The Sprint Cup Girls: Paige Duke is on the right.
Miss Hearst Golden Shifter: Linda Vaughn
Paige Duke, a 24-year-old beauty served — until this past week — as one of three “Sprint Cup Girls” for the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) racing series.
The Sprint Cup girls aren’t chosen for their knowledge of racing, their intellectual prowess or their educational credentials. They get picked because they’re young, beautiful and look good in form-fitting racing suits.
But a decision by Duke six years ago to shed her clothes for some pictures to send her boyfriend landed her in hot water with NASCAR — for violating the “morals clause” of her contract.
The photos of Duke — then an 18-year-old freshman at Clemson — surfaced on an Internet site that mixes racing news with “hottie of the week” photos. She didn’t give them the photos and hasn’t seen the boyfriend in years. Her lawyers moved quickly to force the web site to remove the photos but it wasn’t quick enough for NASCAR. They fired her over the phone.
NASCAR’s move is hypocritical at best. They parade young women around as part of their show because they look sexy in tight costumes but send one of them packing because something they did as a private thing six years ago is immoral?
Strange behavior for a “sport” that grew out of the moonshining days.
NASCAR has always been an outfit that pushes “family value” and “morality” with a naughty blink of the eye. Have they forgotten the glory days of sexpots like the legendary Linda Vaughn — Miss Hearst Golden Shifter — of the sordid history of a past Miss Winston Cup who violated her contract by secretly dating young driver Jeff Gordon before marrying him and then hauling him into divorce court to take half of his millions?
You can’t push sex as part of the side show and then act shocked when sex becomes more than they bargained for.
Yes, what Paige Duke did as an 18-year-old was stupid but most of us did stupid things when we were young. Hell, some of us still do stupid things as so-called “adults.”
NASCAR expects drivers to prostitute themselves to sponsors. The sport sold out long ago.
Firing Paige Duke is a holier-than-thou move that proves just how out-of-touch NASCAR has become.
Paige Duke: Too hot for NASCAR?
Related articles
- Miss Sprint Cup fired for nude pix (capitolhillblue.com)
- Paige Duke: Former Miss Sprint Cup Still Paying for Past Foolish Mistake (bleacherreport.com)
- Stripped Of Her Miss Sprint Cup Crown Because Of Nude Pictures, Paige Duke Tells Her Side Of The Story [Video] (deadspin.com)
- Was Miss Sprint Cup fired over racy Clemson photos? (offthebench.nbcsports.com)
Racing has always been something that I enjoyed but I have realized that if you really want to watch actual racing you have to go to one of the local tracks. NASCAR is becoming a slick marketing machine with less and less emphasis on what made them so popular.
Doug, if you ever have the desire to see real racing let me know.
Such a shame. The perils of work as a piece of meat. I have no idea why this inspired you to write anything. She should send you a thank you note for all those that will be searching for more information about this insignificant spokesmodel.
As a resident of a right to work state I care even less. Didn’t you ever sign one of those employer forms that says they can fire you at any time, without cause?
She probably had some contract and if this action violates that agreement then it’s a legal matter, not another tabloid story.
Ok, yeah it sucks that Sprint fired her over something that happened a lifetime ago and really not that big of a deal anymore (in today’s world thanks to girls like Lohan, Hudgens, Lively, etc.) But whoever said Sprint was cool or in touch with today’s world?
Consider this though, perhaps this was not some accidental or unknown “leak” of the Paige Duke pics. Does Vanessa Hudgens scandal ring a bell here? There was alot of talk that Vanessa staged the leak of her pictures to gain extra buzz, celebrity and “increased” brand awareness (they say any publicity or buzz is good publicity because it gets people talking about you) All that translates in to more money in the long run.
And to Sprint, really who is complaining here? She is a really hot chick – see the JLA Watercooler for the full uncensored set if you don’t believe me.
All this will do is just bring some extra buzz to what she was doing for Sprint. And now since they fired her, they still get the buzz but better yet, so does Paige. Maybe that is the way it was all planned to begin with? Just maybe……….
NASCAR has bigger things to worry about right now, like that monster traffic jam that kept people from getting into the racetrack to see the Cup race in Kentucky last Saturday night.