometown	School	Internship
Marvin Aylor (Falls Church, Va.)	Virginia Tech University	NASCAR Automotive Aftermarket (Charlotte)
Matthew Bergey (Bristol, Pa.)	Temple University	NASCAR Licensing (Charlotte)
Amber Crutchfield (Upper Marlboro, Md.)	Bowie State University	The 909 Group
Mathieu El Sokhn (Miami, Fla.)	University of Florida	GRAND-AM (Daytona Beach)
Carrington Gilbert (Humble, Tex.)	Texas A&M University	NASCAR Public Relations (N.Y.)
Azalea Hutchins (Chicago, Ill.)	Clark Atlanta University	NASCAR Corporate Marketing (N.Y.)
Marc Jenkins (Lithonia, Ga.)	North Carolina A&T University	NASCAR Weekly & Touring Series (Daytona Beach)
Alicia Joiner (Batesville, Miss.)	Southern Mississippi University	NASCAR Series Operations (Daytona Beach)
Trevor Joseph (St. Croix, Virgin Islands)	University of Virgin Islands	Just Marketing International
Kathryn Lee (Jacksonville, Fla.)	University of Central Florida	NASCAR Human Resources (Daytona Beach)
Nicole McAdoo (Elkridge, Md.)	Ithaca College	ISC Marketing
Kiah McBride (Greensboro, N.C.)	Howard University	NASCAR Brand & Consumer Marketing (Daytona Beach)
Brittany Meyer (New Braunfels, Tex.)	Washington University in St. Louis	NASCAR Public Affairs (Daytona Beach)
Mariel Moorer (Lansing, Mich.)	University of Michigan	NASCAR Public Relations (Los Angeles)
Brittani Parker (Sharpsburg, N.C.)	Winston-Salem State University	NASCAR Foundation (Charlotte)
Emanuel Reid (Johnson City, Tenn.)	Johnson C. Smith University	NASCAR Diversity (Daytona Beach)
CiQuinta “Quinn” Shaw (Gray Court, S.C.)	Johnson C. Smith University	Catalyst Public Relations
Michelle Smith (Teaneck, N.J.)	Hampton University	Octagon
Priyanka Vohra (Johns Creek, Ga.)	Syracuse University	SPEED TV
Kenisha Webb (Homewood, Ill.)	Wright State University	NASCAR Media Group (Charlotte)
Sharna Wilson (New Haven, Conn.)	Bethune Cookman College	Daytona International Speedway
Joseph Zak (Atlanta, Ga.)	Morehouse College	NASCAR Diversity (Daytona Beach)
Liz Zhou (Livermore, Calif.)	Harvard University	ISC Marketing