The $225 million lawsuit filed last week against NASCAR alleging sexual and racial discrimination poses a significant threat to the sport’s reputation by reinforcing old stereotypes and undermining its efforts to diversify.

Former Nationwide Series official Mauricia Grant, 32, who is black, alleges 23 incidents of sexual harassment and 34 of racial and sexual discrimination in the suit filed in federal court in New York. She was terminated in October 2007 after three years on the job, with NASCAR citing poor job performance

Even if the suit ultimately is dismissed, which occurs in about 70 percent of such cases because of the difficulty of proving the allegations, NASCAR won’t escape unscathed. And if a substantial number of the charges turn out to be true and Grant either wins at trial or receives a sizable settlement, it raises the question of whether this was an isolated case or endemic to the work environment and indicative of deeper-rooted problems.

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NASCAR handed down its most severe penalties yet concerning alterations to its new car, when the crew chiefs and car chiefs for Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter were suspended on Wednesday. They are banned from six races apiece for tampering with the rear wings on their Chevrolets last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C.

Additionally, crew chiefs Bootie Barker and Dave Skog were fined $100,000 each. Derick Jennings and Thomas Harris, the car chiefs, were not fined but their suspensions are unprecedented. All four must sit out until the July 12 race in Chicago and are on probation through the end of the year.

Riggs and Sauter were each docked 150 driver points, penalties that severely hurt the struggling teams. The cars are fielded by Haas-CNC Motorsports, which was docked 150 owner points for each Chevrolet. Haas general manager Joe Custer is listed as the owner for Riggs’ No. 66, and Margaret Haas is listed as the owner of Sauter’s No. 77.

The points deduction is the second largest in NASCAR history, only behind the 151 points Jeremy Mayfield and his team were docked for using an illegal fuel additive at Talladega in 2000.

– Three members of Brad Keselowski’s NASCAR team, including crew chief Tony Eury Sr., were penalized $1,000 to $1,500 and put on probation for varying lengths of time after participating in postrace altercation with Denny Hamlin’s crew on pit road at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday.

– Marcus Smith, son of billionaire track owner Bruton Smith, was selected to replace Humpy Wheeler as president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and as president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Speedway owns seven tracks on NASCAR’s Cup schedule.

– The Indy Racing League has set July 26 for the Rexall Edmonton Indy, one of two street-course events added to the IndyCar schedule this season from the former Champ Car Series. The date for the other race, at Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia, has not been set but is expected to be Oct. 26.

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