Don’t be surprised if Tom Cruise becomes a NASCAR fan. Scientology is getting into the wildly popular race sport.
“Dianetics,” the book written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is sponsoring a racing team – dubbed “Ignite Your Potential” – that will tour the NASCAR circuit. A Dianetics Racing Web site is being set up for fans.
Driver Kenton Gray credits Hubbard’s work with making him a good driver. “It’s markedly improved my focus and my consistency,” he said in an announcement from Hubbard’s publisher. “Through ‘Dianetics’ I’ve handled stress and increased my performance and ability to compete-both on the track and in life.”
“Scientology makes a point of recruiting celebrities as a part of it’s marketing appeal,” says a source. “If this is another marketing appeal – reaching out to the NASCAR crowd – it’s brilliant.”
“We’re not out selling a product,” Grant Cardone, the CEO of Freedom Motorsports, the company behind the car, told The Scoop. But he says, he too, is a fan of “Dianetics,” and if the Ignite Your Potential car helps troubled people, “that would be great.”