Racism is no joke, F1 champion says

Hamilton trying to look past abuse

Lewis Hamilton rejected F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's assertion on Thursday in London that racist abuse directed at the driver probably started as a joke.

F1's first black champion was the target of racist abuse on a Spanish Web site and endured other insults in the buildup to this past Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton's father Anthony said he had often considered withdrawing the 23-year-old driver from the sport because of the abuse.

"[It was] probably beginning as a joke rather than anything abusive," Ecclestone said Thursday in a radio interview, pointing to poor sportsmanship rather than racism by Spanish and Brazilian fans. "I don't see why people should have been [insulted by it]. These things are people expressing themselves."

Hamilton disagreed and said he "didn't see it as a joke."

"It's something that happened, but it is in the past, you've got to look forward," said the McLaren driver, who clinched the F1 title by a single point over Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa at the Interlagos circuit.

In the week leading up to the Brazilian race, Hamilton was the target of racist abuse on a Spanish Web site, was insulted by two Brazilian comedians and was handed a black cat -- a symbol of bad luck in Brazil -- at a sponsor's function.

In February, a group of people at testing near Barcelona wore dark face paint with T-shirts displaying the slogan "Hamilton's Family." Hamilton has become a target for many Spaniards who believe the British driver derailed Fernando Alonso's championship hopes at McLaren last year.

"I don't think we should even be talking about racism," Ecclestone had told The Associated Press at the time. "I really think that they are against Hamilton for his ability, not because he is black. I always thought it was a bit of a prank -- they're probably not racist at all."

ALONSO TO STAY WITH RENAULT: Fernando Alonso opted to stay with Renault, signing a two-year contract extension Wednesday that will keep him at the French Formula One team through 2010.

Renault also said Nelson Piquet Jr. will remain with the team, leaving its driver lineup unchanged for the 2009 season.

TRIO SELECTED FOR NMPA HALL: Long-time car owner Junie Donlavey and two veterans of the motorsports media -- editor and TV analyst Chris Economaki and photographer T. Taylor Warren -- have been elected to the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

Donlavey made his debut as a car owner at Martinsville in 1950 and had cars in 863 races in NASCAR's top series through 2002. Speedy Thompson, Buck Baker, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Dick Trickle and Jody Ridley are among those who drove Donlavey's cars.

Economaki is known as the dean of motorsports journalism. He went to his first race on a board track in Atlantic City, N.J., nearly 80 years ago and began selling copies of National Speed Sport News at age 13. He became editor of that publication in 1950 and has worked there ever since. He also traveled the world covering motorsports for that paper and as a television analyst and has been a fixture at every major American racing event, such as the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500, for decades.

Warren's photograph of the finish of the first Daytona 500 in 1959 helped determine Lee Petty as the race winner. Warren died Oct. 8 at age 83.

The induction will be held in Concord in January.

David Poole

BIDDING OPEN FOR ROBBY GORDON HOOD: A race car hood autographed by driver Robby Gordon is being auctioned on eBay to benefit Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency assistance to U.S. troops and their families.

Veterans Day, Nov. 11, will be the last day to bid on the hood, which has an Jim Beam Bourbon-Operation Homefront paint scheme used in the Richmond and New Hampshire Sprint Cup races.

The auction is being conducted through eBay's charitable arm, eBay Giving Works, a fundraising platform for nonprofits. Learn more at www.ebay.com/ operationhomefront.

From Team News Release