Interview with Rising NASCAR Star Blake Lothian

Blake Lothian is a rising star from Wellesley, MA. He is a part of the 2019 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Development Class, and one of many African-Americans trying to break out onto the NASCAR scene. 

He spent the vast majority of 2019 driving Legends Cars for Rev Racing, competing in Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Summer Shootout and also races in multiple exhibition races throughout the year in Charlotte. Lothian has been into racing since he was a kid and has always had a strong, burning desire to go fast.

            “I saw NASCAR on TV at a really young age, I was about 5 or 6 years old. Saw it on TV, and I think it was a race at Talladega [Superspeedway],” Lothian recalls. “Me being a kid with ADHD, it just kept me busy for 3 hours out of the week and my parents were okay with it.” 

            Like many professional NASCAR drivers, Lothian started at a young, ripe age.

            “I started locally karting when I was about 11, and I got spotted by the owner of an indoor karting league. He helped me up to the next level, which was outdoor professional karting,” Lothian says. “From there, I applied for Rev Racing, and luckily enough I was selected for the Summer Shootout racing season and made the entire season, coming out relatively unscaved, and yeah, we’re here today.”

            He has many great memories behind the wheel from running karts to Legends Cars. 

“If I had to pick my greatest memory I’d go with this kart race or this race in Wade County. I’ll go with the Kart race because I was racing against my mentor who helped me build my kart, and I was able to beat him. That was a huge accomplishment because I had a bounty on my head since I had won 8 races in a row and me and him were duking it out for the win. I ended up dive-bombing him in the process and that was a crazy day.”

            Blake wants to be in one of the top three NASCAR divisions within the next few years, which is a fairly high expectation for many aspiring drivers.

            “I see myself at least being in the NASCAR Xfinity Series by the time I’m 22-years-old. There is no particular team I want to drive for, but I want to be competitive in anything I drive, no matter who I’m driving for, but I’ll take anything I can get in NASCAR, I just want to race on that level,” Lothian says confidently. 

            Lothian’s favorite professional racecar driver is NASCAR Cup Series star, Michael McDowell. He looks up to McDowell for good reasons. 

“He is an outstanding road racer and a devout Christian, and that gives me a good reason to look up to him,” said Lothian. “He’s so friendly and always speaks to me in a respectful manner whenever I meet him.”

            Lothian’s endeavor to get into Rev Racing can be admired by many. 

“When I was selected by Rev Racing for Drive for Diversity, the feeling was just surreal,” said Lothian. “When you get the call from NASCAR being told you’ve been selected for the combine, it is such a crazy feeling. I had always wanted to go to Charlotte and had never been until that time. It truly was a dream come true to visit Hendrick Motorsports and see the cars being repaired and worked on.” 

            Lothian expects to be racing in the foreseeable future and hopes to get to the top level of NASCAR within the next five years, breaking barriers and winning more races on his journey to the top of the NASCAR ranks.