August 29, 1921 - December 23, 1990
Wendell Oliver Scott
(Photo; wendellscott.org)
Born in Danville, Virginia, USA.
He was the first African-American driver in NASCAR, and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series (now the Sprint Cup Series), NASCAR's highest level.
Scott began his racing career in local circuits and attained his NASCAR license in around 1953, making him the first African-American ever to compete in NASCAR. He debuted in the Grand National Series on March 4, 1961, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On December 1, 1963, he won a Grand National Series race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida, becoming the first black driver to win a race at NASCAR's premier level. Scott's career was repeatedly affected by racial prejudice and problems with top-level NASCAR officials. However, his determined struggle as an underdog won him thousands of white fans and many friends and admirers among his fellow racers.
He was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. He had also been inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Scott died on December 23, 1990 in Danville, Virginia, having suffered from spinal cancer.
For more see; The Wendell Scott Story
This Day In Motorsport History - Home Page
Wendell Scott was one of the many NASCAR guys from the South who came to Fonda Speedway, upstate NY in the summer 1962 (or '63). It was my greatest pleasure to have met him and shook hands with him. Also met Richard Petty and a few others. Wendell Scott hung in there with his with to race even though he never had the money or the right sponsor to bring him to many wins. What I later learned is that many of the "former NASCAR drivers who appeared at that track that many years ago, would give their old, used parts to Wendell just so he could get into a race. Wendell Scott showed me not to quick just because I don't have what it takes to "win races." I think of him often.
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