Nicole LaRose has become well known across the Northeast short track racing scene for her unique annual Driver Sponsorship calendar program and her multimedia media work for Stafford Speedway and Sid’s Vault Productions.
On Monday the 20-year old bravely took to Facebook to share a harrowing story of sexual harassment experienced at a race track recently.
Her message is one that needs to be heard by all across the spectrum of short track racing and she deserves mountains of credit for having the courage to bring it out in the open. View her message below.
Poor woman has been conditioned to a certain amount of backward behavior that’s clear. Accepting it to some degree as a reality given the demographics of the racing environment.
It started out as pretty controllable sexism. Must happen all the time. Then it escalates to assault. Then to assault and battery. The easy reaction is why isn’t a cop or at the very least track official summoned. It’s just not that easy. The problem is women at races have been conditioned to accept a certain amount of the when in Rome syndrome.
This is a good first step. Going public. Tracks can’t take counter measures if they don’t know it’s happening. The next is to insist the same standards at a race track that you would in an elevator at a bank.
It was assault and battery.
You are totally right Nicole. I am probably MORE disgusted with the team THAT YOU GAVE MONEY TO, that they acted like total asses.
i’d like to commend you for posting that video, that all needed to be said. where was the crew chief on that car? that kind of behavior can’t be allowed on a team (or their buddies). i’d consider pulling whatever sponsorship you’re providing them, gotta make the point somehow.
Nicole has always presented herself as a strong, confident, intelligent woman in my experience. You can now ad brave, forward thinking roll model to that list. I commend her actions and most certainly condone this boorish behavior by AJ, the assailant, and the accepting bystanders that first condone the completely unacceptable assault then later attempt to explain away the situation.
It’s up to each and every person to stand up and say this is not right when this happens right on the spot. Do not laugh along, stand idly by, nor simply walk away. Do stand with the one needing support and vocally say that is wrong and will not be tolerated
Who was she supposed tell when there’s no security or police at the track?. They let people stumble around drunk in the pits down there? Don’t they at least try to regulate that up here? An official dies. A huge brawl with apparently so far no consequences. And now this.
AJ would have been torn to shreads if there were any REAL MEN PRESENT. Wow as a Dad of two beautiful daughters There would be no mercy on AJ , I would be taking a ride to Jersey and AJ would never lay hands on anyone else… AJ DRUNK PUNK you will be Exposed… That I am Sure,,,!!!!
i still say those ass……s who she GAVE money to are as much responsible for not having the STONES for stepping up. I would have buried AJ. Thats what we do i Brooklyn
Make sure “AJ” gets all the attention possible, and tracks are aware of who this is, and he is never allowed on any track property again. Something tells me this turd has done this many times before.
That the other turds stood by laughing along is disturbing, very disturbing. ID them, each and every one, and make sure all tracks are aware of who they are and are prohibited from track property.
This is a bigly sad condition in our society. Look at this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYqKx1GuZGg
People loved that. Even after that was released, he made it through the primaries and was elected. Then after four years, 73 million voted for him again. Oh, it is indeed political. There are many more in office, and have been forced out of office for deplorable behavior. That it happened at this level makes it normal and emboldens others.
This behavior is baked into our society and civilization, and has been for thousands of years. Doesn’t make it right. It’s part of the major Abrahamic religions, and our political system calls itself Judeo-Christian, so it is indeed a political thing. Women are subjugated to male domination, and it is rooted in and derived from religion. And people are terrified to spend an afterlife burning 🔥, so they go along with it.
The major evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, that weirdo Ken, and particularly Franklin Graham, all supported Trump, a flagrant misogynist. Religious leaders told their flocks to vote for Trump.
Do not be afraid to say this is political. When cretins like Trump are in office, and there are many others, this is political.
Yes, this is to be expected, but should not be tolerated. There will always be idiots, and they will do what they do. But as long as the sacred texts (religion) inculcate women to be subjugated to the religion dictated superior male, this is what happens. As long as our political systems fall back on sacred texts and religion, this is the way it will be. Our society is not as secular as you might think, when folks can’t get what they want legally, they whip out the God card and the Bible, and stir up the primal fear and reward response. Read “The Cult of the Constitution”, a great book that explains how the Constitution is abused to let this sort of thing go on.
