On Wednesday night, BET premiered a show called “Changing Lanes” that features a field of 30 minority drivers that will be narrowed to 10 and move into a house together, much in the spirit of MTV’s “Real World.” The show will follow the participants as they work with their cars in the shop, undergo intense physical training and compete on the track and in the classroom with the eventual goal of establishing a successful Nascar career.

Although the participants ultimate goal is to become a successful driver, the show has even greater aspirations. “Changing Lanes” hopes to develop a fan base outside of its traditional southern white roots and open the door to new marketing opportunities and sponsorships by providing exposure to drivers who would normally go unnoticed.

To achieve the first, the show attempted to give historical context to the connection between minority groups and Nascar by hi-lighting minority racing pioneer, Wendell Scott. Scott was the first and only African-American to win a Nascar event in what is now the Sprint Cup. During the show, the contestants all spoke about what Scott’s contribution to the sport meant to them and how it has enabled them to be where they are. A biographical segment about Scott’s trying journey through Nascar was also featured with voice over done by rapper Ludacris.

They hope to achieve the second goal the same way as other successful reality franchises that precede their project.

“One of the things that’s pretty much fascinated me with respect to awareness and brand building was the formula for ‘American Idol,’ ” Max Siegel, the show’s creator said Monday in a telephone interview. “By the time their records came out, went to market, the singers had a built-in fan base.”

“What really struck me as a huge impediment to be able to get corporate sponsorship was, no matter talented these athletes were, no one knew who they were,” Siegel said. “There was limited TV for the development series and, quite frankly, there was no media platform to justify an investment.”

Max Siegel, the man behind the show, is a former music executive. He currently is the global president of Dale Earnhardt Inc., and became involved in Nascar in 2003. Reggie White, a Hall of Fame NFL star, set out to start a minority-based racing team. When White died in 2004, Siegel began to spearhead the operation to bring White’s dream to fruition.

It still remains to be seen if this attempt by Nascar to to open new doors will be successful, but it is an intriguing project nonetheless.

“Not only will it allow us to tell the story of the Drive for Diversity program,” said Marcus Jadotte, the managing director of public affairs for Nascar, who oversees the sport’s diversity efforts, “but it will be for many an introduction to the sport and that is important for growing Nascar audiences but also important for encouraging young people, kids, to get involved in and take an interest in motorsports.”

The speech will be Obama’s second presidential address since taking office, the first coming on June 15 when he spoke to the nation about the BP oil disaster, the challenges that it posed and the plan to go forward.

This speech is geared to do much of the same.

While the speech has not been released yet, aides have stated that the speech will follow the format of his first. The key points of the speech will be marking the end of a combat presence in Iraq and a drawdown to 50,000 troops, about the difficult task of assisting in the formation of a real and sustainable democratic government in the war-torn country and about the new role that the remaining troops will undertake.

“We will be their ally, but the responsibility of charting the future of Iraq first and foremost belongs to the Iraqis,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN’s “American Morning.”

The speech is expected to be short, only lasting 15 to 20 minutes, but significant, marking a pivotal turning point in US-Iraqi relations.

Indicative of the political climate, House Republicans will make a “prebuttal” to the president’s speech tonight. House Leader, John Boehner will speak in Milwaukee to about 10,000 people on Tuesday afternoon about a range of defense and foreign policy matters, but the focus will be the US’s course of action in regards to Iraq.

Boehner stated in an op-ed piece that the same surge that the president and vice president opposed is what made it possible for us to take the action we are taking now. He continued to say that he is not convinced that the “advisory” presence of 50,000 troops are enough to guide Iraq through this tumultuous period and sustain the progress we have already made.

Watch the President’s speech tonight, 8pm ET.

All items will feature the presence of Yankees and JAY-Z logos, and all items have been seen and approved by JAY-Z.

Merchandise will include men’s and women’s T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts — all by Majestic — along with New Era 59/50 fitted Yankees caps with the album logo from JAY-Z’s The Blueprint 3.

The merchandise has been created to commemorate Yankee Stadium’s first official concerts on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, when JAY-Z and Eminem will co-headline in the Bronx. The concerts make up the second half of the artists’ “Home and Home” tour and will follow their joint performances at Detroit’s Comerica Park on Sept. 3 and Sept. 4.

Beginning Monday, Yankees/JAY-Z merchandise can be purchased in-Stadium during games or seven days a week at the Yankee Stadium Great Hall Team Store near Gate 6, located on the northwest corner of 161st Street and River Avenue. The hours of operation for the Gate 6 store are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. On all days or nights that the Yankees play home games, the store stays open until one hour after the game ends.