Gay nascar driver dating cop

When out NASCAR driver Zach Herrin recently returned to the track after a year absence, corporations weren’t exactly knocking down his door to slap their logos on his racing suit. Stephen Rhodes became the first ever homosexual NASCAR driver to race in the sanctioning stock car series. Rhodes would only make 2 starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series and would not. Herrin, an auto racing prodigy who started driving professionally when he was 16 years old, walked away from the track when he began dating his boyfriend.

Nearly six years later, he’s ready to. Stephen Rhodes (born March 27, ) is an American stock car racing driver. A former competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he is seeking to return to competition in the sport. When he made his debut in , he became the first openly gay driver to compete in a NASCAR national touring series event. Zach Herrin is more than just an openly gay NASCAR driver.

He is a trailblazer, a symbol of acceptance and inclusion, and a role model for LGBTQ+ people who love racing. Rouse is shown with a young fan following a race. The lack of role models has been discouraging, but Devon Rouse is emboldened knowing that he will be that example for someone else. In October , Devon Rouse booked a weeklong trip to Florida on a whim.

He had never been on an airplane. On the last night of his Florida trip, Rouse, 22, was at a patio bar with friends in Clearwater when he noticed a group of guys wearing the NASCAR truck team logo. He struck up a conversation and, three hours later, they were exchanging numbers and promising to keep in touch. Soon, they invited Rouse to join them at a Charlotte, N. Three months later, he was racing trucks himself.

Though it was a dream come true, Rouse felt stifled by a secret he had carried since he was in Grade 7. He was gay, and terrified that someone would find out. I could sit here and have a conversation with somebody and after every sentence I would pause and think about how I said something to see if that was a giveaway. It was around fans. It was around sponsors. It was around friends.

It was around family. Darling has said that the decision cost him his sponsorships, and eventually his career. Fourteen years after Darling came out, Rouse has also struggled to book adequate sponsorship. Since coming out, Rouse has had members of the media question his motives, suggesting he did it to raise his profile.

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That lack of role models has been discouraging, but Rouse is emboldened knowing that he will be that example for someone else. I had the literal biggest crush on Colton when he was on the show. So here is the thing. We are going to have to hangout. But now that I am per cent comfortable with myself, my limitations are endless.

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