"Max Siegel, CEO of USATF for two years, is a former president of global operations for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He said he is "perplexed that there is this angst toward the shoe companies" that he didn't find toward automakers in NASCAR. "I'm careful with it because they'll take my head off because people feel a certain way about it," Siegel said. "But it's interesting that the very bedrock and the foundation of the sport is supported by those shoe companies, who get a bad rap. So I often ask the question, coming in relatively new, ... has anyone ever sat back and asked what this industry would like if the shoe companies divested?""