News :: GLBT
First Openly Gay Driver in NASCAR Circuit by Brian Theobald
EDGE ContributorMonday Apr 23, 2007"I’m going to be the first gay pro racecar driver," Evan Darling said in no uncertain terms in February on the Internet radio show "Lady and the Tramp." Though, when pressed, he told host Lady Chablis that he considers himself more of "a racecar driver who happens to be gay" than "a gay racecar driver."
However one wants to define the socially correct parameters, Darling, 39, finally got to live out his dream earlier this month. After slumming in the amateur division for about 13 years, he competed in his first pro race, the Grand-Am Koni Challenge in Miami on April 13.
"I think it’s a pretty bold move, being an out pro racecar driver," he says in a phone interview with EDGE. "But every step we make, where we have people doing things that you don’t see a typical gay person doing, is a step in the right direction."
He says his interest in auto-racing has long preceded his sexuality. "When they’d ask you what you want to be when you grow up, I’d always say racecar driver," he recalls.
As with most racers, his journey to the top came in fits and starts, and struggles to come up with sponsorship deals and enough money to enter races. After graduating from high school in Andover, Mass., he moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where he moonlighted as a mechanic, then started a fairly successful landscaping business--only to sell it to pursue racing full time. Through it all, he was always open and honest about his sexuality, even to the point of plastering the name of a gay bar, George’s Alibi, on the side of his car. He says this caused surprisingly little friction, even in the culturally conservative world of auto-racing.
"I’ve had that on my car for the past two years and I haven’t run into a problem yet," he says. "My boyfriend’s come to the track to watch me race and he’s always been comfortable. Without me throwing it in people’s faces, I don’t think it’s a problem."
Unfortunately, his home life wasn’t so smooth. When he came out at 18, his parents sent him to a psychiatrist. "That was their way of dealing with it," he recalls. "They just didn’t understand. They’re from a different time." He says his parents have come to accept him, though their relationship is somewhat strained. "They still want me to meet a nice girl," he laughs.
Darling also admits that he may eventually catch some flak from the nation’s most seemingly macho sports league.
"My sexuality might be an issue if I got into NASCAR," he says, citing the decidedly red-state audience, "though more with the fans than with the players." Surprisingly, at least one racing enthusiast disagrees.
"I think it’s a pretty bold move, being an out pro racecar driver. But every step we make, where we have people doing things that you don’t see a typical gay person doing, is a step in the right direction."
"There’s a lot more diversity then people realize from TV," says a gay male NASCAR fan who goes by the drag handle Betty Jack DeVine. "Two of my friends who go to the races are out and open lesbians and they’re absolutely beloved by their neighbors."
DeVine was drawn to the sport after noticing the chiseled good looks of today’s drivers, a far cry from the rough-and-tumble racers of yore. "A lot of these guys were very, very handsome," he coos in a husky Southern drawl.
On a whim, he and a boyfriend started Gaytona.com, a web site where other gay race fans could ogle the drivers and discuss their stats with equal aplomb. He was shocked at all the hits his site almost immediately began receiving. "I didn’t know there were any gay NASCAR fans," he says. "But people just kept coming."
He also thinks that a gay NASCAR driver would earn the respect of fans.
"There’s certainly a minority presence at the races," he says. "Not a very big one, but it’s there. Black drivers and women drivers have their fans so I think a gay driver would have the possibility to break out. I’d love it if Evan got famous."
But professional gay athletes of all stripes may still have a long way to go in terms of gaining acceptance. In 2003, Boston Herald sportswriter Ed Gray came out of the closet and blasted what he perceived as the tolerance of rank homophobia in the sports world, citing many derogatory comments made by players.
"It just got to the point where I didn’t want to be silent anymore," he told The Associated Press. In the few years since, things don’t seem to have gotten much better. According to statistics cited by Outsports.com co-founder Jim Buzinski, many gay players exist in the team sports arena, but none of them are willing to be open about it.
"It’s not even a question," he says. "No one qualifies it anymore. The fact is, it is still difficult or perceived as difficult to come out. The culture or their fear of what might happen to them keeps people closeted."
For his part, Darling says he’d like to offer himself as role model, and has lent his support to the Trevor Project, a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline for gay and questioning youth, though he’d like people to focus more on his abilities than his sexuality.
"I’m not doing what I’m doing to make a point," he says. "I’m doing it because I love racing. And whatever else can come with that, if I can do some good or insight change, that’s an added benefit."
Brian Theobald is a freelance journalist. He lives on Long Island.
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