Labeling Fair Criticism As Misogynistic Hate Crosses An Ugly Line 

(The article below is a RaceDayCT column – The views expressed in this column are solely the opinion of the writer)

The world of social media in 2025 has become an ugly space. And we’re not just talking about racing or sports in general, but everywhere. It’s politics, it’s life choices, it’s everything. Let’s be frank, even most small town community forums have just become ugly spaces where toxicity and hate boil over almost daily. 

I make it a point not to respond to social media toxicity. When it comes to hateful posts on social media, you come to realize that the trolls just want to be fed. Responding is feeding them. It’s their fuel. They got you to react. 

But, there are times when something is posted which is so outlandish, so unfairly accusatory and blatantly inaccurate, that it must be responded to. 

Today is one of those instances. 

When it comes to the community of Modified racing, it’s fair to categorize  Shane Ryan Bailey as a social media influencer of sorts. Bailey operates a Modified racing centric page on Facebook called “NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Fan Page.” The page has a following of about 23,000 people. It’s also fair to categorize Bailey as someone who dislikes me and the website I publish. Bailey’s social media rantings about RaceDayCT are common and always cutting.

In a post on Facebook this week, Bailey wrote: “RaceDayCt is a sexist, misogynistic, woman hater amongst all the other bullshit he spews. I seriously don’t understand how he is allowed to be involved in racing or at certain racing establishments. More people need to speak up against this mentality ill person. Enough is enough!” 

Listen, social media hate in 2025 is just part of the game of publishing any sort of online news source. But when someone is referring to you as being a sexist, misogynist, woman hater who is mentally ill, that’s some pretty ugly statements to make, especially with absolutely nothing to back up why you’re offering those sorts of dastardly character assaults. 

Obviously the post from Bailey offered no context for why those sort of hateful descriptors were used, but I’m not going to play dumb and act like I don’t understand what ignited that post. 

On Sunday, Matt Hirschman won in dominating fashion in the NASCAR Modified Tour J&R Precast 150 at Seekonk Speedway. 

The race was broadcast live on the streaming platform FloRacing. Jacklyn Drake was on site at the track serving as the on-track reporter for the event broadcast. Drake has been part of FloRacing broadcasts of the NASCAR Modified tour regularly for the past few years. 

In interviewing Hirschman in victory lane Sunday at Seekonk Speedway Drake said: “Today you also accomplished a hat trick here at Seekonk, getting three consecutive NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins, solidifying you in the history books as one of the few to do so here. Where does that sit on the resume for you and what does it mean to be one of the few to do so?” 

Following the event Sunday, in a post on the social media platform X, I pointed out that it was peculiar to hear Drake say Hirschman was “one of the few” to win three consecutive NASCAR Modified Tour events at Seekonk when he is actually the only person to ever win three consecutive NASCAR Modified Tour events at Seekonk. 

I didn’t call Drake any ugly names. Made no hateful references to her. Just simply pointed out that it seemed odd to declare Hirschman as “one of the few” to accomplish a feat for which he is actually the only one ever to accomplish it. 

The fact is, Drake didn’t do her homework before the broadcast. She didn’t prepare like someone should who is taking on the role of an on-track reporter for a NASCAR Modified Tour event broadcast. And we’re not talking about doing hours of work study here in preparation. 

There have been a total of 13 NASCAR Modified Tour races at Seekonk Speedway in the history of the series. It’s not a very wide body of study here we’re talking about that needs understanding. 

Over that span of 13 races, only two drivers have more than one NASCAR Modified Tour victory at the track. Doug Coby won there in 2017 and 2019 and Matt Hirschman has three consecutive wins at the track since 2023. See, we’re not talking about studying up on the history of the series at a track like Thompson Speedway, where there have been 156 series events. It’s 13 races. 

And pointing out publicly that she didn’t prepare before the event, and was basically just making it up as she went along, is not being misogynistic. It’s not being sexist. It’s not being hateful towards women. If it was a man named Jack Drake who said the same thing, I would have – and share – the exact same opinion. And this was hardly the first time that Drake has operated in this role covering the NASCAR Modified Tour when it’s been clear she didn’t prepare fully for the assignment.

When it comes to a NASCAR event broadcast, one should expect some level of professionalism. Some level of preparation and understanding of the product being broadcast. And why not? It’s NASCAR. It’s the pinnacle of motorsports sanctioning bodies in this country. NASCAR should be setting the bar for others to try to achieve. 

Again, expecting a level of professional preparation from an individual in a speaking role on a NASCAR broadcast is not being a misogynist, or a sexist, or a woman hater. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man, a woman or a talking burrito holding the microphone, preparation and understanding of the event and the series should be expected. 

It’s actually a slap in the face to the competitors of the series who are trying to put on a professional product when one of the individuals handling a broadcast centered around them doesn’t think that broadcast is worthy of some level of preparation. 

And why someone like Bailey sees the need to use toxic terms of hate in some weird effort to play Drake’s defender is baffling. We do know this, there are three administrators listed for the “NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Fan Page”; one is Bailey, one is Kyle Souza and the other is Jacklyn Drake.

I’ve covered motorsports for 30 years. In that time I’ve had the opportunity to work with female broadcasters and female reporters and cover female racers and female pit crew members and female team owners and female track operators and female series operators. During that span I’ve never once treated any female that I’ve covered or worked around with anything but the utmost respect for the jobs they’ve done. Treated them as equals to all the men in the sport in the same roles they held. I don’t treat anybody any differently based on their gender or their race or their lifestyle or any other reason you can think of.

I’ve also covered the NASCAR Modified Tour for that same 30 year span. I want to see the series on a pedestal. I want to see it grow. I want to see it shined in a professional light when it comes to broadcasts. The team owners and crew members and drivers who pour their efforts and heart into the series deserve that much. They deserve to be respected for what they do. 

In showing up unprepared for events, Drake is disrespecting those people that are pouring all they have into the series and trying to always make it better. And that opinion has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman. 

Saying that someone pointing out her lack of preparation as a professional broadcaster is doing that because they hate women or they’re sexist or they’re a misogynist is really just trying to make an excuse for Drake’s own continued missteps as a broadcaster and draw attention away from those missteps.