ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Someday, NASCAR's version of Tiger Woods will rattle these tall Carolina pines and thunder toward victory lane at North Carolina Speedway. He'll grab the trophy, tip his hat, and be on his way to winning the Winston Cup championship.

His fans will filter to the souvenir trailer that holds his hats, shirts, coozies, and bumper stickers. They'll spend thousands of dollars just to be a part of his color-coordinated Armada.

Someday, a minority driver will be the best of the stock car racing world.

	By co-owning a Busch Series team, Julius Erving hopes to help open doors for minorities in NASCAR.

However, it won't happen today. It won't happen this year.

As it's been since a black man named Wendell Scott gave up circling the south's hills and hollows 25 years ago, there are no full-time minority drivers in NASCAR's top touring division. Willy T. Ribbs is the only other black driver to have run a Winston Cup race. Ribbs ran three events in 1986.

Additionally, while America's fastest-growing spectator sport continues to attract millions of fans a year to the 36 events that make up the Winston Cup schedule, only a handful of those spectators are minorities.

The sport that grew of southern roots in 1948 to a $2 billion industry in 1999 can't shake free of the lily white stereotypes that blossomed as soon as those famous good ol' boys made their first laps around the fairgrounds and bullrings that decorated the once-segregated south. Now, 52 years after Bill France Sr. organized that roughshod bunch into a professional racing league, his grandson, NASCAR's senior vice president, Brian France, has made a commitment to diversify the sport that has been in his family's control since its onset.

Brian France, whose main job is to oversee the business deals of NASCAR, spoke with Jesse Jackson's PUSH Coalition last summer and has formed a committee within the sanctioning body's ranks to address the issues affecting diversity in NASCAR. One person offering his opinion to France is former NFL running back Joe Washington.

Washington and former NBA star Julius "Dr. J" Erving are co-owners of the No. 50 Dr Pepper Chevrolet on NASCAR's Triple A circuit, the Busch Series, Grand National Division. Along with black businessmen Fields Jackson and Asa Murray, Washington-Erving Motorsports fields the only minority-owned team in either of NASCAR's top two touring divisions.

"Unfortunately, NASCAR has a perception placed on it," Washington said. "Whether warranted or not, it is a perception. One of the things we all have to do is do away with that perception. We've got to make sure everybody understands and knows that NASCAR is an open place, available to anyone who wants to get in.

"If NASCAR is prejudiced, it's biased for only one color, and that's green. If you've got the green, then you can be involved in this sport. The only thing I've had to overcome is learning the racing business."

Considering the level of competition in NASCAR is at an all-time high, Washington-Erving Motorsports has been reasonably successful. In their inaugural year of competition in 1998, the team finished 38th in the final Busch Series points standings. They improved last season to post a 25th-place finish and expect to better that position in 2000 with driver Tony Roper.

	“	If NASCAR is prejudiced, it's biased for only one color, and that's green. If you've got the green, then you can be involved in this sport. The only thing I've had to overcome is learning the racing business. ”
		— Joe Washington, Busch Series team owner

Washington never wavers from his belief that he belongs in NASCAR racing. In fact, he's been inundated with support week in and week out from his peers and fans alike.

"This is a friendly place," he said. "We've got black owners and you don't have that in the NFL.

"As I came here, there are going to be more people. (The minority aspect) will be a thing we won't even talk about anymore in years to come. That's what Julius and I are striving for is to get to a point in our lives when you open an encyclopedia after we're dead and gone and find our names under the heading of NASCAR and not just football and basketball."

Washington, who twice finished second to Archie Griffin in the voting for the Heisman Trophy and won a Super Bowl ring with the Washington Redskins in 1982, couldn't be happier or more excited than to be a part of the stock car racing world.

"As far as being a football player, when you retire, you look for some excitement -- something that's on the edge," Washington said. "Football is on the edge. It's life and death. You wear equipment, and you're out there trying to maim people. Once you get out there on the field, you get your adrenaline flowing and get into it.

"Once you come (to the race track) and you see this particular sport -- the engines growling, the amount of horsepower these guys are sitting on, the chances these guys take -- hey, you'll think football is absolutely nothing."

That's the message Washington wants to get out to fans of all ages and races. NASCAR isn't about black and white until the checkered flag falls. NASCAR is a sport that can be enjoyed by anyone. It's a sport where the level of excitement is amplified 10-fold over that of basketball, football, baseball and other professional sports.

Even though there were no minorities participating in NASCAR at the time Washington saw his first race, the 1997 Daytona 500, he was mesmerized and hasn't been able to shake free of it since.

"It doesn't concern me that there aren't as many (minorities involved) as there probably will be, because you've got to start somewhere," Washington said. "Look at Jackie Robinson. You've gotta start somewhere.

"We're in it and we've shown we can compete. (The lack of minority participation) doesn't bother me, because it's going to happen. The fact that we're here is more than you've had before. I hope our being here draws other people in to get involved.

"What concerns me is the fact that you've got to have corporate America step up and take a chance supporting some of these minority owners and drivers with sponsorship. If that doesn't happen, then it won't make a hill of beans."

Money is the number one problem facing NASCAR as it attempts to diversify its fan and competitor base. NASCAR is all about corporate dollars -- those big-buck sponsors that put the wheels on the cars and pay for the engines that turn them. If the minority role in NASCAR is going to grow, corporations are going to be at the forefront of that movement.

"It's tough for youngsters -- minorities in particular -- because this isn't a sport that you can go down to your neighborhood park and pick up and do," Washington said. "The level of financing is intense. That's what separates some of the better teams from some that aren't as good. This sport, more than any other, is really indicative of the amount of money you put into it.

"We've got minority drivers that are waiting on sponsors. They can be a force if someone will take a chance on them. It doesn't matter if you're black or white, you still need the financing and the sponsorships to be able to do what you can do. We have a couple minority drivers that we hope to race this year. We've got a sponsor that's willing to come on board and take that chance."

One of those might just be the guy that pulls a Tiger Woods act and goes straight to the top.