“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” – Albert Einstein
Isn’t that the way religion works? 72 virgins, live forever, burn in hell, etc.
Women have to rise up and do what they need to do to. This will embolden many of these jerks. Just look what has gone on the last four or so years. When something like this happens, pull out your cameras and record!!!!! Then give the guy tremendous attention and exposure. What do you think their wives and girlfriends will think? 🤔 The deployment of police body cameras has reduced police malfeasance by some 85%!!!
Then there is the track… little to no security. A brawl early in the week. A guy dies. I wonder how many other women were treated like this, but don’t bother to speak out? That’s Florida, that’s the racing scene. Don’t complain about or be surprised at the reputation racing has when this goes on as normal.
To those idiots that say something like, “I have daughters and I wouldn’t tolerate this”, what if you didn’t have daughters? Do you have a wife? Doesn’t she count? Not your problem if not your daughter?
I’m thinking Nicole is going to have a tremendous number of “uncles” at the track, and folks had better learn to be polite and respectful. The lack of security at the tracks can work both ways.
Nicole, you are an extremely brave and strong young lady for giving the world yet another desperately needed wake-up call. I find it astonishing that it even happened in this day and age. “Back in the day” (70’s and 80’s) I would see this type of stuff at racetracks. Even then, most people would verbally assault the “racetrack village idiot” into submission and total embarrassment. I don’t know which is more horrendous; the fact that it happened to begin with, or that the race team receiving your sponsorship $$ you worked so hard to provide stood by and did nothing. Hopefully your bravery and strength to create your post will be another positive step to eliminate the “caveman mentality” in society.
What Ken are you referring to dareal???
if the team who took the money from Nicole had ANY scruples, they will return it to her NOW, and she can give to a more DESERVING team. Bunch of sniveling cowards.
Thank you Nicole for coming forward and exposing one of racing’s dirty secrets. Unfortunately after many years of progress there are still some who support the underlying culture of “No T!ts in the Pits”. If you do complain the response is usually “if you don’t like it you can leave”.
It is also insulting to expect that a woman’s husband or boyfriend should have to come to her rescue to “defend her honor” and possibly end up getting arrested for beating the crap out of the offender.
I know it’s been a whole week but haven’t we established fighting is bad. Especially when people die. Regardless of the situation. That being said, the treatment this young women received is not ok and I give her credit for standing up for herself.
Nicole, thank you for having the courage to share your ordeal with us, many woman wouldn’t. It’s a true shame you had to go through that, even more so that the people around stayed silent. I hope sharing this helped you. Unfortunately there are too many AJ’s in this world, but in no way can his behaviors be tolerated.
I’ve always been so impressed with Nicole’s work. What she did here is beyond amazing – good for her in sharing her experience and opening up a conversation that has to happen. What she experienced is not OK.
Ken L enquired, “What Ken are you referring to dareal???”
The Ken I was referring to in the list of evangelical leaders is that little weirdo Ken… he’s kinda short with what appears to be a disproportionately large head/face.
“The major evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, that weirdo Ken, and particularly Franklin Graham, all supported Trump, a flagrant misogynist. Religious leaders told their flocks to vote for Trump.”
“This is not political”. Dafella- “Hold my beer”
Let’s talk to some of the witnesses of this event. Some journalism maybe. Sounds horrible let’s expose the people who trivialized it
I love this website and reading what “most people” have to say, but I am really getting sick of what the idiot darealgoodfella writes. It is making not wanting to go on this site a couple times a day like I do now.
she was assaulted ! … and if it was so harrowing call the police and out everyone involved. why protect these pigs? she needs to take it further and those responsible need to be held accountable. talk is a great start BUT bringing those to justice, naming the track will bring the proper backlash, punishment . until you do that its a little self serving .
