At the age of 14, he decided that what little pay his father gave him wasn't enough and it was time to get a real job. He had a 1939 Ford, and we all know what they're famous for. He would pay $2.50 per gallon of moonshine in Dawsonville, then make the trip back to Atlanta where he would sell it for $3.50, making a dollar profit. If you times that by say 200 gallons, 7 nights a week, that's roughly $1400 a week profit. And when you're 14 and it's 1945, you're a real contender in Atlanta. In late 1946, Charlie was earning so much money from bootlegging that he and 3 friends flew up to New York City. They had no business ventures up there, honestly, he just had so much bootlegging money, he was afraid something might happen to it and he needed to spend it! They spent about a week touring Broadway, Times Square... the works. After they bought clothes and other things, they shipped it all back to Atlanta, then flew back. Moonshining was very good way of making money, as you can see.
Charlie never hauled in mason jars or jugs as is commonly thought of; he hauled his in tin cans. Basically, they were shaped like gas cans, but you could buy them in bulk. Not only were they less bulky than a jar, but since they were tin, he wouldn't have to worry about the glass breaking. On Charlie's first run, he took a veteran moonshiner with him. Upon seeing headlights in his mirror, he took off; sure enough, it was the law. His passenger wanted to lighten the load by throwing some out, but Charlie had spent all of his hard-earned money on that load, and he wasn't about to lose it. The revenuers got close enough to dent a fender on Charlie's 39', and until he retired from moonshining 5 years later, that's as close as they got. One of my favorite stories of those he's told me was of one day when he didn't have a load or anything to do, so he pulled to the nearest phone booth to call the police. He made up some story that he needed about a half dozen officers, quick. Charlie got into position, and when he saw three patrol cars, he lit out of the parking lot like he was on fire. The chase around North Atlanta only lasted about 30 minutes, but gave him something to remember.
At the age of 19, in 1950, people like his dad and his bride-to-be were fearful that his luck of never getting caught on a run was wearing out. It was "Bad-Eye" Shirley, Raymond Parks' brother-in-law and manager of several of his liquor stores, that wanted to help Charlie quit racing on the streets, and put him on the track. Bad-Eye, named for having poked his eye out as a child, had a jalopy car that was built by Billy Hester, owner of the Cherokee Garage where Gober Sosebee ran out of, that ran at the newly opened Peach Bowl Speedway. He gave Charlie a shot at it and won the first two races he entered. On the third time, the track bumped him up to the Sportsman division. It was mostly the same cars, but with more experienced drivers and bigger engines. The first race for Charlie in that class earned him a win over Jack Smith. Needless to say, the future NASCAR star didn't take it so well that a newcomer, especially a kid, beat him on his own territory.
In 1954, after 4 years of seeing Charlie put an average field to shame, the Peach Bowl owner and promoter, Roy Shoemaker, bought a 1934 Ford coupe for Charlie to race. After 24 starts in the car, Charlie's number 6 was flagged the winner 22 times. The other two times he came in second and third. Upon the entry for the 25th race, Roy had informed Charlie that he had sold the car, but Charlie was still allowed to drive. That first race was at Looper Speedway, now under Lake Lanier, as he was leading, the engine came apart on the front stretch. For the poor guy who now owned it, it was his first racing venture, which didn't end so well.
Starting in 1957, Charlie went late model racing....and it wasn't what you think of as late models today. His late model was a brand new Black Widow 57' Chevy. The car was bought at Nalley Chevrolet in Atlanta with 6 whole miles on the car. It was then brought back to the Mincey shop where it was torn apart - Headlights taken out and covered up, most of the chrome, most of the interior removed. And you know what was done with all that stuff? They didn't box it up for safe keeping 50 years from then, they threw it all in the dumpster....after all, they weren't out to make a street cruiser, this was race car. Although the car was quite successful, there was a time when the entire crew was thrown in jail over it. The man who owned the car, Horace Ingram, was a well-known 'gangster' in Atlanta who was a "number's racketeer", meaning he had his own version of the illegal lottery. Horace's shop had been under camera surveillance for quite some time. It just so happened that one day when Charlie and his dad went to the shop, a raid followed right behind them. Charlie was on the phone with the radiator shop and the raid team assumed he was warning the other 'associates'. Everyone in the garage was taken in, including the racecar. The Mincey's were cleared, but Charlie was left without an owner.
In the early 60's, Charlie caught on with the 'Skeeter Craze' that was going on in the race-oriented south. Some say the trend started around Jacksonville in 1960, but wherever it was created, it was popular trend. A Skeeter was basically an open-wheel modified that was made up of an early to mid 30's coach. The car was then shortened and narrowed with a custom frame and hot engine. Popular for the time was a 327 Chevy, a 289 Ford, or if you were brave enough, some used the new Chevy 409's or the Ford 427. You put that big a motor on a small, small car....and that separates the men from the boys. The Skeeters lasted until around 1968, in Georgia anyway. For Charlie, he wanted to retire in 1964; he honestly was just burnt out.
In early 1965, a man by the name of Curt Shaw contacted Mincey about coming to see a race at the Athens Speedway. When he got there, he saw a newly built racecar. It was a black 1932 Ford, numbered 16 (Charlie's number) with his name on the hood. They told him he could have if he was up to it. Three races later, he earned a 1st place trophy. Soon after, he won 6 straight across the south.
In the late 60's, racers began getting rid of their 30+ year old cars, in exchange for much newer cars. The popular cars for the late 60s in Georgia, were both Chevy Nova and the 55 Chevy. Others were run, like Dodge Darts, Ford Fairlanes, Ford Falcons, Chevy Corvairs, etc, etc. When Charlie first ran a Nova, it was a winner. There was even one time in late 68', Charlie traded cars for one race. Buck Simmons climbed into Charlie's 55 Chevy, and Mincey climbed into the 1964 Chevelle that Buck would normally drive. After 10 races of racing Buck's #41, owned by Speedy Evans, Charlie won 8 of them with Buck second in each of those. Simmons won the other 2 with Mincey finishing second. There was a trend. Speedy offered the car to Charlie, but he had already agreed to drive for the Day's Chevrolet team out of Acworth Georgia.
Starting in 1969, Charlie began a span of racing for a local dealership that provided Charlie with orange #16 Chevelles and Camaros. He was a top contender in many different states, series, and at many different tracks.
Speaking of series, Charlie did race some in NASCAR during his career. He made several NASCAR sanctioned races in the mid 50's at the small tracks. He made his only attempt at a big track in 1960. It was at Daytona in a 57 Chevy for the modified sportsman race. With backing up from pre-race tech inspection, the team scrambled to get the carburetor together right at the moment that he was to qualify. Charlie was still fastening his seat belt going down pit road out onto the track. Since they were rushed with putting the carburetor together, the car was running on 6 or 7 cylinders. That was the end of Charlie's NASCAR career. If the modifieds weren't on his mind, he probably could have gotten a ride on a factory-backed Grand National team, but like I said, he was too busy with modifieds.
The last ride of Charlie's career was in 1980, when a friend from Tennessee put together a Camaro. It was the best car Charlie could ever ask for, but Charlie just wasn't as enthused about racing as he once was. He would usually skip qualifying and the heat-laps... and show up at the last minute. In 1983, another friend offered Charlie a brand-new race car with rack and pinion steering, which Charlie wasn't used to. The best he could do was 2nd, but he was a worn out driver. After a colorful career of moonshining, racing, and stunt driving for several movies, he decided to retire for good. He went back to work for Day's Chevrolet as a full-time paint and body man.
In 2004, Charlie was among the 8 members of that year's class inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, which he still supports. His personal 1939 Ford Moonshine car along with a replica of his famous #16 Skeeter are on display in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in addition to having his own case, with a variety of his racing trophies, helmets, photographs and uniforms. Charlie can be seen at all of the GRHOF's events, telling stories, greeting fans, and signing autographs.
And with that, there is your Charlie Mincey 101.
-Cody
Email: cody7474@yahoo.com
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