For those of you who had forgotten, NASCAR is being sued for $225 million by a black, female former official who is claiming that the organization fostered a culture of rampant sexual and racial harassment. As a refresher, her claims include that she was called ‘Nappy Headed Mo’ and ‘Queen Sheba’ and told she worked on ‘colored people time’ by supervisors, and that she was subject to lewd jokes and sexual advances. Basically, everything in the “good ol’ boy” stereotype that NASCAR wants you (and their sponsors) to think doesn’t exist anymore.

As ugly as the story was from the beginning, this AP article shows that it’s getting far worse. The story details several character issues involving Mauricia Grant, the ex-Nationwide Series inspector who is at the heart of the case. This includes a DUI arrest and having had a restraining order taken out against her by a former boyfriend. NASCAR, of course, is smugly claiming that this essentially proves that she is a person of low moral standing and should not be trusted, while Grant’s lawyers say that her past and her allegations against NASCAR have nothing to do with each other.

My question is: If her background is so spotty as to make her an unreliable accuser, then why in the world did NASCAR hire her in the first place? Shouldn’t they be doing some background checks on the character of their employees, especially those that work directly with the cars. After all, cheating is as much a part of NASCAR as burning rubber, moonshine and Dixie flags. Would it be that hard for a team to bribe an inspector to let their car pass despite some illegal parts?

Also, if I used the phrases “NASCAR” and either “DUI” or “restraining order” together, wouldn’t you just assume that I’m talking about 90 percent of the fan base at any given race? If anything, her background might have made her the perfect candidate to work for NASCAR.

Casting aspersions against the accuser has worked in trial after trial before, and it might work here (although this feels like the equivalent to the “she was totally asking for it” defense). But if NASCAR truly intends to take this to trial, they aren’t going to walk away unscathed either - this is going to be a mess that no one will walk away “victorious” from.