(indystar) As the sanctioning body of America's most popular auto racing series, NASCAR is all about speed. But some question whether it is moving fast enough on diversity issues as the series arrives in Indianapolis this week for Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. "It's a sport that's evolving," Brian France, NASCAR's chairman and CEO told reporters last month at Michigan International Speedway. "It's a sport that is reaching out in lots of different ways to be more diverse. . . . We're an American sport. We need to look and feel more like America." Mauricia Grant is a black former technical inspector and official for NASCAR who on June 11 filed a 5 million lawsuit against the series in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Grant, 32, alleges 23 incidents of sexual harassment and 34 incidents of racial and gender discrimination occurred between her hiring in January 2005 and her termination in October 2007. Grant claims in the lawsuit that she complained on several occasions to her immediate supervisor. France denies that claim. The suit reinforces old stereotypes and calls into question NASCAR's attempts to diversify. What is NASCAR doing? What is its responsibility? How important is it that the sport appeal to a wider constituency?

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