Sour Grapes SVU,
Not for nothing, but you just came on here and participated in victim shaming while using an anonymous screen name. Do you have any idea the level of cowardly and spineless what you just did is? Obviously I know what I’m saying will not resonate with you because you just did what you did and had no reservations doing that, so it’s clear pointing out just how cowardly what you just did is pointless as it relates to getting through to you. Nicole put her name and face behind standing up for women being harassed and assaulted at the track and you hid behind an anonymous screen name to shame her for doing that and tell her she didn’t do it the right way, what you deem to be acceptable? You may not realize this, but you’re part of the problem. You’re part of the issue within this culture that causes things like this to happen.
CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE, thank you very much. I love that feedback, for it means I’ve hit the target. Are you feeling pressure? Are you worried about some changes? I spoke out against the deplorable act that happened to Nicole, and you are complaining about that. Do you realize what that says about you? Why does that upset you?
Doug, you behave like an idiot. You regularly refer to women as “chicks”. And you have been called out for it several times, and you continue to do it with complete obstinance and arrogance. By doing so, and insisting on doing so, you regularly demonstrate that you are an idiot. That you showed up in this thread is egregiously deplorable and disgusting.
Thank you Shawn for calling out the coward Sour Grapes SVU and pointing out he is a spineless captain keyboard kind of loser that is everything wrong with todays culture. Stand up like a man you masked chicken! This young lady has more courage in her pinky finger then you do in your whole cowardly chicken shaped body. Can’t really blame you for not using your name and bringing shame to yourself and your entire family but keep your mouth shut and avoid the situation all together is a possibility as well
sour grapes SVU, you say some really idiotic stuff.
It is so sad that it does take extraordinary courage for the victim to speak out. That is because she is only going to be targeted more so by those that believe that they are free to do this, and they know it is very hard to press charges, prosecute and convict. These cretins will indeed target her to terrorize her. That the crew stood around laughing is sickening. They should be witnesses, but were aiding and abetting.
The lack of activity on this thread is disappointing. That idiots that refer to women as “chicks” post on this thread in support of the victim is laughable. The hypocrisy is palpable.
This is from Doug, in the first post of this thread: “Poor woman has been conditioned to a certain amount of backward behavior that’s clear. Accepting it to some degree as a reality given the demographics of the racing environment. It started out as pretty controllable sexism. Must happen all the time. ”
Doug, it appears you are admitting to something here?
What exactly is “controllable sexism”, and how did you get that from the victim’s presentation? Seems like you are very familiar, perhaps too familiar, with this behavior. “Controllable sexism” is as absurd as when Trump said he was the “least racist person”. He’s so stupid he didn’t realize he was admitting to being racist.
Doug, let me remind you, you do some incredibly idiotic stuff. You wanted people to patronize the NLWSB to enrich the owner even more for the benefit of his victims.
In my past I was the victim of sexual assault /harassment . by an employer . I can hear it now oh harassed by a FEMALE we should all be so lucky .. or why didn’t I have a teacher like that when I was in high school…. read my post !!!! I am not knocking her . she was assaulted!!! its not victim shaming ..its a shame the victim didnt call the cops, doesn’t name the track and uses social media to report a crime .. file a report let the law handle it .. not shaming ..she is courageous and smart a lovely young lady who didn’t deserve to be treated with such disrespect ..I am no coward if I was present street justice would have ensued.. ok here we go return a sexual assault with physical assault ….2 wrongs don’t make a right …… names in the police blotter, court cases, public knowledge . track exposed . her choice and her method provides no incentive for the filth to clean up their acts ..they probably enjoy watching her on social media and are laughing right now . that would change with a cop at the door .. or cuffs or bars .. I dont have to defend myself to anyone
At this point being called an idiot by Dafella is a badge of honor. We should embrace it. The guy’s a big beautiful genius really. Not everyone can go from a assault at a race track to Trump so elagantly like Dafella.
I agree with all that was said by Grapes….. besides the last sentence.
The important take away here is for all of us to step up early if something like this is happening in our presence.
Stepping in doesn’t have to mean fighting, threatening, or a sermon. An awful lot of these idiots are easy to stop with a simple “not cool”, and not laughing and becoming an audience. If one person condemns it and the others nod along with the condemnation, the idiots will normally back right down quickly.
