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Las Vegas gay blogger gives racing unique spin
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JESSICA ABELHAR/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Michael Myers of Las Vegas, shown in the media area of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, covers NASCAR and motor sports on his website, Queers4Gears.com. » Buy this photo
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Gay racing blogger Michael Myers was the only journalist to snap a picture of archrivals Kyle Busch, left, and Kevin Harvick shaking hands in the garage area after the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Myers posted the photo on his website, Queers4Gears.com, under the title "Hell Froze Over." Michael Myers/Queers4Gears.com
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jul. 1, 2011 | 10:39 a.m.
Michael Myers likes to say he is more accepted as a gay journalist in the NASCAR community than he is as a NASCAR fan in a gay bar.
The motor sports blogger from Las Vegas blends wit and a lifelong passion for racing on his Queers4Gears.com website that he started two years ago.
He is coming off his biggest weekend of NASCAR reporting and was flying high until running into a bigoted speed bump upon leaving Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., after the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday.
Myers, 38, had just posted an insightful story about Craig Wadsworth, the traveling chef for Michael Waltrip Racing, who talked of being "out" for about 20 years as a gay NASCAR transport driver and chef.
It was groundbreaking journalism in a sport where the term "rainbow" more commonly refers to the color scheme on Jeff Gordon's Dupont Chevy than as a symbol of one's sexual orientation.
After the Cup race, the day got even better when Myers was the only journalist to take a photo of Kyle Busch shaking hands with archrival Kevin Harvick. Myers titled the photo: "Hell Froze Over."
His last bit of work before leaving the track's media center Sunday was to be interviewed by the Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat, when he worked to convince a reporter that he had never experienced prejudice at a NASCAR event as a gay journalist.
His chest, puffed with pride, was temporarily deflated 10 minutes later upon leaving the track and checking Twitter. He read a homophobic comment that accompanied a photo of a van in the Infineon parking lot with a sign that stated "On Our Way to SF Gay Pride" parade.
"This is (why) I don't live here," tweeted Jeremy Fuller, whose Twitter biography said he was a tire changer for the Red Bull Racing Team.
One of Fuller's Twitter followers replied, "if we could get rid of them it'd be a lot better." To which, Fuller added, "(lots of laughs) ... Don't we all wish!!"
Myers posted the photo and bigoted comments on his website before requesting a response from the Red Bull team.
On Monday, Fuller was fired and the team said in a prepared statement, "We have zero tolerance for such violations and in no way support any of the comments posted by this individual."
"It shows corporate America takes homophobic slurs as seriously as they would have taken a racial slur or a sexist slur," said Myers, a Las Vegas resident for four years.
Myers strives to keep stories and social network posts lighthearted and promotes NASCAR as an inclusive community, but he said he could not ignore those posts.
"I hated that this happened. I regret that anyone lost their job. An apology to the (gay) community would have sufficed," Myers said this week.
The other person in the Twitter exchange, who is believed not to be involved with NASCAR, tweeted an apology Wednesday that Myers posted.
This week, Myers said his website "blew up" with page views after several NASCAR journalists wrote articles and posted comments about the incident on Twitter and Facebook.
He also has done several national radio and TV interviews this week. He said his website, which had been averaging 2,000 unique visits per month, jumped to 2,200 daily visits on Sunday, 2,800 on Monday and 4,600 on Tuesday before leveling off at 4,500 on Wednesday.
"I never considered myself a powerful media person and still don't," Myers said. "I just make stupid tweets and try to make people laugh."
Despite the Twitter incident and some other negative posts, Myers insists he has been accepted by NASCAR officials, race teams and racetracks. He has been embraced, not shunned.
His conversational style has humorous inflections that are interesting to any race fan. But he adds a gay perspective -- often with a wink -- such as referring to NASCAR drivers as "divas."
"It has been scientifically proven that gays love a parade," he wrote before last weekend's race. "But some of us also love fast cars and hot drivers. Why not skip the parade and head out to Sonoma to watch a much faster line of brightly colored vehicles go by."
Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.
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