When semi-retired driver Greg Biffle enters the track this Saturday in the NASCAR Cup Series to qualify for the Daytona 500, he will be driving the No. 44 Grambling State University/HBCU League Pass Plus Chevrolet Camero owned by New York Racing.
The racing team owned by Grambling State alum John Cohen will use Richard Childress Racing-built cars and Hendrick Motorsports engines in partnership with Urban Edge Network.
“As a product of an HBCU and an alumnus of Grambling Football, I’m excited to have them on board with HBCU League Pass Plus,” said Cohen. “I want to thank Chevrolet for this great partnership along with Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Without them, I’m not sure this is possible.”
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Having made a handful of appearances, the team most recently appeared in 2018 for the Coca-Cola 600 with J.J. Yeley.
“Urban Edge Network, Inc., is excited to announce our relationship with black-owned NY Racing,” Todd F. Brown, CEO of Urban Edge Network, Inc., said. “John is an alumnus of Grambling State University. We’re excited to bring our HBCU audience across 101 campuses into the NASCAR arena virtually and physically. We know that our fan base supports sports that reflect and invite blacks into the experience. We’re looking forward to branding and partnering with Fortune 500 companies to support this fully black-owned team as they’ve supported other NASCAR teams in the past.”
For the Daytona 500, here’s the process for qualifying. They do speed trials on Wednesday, then two qualifying races on Thursday, for the race on Sunday. If the Grambling State car is fast enough on Wednesday (it’s somewhat arbitrary as in a 40 car field with 42 drivers trying to qualify, it all boils down to 6 non-chartered cars trying to qualify for the last 4 spots), it’ll race in the Daytona 500. If not, they cam race their way in on their qualifying race on Thursday.
Basically, no matter what, this car will not see the track on Saturday.