I have a lot of experience in this in nightclub and band settings and it’s the same as a track. Everyone deserves respect, and the group has a lot of power to reel in a jerk with just a few words and facial expressions.
There will be move information coming up in an Unmuffled episode regarding this incident that may fill in a lot of the gaps. I too agree with the question of why law enforcement or track authorities were not summoned Not second guessing but curious from the perspective of a woman. So that would be my question Mr. Courchesne in the interview were I to get a question(s).
“You clearly were in a stressful situation Ms LaRose with events escalating in real time when you probably least expected it. At the point it got physical did the idea of seeking out law enforcement or track officials ever enter your mind?” “Can you say looking back if you are satisfied with that decision and if asked, how you would advise other young women thrown into similar circumstances”.
sour grapes SVU wrote, “she was assaulted ! … and if it was so harrowing call the police and out everyone involved. why protect these pigs? she needs to take it further and those responsible need to be held accountable. talk is a great start BUT bringing those to justice, naming the track will bring the proper backlash, punishment . until you do that its a little self serving .”
sour grapes, you should know that these things turn out to be a the word of one against another, and they go nowhere. Something tells me you are well aware of that. This is written about and reported all time about how hard to impossible it is to prosecute these transgressions. This is well known, ands why so few of these assaults are reported. Nobody is “protecting” these pigs, it is difficult to get convictions with these cases.
But this is where you really got disgusting, when you said this, “… until you do that its a little self serving .”
Oh boy… it’s not up to these people that are assaulted to build a case that sticks and convicts these pigs. The crew that was there needs to become witnesses and provide statements and affidavits regarding the allegations. Instead, they are complicit. Calling these victims self-serving is as vile as victim shaming. You were simply very articulate the way you did it.
Looking over your shoulder?
And your 12:50 post… the only thing that was of any good was the last line… you indeed have to defend yourself.
I’ve been around thugs, mobs, and goons, hockey players, I’ve chaperoned, and just a little bit of assertiveness and disapproval can usually snuff out the buffoonery. But when a jerk is drunk, 😵 🥴, all bets are off. They are filled with liquid courage, and that is as boundless as human stupidity.
Sour grapes, like Stuart Fearn said ,your a spineless idiot. This is not 1950, when women were expected to be submissive to men, it’s 2021, where women should be, and in some cases are, equal to men. From her description, what Nicole endured wasn’t sexual harassment, but rather sexual battery. She was very brave to share her story, not seeking pitty, but to bring awareness to a long standing problem.
Sharpie brought up the underlying culture of women in the pits. That might have held ground in 1980, but not today. Today there are women everywhere in the pits, driving, and crewing the cars. Allot of these women beat men on a regular basis.
Unfortunately there are way too many men just like AJ trolling society for victims. Maybe by Nicole sharing her experience people will be more aware of these trolls.
Some mentioned her not involving law enforcement. Yes, she could have done that, and maybe the cops would have arrested this guy. That would have led to Nicole having to make numerous trips to Florida for court, and more than likely once this guy posted his bail he would have fled back to New Jersey. The whole ordeal would have just brought Nicole more grief.
The lesson learned, if you see something say something. Don’t let these trolls go unchecked. Thank you again Nicole, for having the courage to share this. And Thank you for all you do in the racing community, keep up the great work you do.
To the un-named race team who Nicole generously sponsored, I hope you refund her money, and keep her logo on your car, it’s the absolute least you could do.
stop making excuses. …without reporting it to authorities…they live to objectify another day.. so everyone says its a hassle to report due to being out of state etc.. will bring her more grief .. THAT statement is ridiculous and essentially enables these clowns .,. a “witness” could have alerted the cops and reported it as well . was it ” harrowing ” enough to involve law enforcement ? read the definition of “harrowing”. when it comes to sexual assault you should be compelled to act . based on the description of the incident the guy would have been arrested on the spot ..she had injury! he said she said?? the evidence according to her video was there from this pig spanking her …chose to go on social media for “educational purposes”. a choice was made and its hers .call police where it took place and alert them to the video perhaps they will take the ball and run with it . cops could be at his door no matter what state he lives in with a official complaint !. let me pose a question.. If this AJ character comes to harm and is beaten half to death , would using a social media forum have been the right way to go?.. should have called the cops..
