Word in racing circles has it that Dianetics—the book written by L. Ron Hubbard permanently for sale in the Times Square subway station—is going to sponsor a car on the Nascar circuit. Supposedly, the Scientologists behind this idea used May’s Book Expo America to unveil something called the “Ignite Your Potential” Dianetics racing team, with a racer named Kenton Gray at its helm. Gray, who is also founder of a company called Freedom Motorsports Group, credits the dianetics philosophy for “his concentration, which he says has greatly improved by the use of Dianetics techniques in gaining confidence and certainty behind the wheel.” Some in the racing community express skepticism about the idea, though they really shouldn’t. Anyone remember Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder?

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor