The Origins of Charlie Scott

Any driver coming out of nowhere to finish in the Top 20 at Daytona would pretty memorable. If that driver were driving his first NASCAR race it would be huge news. And if it were for a driver on a team the stature of Hendrick or Roush, it would be a miracle.

How about if that driver was black, it was 1950's NASCAR and he virtually disappeared afterwards? OK, it's Hollywood movie time.

The driver was Charlie Scott ofthe Kiekhafer Chryslerteam.

I understand that Mr. Scott was still living in Georgia a few years ago, but I can't find any reference to show that he is still with us. I'm fascinated by the process that had to have occurred for him to have raced his way into a team that included the Flock brothers, Frank Mundy, Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson. How did Karl Kiekhafer even hear of him? There's got to be a good story in here somewhere. Anybody have any background? Surely it cannot have been his first race, so where and what did he race before?

Spirit

Doubt if Karl Kiekhafer would have put a "water boy" behind the wheel of America's most potent racing sedan when he literally could have any driver.Also, "folks" might've raced anywhere and everywhere but take it from someone old enough to have been turned away from a grandstand seat because there was no "ColoredSection", not all folks were able to do so. That's why I'm asking about this man and the process that occurred to get him into the seat of that Chrysler 300.

Thank you anyway for the reply.

And by the way, he finished 19th, ahead of teammate Buck Baker.

Norman

Charlie was in the top 50 names, that was narrowed down to 15, then the final 5 to go into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. However, Charlie didn't make it into the 15, but this is a bit of info, may or may not help you....

Charlie Scott Atlanta, GA Deceased First African-American to compete in a NASCAR Sprint Cup event, racing Feb. 26, 1956 at Daytona Beach in a Carl Kiekhafer Chrysler, as a teammate to Tim Flock, Fonty Flock, Buck Baker, Frank Mundy, and Speedy Thompson, finishing third among his teammates First African-American to finish in the top 20 in NASCAR Sprint Cup Competition, finishing 19^th at Daytona Beach in that same 1956 event out of a field of 76 starters (qualified 14^th) Won several races in Georgia and around the country in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s - Competed on the Atlanta Racing Circuit, an all African-American racing circuit, along with Ben Muckle, Richard Red Kines, Arthur Avery and Joe Daniels Competed in both stock car and motorcycle events, winning features in both Passed away Nov. 23, 1984.

Thanks for the reply. I had heard stories that there was a Colored circuit similar to the "Gold and Glory Sweepstakes" series and that he had raced in it. I had also seen references to him having a career after his Kiekhafer days, which must have been heady onesindeed. I will continue to pursue those leads.

The one about motorcycles was new so that may bearfruit. Do you have an approximate era for the Atlant Racing Circuit? Gold and Glory was mid-20's-mid-30's. It sounds like this was after that, or perhaps immediately following?

And thank you for not comparing him to a waterboy.

Norman

Norman

OUCH

Norman, here is a link you need to look at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=BWzMGrfuCYoC&pg=PA19&lpg=P...

It'll take you to excerpts from a book that includes references to the 2004 Atlanta Journal-Constitution story about Charlie Scott and the 1940s Atlanta Stock Car Club ( ASCC ) for African-American drivers.

I once posted the entire story directly from the Atlanta paper archives.

Good luck.

Comment by Dave Fulton on August 6, 2011 at 11:50am

Also found a reference to Thomaston in a racin'today.com story about the Atlanta Stock Car club, a group of black drivers, including Ben Muckle, who raced on southeastern dirt tracks in the late40s-early50s. Here's that excerpt:

It was called the Atlanta Stock Car Club. Its members were among the sports earliest pioneers. From the late 1940s to the mid-50s, they traveled across the Southeast, running modified flat-head Fords on dusty dirt tracks to cheers of hundreds if not thousands of fans. Sadly, their existence was poorly documented. Only an occasional article in Speed Age magazines or the Atlanta Daily World tells the story of a truly unique part of American history. The driving members of the Club included the twin Muckle brothers, Ben and George, Richard Red Kines, Arthur The Decatur Express Avery, Robert Juckie Lewis, James Suicide Lacey, Joe Daniels and Charlie Scott, who earned his place in NASCAR history by being the first black driver to race in the division now known as Sprint Cup. Scott, no relation to Wendell Scott, drove a Carl Kiekhaefer-owned Chrysler on the beach at Daytona in 1956, finishing 19th in a race won by his teammate and fellow Atlantan Tim Flock. But the Atlanta Stock Car Club had been thriving long before that, even before the formation of NASCAR in 1948. The earliest black races were for motorcycle riders like 1945 and 1946 Thomaston Speedway champion Bill Thompson, C.S. Cherry and Bill Goar, also a promoter in those days. Soon the racers were driving cars, and promoters were capitalizing on the new idea. Members of the club promoted races and arranged bus service to the tracks from downtown Atlanta pick-up points. That made it convenient and safe in the Jim Crow days for fans to travel to the outlying race tracks.

BEN MUCKLE

This photo including Charlie Scott was originally posted in 2010 by RR member Bill Rankin:

Pete ( Fireball ) Lester (L) and Charlie Scott (R) at Ted Edwards Drag Strip in Fairburn, Georgia in 1962

Thanks to all - I knew this material was out there, it just hasn't been compiled as yet: but I think that will happen soon. These men, forced into a subculture of a subculture, still managed to thrive after a fashion, tour in some ways, and be "stars" in the local Negro newspapers that existed in their time. On rare occasions they can be seen in the backgrounds of photos, or we knew they were there somewhere.

But someone knows the real story (an historian of Karl Kiekhafer?) and will be able to tell us all how Charlie got behind the wheel of the best and fastest stock car of his era. It has to be a good story. Has to be....

..and to Dave Fulton, thanks for the link to that story. I actually have a vintage Black American Racers Association T shirt that I bought back in the 70's when BARA still existed. The bit made for good reading.

You're very welcome, Norman. One piece I read claimed that Tim Flock insisted on Charlie being given the "300" ride. Accurate?? I don't know. Wonder if Tim's wife, Frances, who is a friend of our members Randy Myers and Tim Leeming would know?

This is an excerpt from a February 20, 2011 story by Bob Henry in the Charlotte Observer:

Wendell Scott was not the first or only black man racing against long odds and long-held prejudices at NASCAR tracks.

In July 1955, Elias Bowie ran 172 of the 250 laps in one Grand National race in San Mateo, Calif. He was credited with 28th place.

I n February 1956, Charlie Scott competed on the Beach Course in one of six Carl Kiekhaefer Chryslers. One was driven by Tim Flock, who won that day.

Its said that Flocks insistence helped put Scott in the car for one race. He finished 19th.

Charlie Scott and Wendell Scott were not related. They became friends.

George Wiltshire made two starts at NASCARs top level, one in 1971 and another in 1975. Wendell Scott was also in the field for the 71 event, at Islip, N.Y.

Wiltshire finished 28th that day and was credited with 32nd at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway five years later.

In May 1975, Randy Bethea made his only Cup start, in the 600-miler at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bethea finished 33rd in a D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet.

In 1986, Willy T. Ribbs made three Cup starts, finishing 22nd at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway and 29th at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway.

At Michigan International Speedway, the former open-wheel driver was credited with a 39th-place finish.

Bill Lester made two Cup starts, at Atlanta and Michigan, in 2005 after competing for several seasons in NASCARs Truck series.

He was credited with finishes of 28th and 32nd place.

Read more here: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/02/20/56982/a-reminder-about-nascars-scott.html#storylink=cpy

Sorry I can't be of any help. Maybe Mrs. Flock can help out.

I remember reading that article, except Ibelieveit was also in either Hot Rod or Street Rodder. The author of the article must of submitted it to them too.

Mr. Biscoe: Thanks for the lead.

That's exactly what I am trying to do - get some of the good stories that are either untold or mistold and get them on record. For every well-known, feel-good story that is out there I can bet there's 10 more that are more amazing, deeper, and more illustrative. There's got to be a story in why a multi-millionaire (back when you really had to earn it - not like now..) who could've chosen virtually any racing driver he wanted, chose a man he never would've encountered socially or virtually any other way to drive a potentially winning car. Just ponder for a minute what the outcome would've been if history had tilted just a bit and given Mr. Scott a shot at the win.

I'm on my way to using that lead, and all the other ones I've been given from this wonderful resource. I even ordered a copy of "Gold and Glory", a hardbound one, to keep me on the track of this mans' story. For if nothing else, this site represents what is best about us in this country; what made America great was not its wealth, but its people.

Norman

As a benefit of this wonderful resource I bought a copy of "Gold and Glory", a book on Charlie Wiggins and the men who started the path which Mr. Scott followed. Quite a book. Having done that, I'm back on the hunt for more on the question: "Who hired Charlie Scott, and why?". There's an answer out there somewhere, and plauditsfor KarlKiekhafer.Thank you all foryour inspiration and references!

Norman

Keep us updated on whatever you may discover.

Charlie Scott was a talented drag racer who competed on both coasts. His talent and friendship with the Flocks strongly influenced Carl Kiekhaefer's decision to hire Charlie for the 1956 Daytona Beach race. Carl was obsessed with winning, and putting Charlie in one of the 1955 Chrysler 300s was validation of the man's driving talent. Otherwise, Carl would not have bothered. He only wanted to win, period. According to the dynamometer logs, Carl's 1955 Chrysler 300s were producing over 330 horsepower. Carl revolutionized how stock car racing was conducted during the 1950s. Along with Charlie Strang, Carl invented the wide base racing rim (still in use today) and the pleated paper air filter element. Race engines were hand built and dyno-tested around the clock before hitting the tracks. Carl even developed his own cam profile checking machine, ground his own cams and tested a multitude of stock and custom grinds.The man was decades ahead of his time when it came to stock car racing, but is virtually unknown today. Charlie Strang has filled in many of the gaps of what we know about Carl Kiekhaefer's 1954-1956 stock car racing program.