sour grapes, if the cops were called, the guy would have still received plenty of exposure. Particularly, public and permanent police arrest records, in addition to most likely a news report that would have also made it onto social media. AJ would have been id’d and exposed by the normal, good ol’, mainstream media, aka: free press.
sour grapes, you really don’t want this sort of thing getting exposed. 🧐 🤔 🤨 You want to make sure this sort of thing remains out of sight, out of mind. That’s disturbing.
da real your brain damaged. ! all this from a site objectifying woman with large cup swimwear.. anything for a buck ! .next unmuffled ..NICOLE and A.J. one on one ! .. read the other story .he and his boys have been outed and named ! the guy who assaulted Ms.LaRose is married ? We have also quoted the widow of the late great Richie Evans I guess now the insurrection crowd can hunt down the perps and administer street justice ! .the fuse lit for a slander and incitement just like Trump
Journalism at its finest 15 mins of fame !! success !!
I’ve dealt with a lot of victims of sexual assault, illegal touching and many other sexual based offenses in my 30 + years of Law Enforcement. The level of courage shown by Nicole in publicizing her ordeal is not the norm. Most women internalize the incident and it leads to a whole host of issues going forward. I applaud Nicole for stepping up and using her voice and her platform. If it stops just one jerk from doing something similar to a woman then she has made a difference..
Nicole your work over the past few years is commendable. That being said unfortunately that kind of behavior says much about the mentality of some in this sport. I think you should stop helping racers and support a worthy cause like the hole in the wall gang or victory junction or Saint Jude. That would go further than burning good money on race cars. I love racing but unfortunately but this speaks volumes. Whatever you decide going forward the best of luck.
Sour grapes and Charles Bronson,
I’m not sure you read what was posted before, but the Google AdSense ads are served to each individual reader by Google, not me. Everyone looking at the site sees different ads. So if you’re seeing ads for “large cup swimwear” it’s because someone who is using your device is searching for something related to that phrase and Google is serving YOU ads that it believes YOU would be interested in based on YOUR search habits.
sour grapes needs a bigger shovel, a much bigger shovel.
🍿
sour grapes, don’t hold back, let it rip. You appear to be capable of far greater levels, depth and breadth of idiocy. Don’t hold back anymore, let it all out.
Thank you, RaceDay, for being part of the solution and not just another victim shamer. It’s a start!
To all those that think, suggest, and demand that this should have been handled differently; it’s incredibly easy for you to critique what happened.
1) YOU WEREN’T there in an unexpected highly stressful and potentially dangerous position she was.
3) YOU WERE able to take time to analyze the entire situation including the outcome before commenting.
SHE DID WHAT SHE THOUGHT WAS BEST FOR HER AT THE TIME! She needs our SUPPORT for speaking out against something that was VERY WRONG, no matter how you view it. Cavemen are SUPPOSED to be extinct. Let’s do what we can to reinforce that, for our wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, and nieces! No woman should be subjected to this behavior in the 21st century!
And Fast Eddie, let’s do it for the young men, so they learn not to behave like their CAVEMEN elders.
Good point Dareal, thanks for that!
Now if your a hockey player your a thug and a goon according to Dadope , it must be true he is the self proclaimed genius on everything , by reading all his posts on here he could also be Pope Dadope !! What a tool
Dafella’s theme is the real men of genius song from those old Bud commercials.
Coming to this issue late as I just learned about it. I didn’t bother reading many of the posts other than half the first one by Doug back in February.
His post perfectly sums up the problem and it is the men. His dreck demonstrates that he has no concept of what it’s like for women in real life, whether at the track or at the mall.
What I don’t understand is why the observers stood by and allowed this drunken sot to attack this woman. Why did none of these gentlemen stand up to this person and have him back off. He was the offender yet she had to leave, with some team members following but they just compounded the problem. She may be beautiful but she does not need to expect to be assaulted, demeaned and basically mistreated in life.
It’s long past time the men stood up for the women by not allowing asinine behaviour.