flacaltenn
Diamond Member
France reneged on his promise, and a pattern of unfair treatment by NASCAR followed. France denied Scott the rookie-of-the-year award for his first major-league season, even though Scott was the top rookie in the standings. When Scott won his only national race, NASCAR officials, fearing heād kiss the white trophy queen, declared another driver the victor.
Long after the crowd and the queen had left, NASCAR grudgingly admitted that Scott had won.
You're more than likely wrong. You're talking about a black person running moonshine in klan country.
Major trait of racists is how wrong the information they distribute really is.. Never talked with white racist that EVER had accurate links or information.. And your GUESS about moonshining is just as bad...
Wendell Scott online
Wendell Oliver Scott was a race car driver who won over 128 races in his career in various divisions including a win in the Grand National series, now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. He finished as high as sixth in points in NASCARās top series, numerous times in the top-15 in points. Scott won the Richmond track championship and the Virginia State Sportsman title. What makes his accomplishments more intriguing is Scott did this one of the lowest budgets of any team. While many teams had manufacturer backing Scott did nearly all the work on the car himself using mainly used parts and second-hand cars. His sons served often as his pit crew and even Wendell himself pitted his own car. Scott did not even start racing until the age of 30. A former moonshine hauler, Scott developed his driving style on the backroads of Virginia doing his own hot-rodding of his car.
When Scott won his only national race, NASCAR officials, fearing heād kiss the white trophy queen, declared another driver the victor.
After that 1st win where he was screwed out of the trophy -- it was SCOTT who SAID those that.. Not an admission that what was NASCAR was thinking.. And Scott was PROBABLY CORRECT... But your source makes it a "done deal" that was the intent... That was in the Stone Age when it required individual "lap counters' people to tally a win.. No GPS sensors, no automatic scoring.. So people fucked up all the time.. And MANY races ended in contention and brawls...
Wendell Scott online
When Scott won in the NASCAR Grand National race at Jacksonville, Florida in 1963 they did not wave the checkered flag for him but initially gave the win to Buck Baker. NASCAR officials said a scoring error was responsible for allowing Baker to accept the winnerās trophy. Scott doubted that explanation. āEverybody in the place knew I had won the race,ā he said years later, ābut the promoters and NASCAR officials didnāt want me out there kissing any beauty queens or accepting any awards.ā While NASCAR did later give the win to Scott, he did not receive the trophy which was reportedly misplaced. 47 years later in 2010 the Scott family was presented a replica trophy. Through all the prejudice he endured, Wendell never retaliated.
At one prestigious NASCAR event, Scott was exploited in a bogus promotional scheme. A record crowd packed Charlotteās speedway after the promoter announced heād give Scott his first chance to drive a competitive car. But the car was a phony; its weak performance embarrassed Scott in front of 81,000 spectators.
Doubt this ever happened that way.. Even the top teams have no guaranteed performance under race day conditions.. And there's no such thing as a "phony" car.. They all have to meet qualifying speeds. They ALL are tightly regulated by NASCAR.. He got an opportunity to get in a seat on a "rich team" because their driver was injured/sick/suspended or something.. And maybe it was a last minute thing so that THAT TEAM wouldn't lose points. Without the adequate practice time in the seat, they can't set it up properly for the driver..
This is all BULLSHIT to create the impression that "he was set up for embarrassment".. He had NOTHIHG to be embarrassed about....
Go argue that with the NASCAR historian that wrote the story.
He ain't no NASCAR historian.. If he does not know there are NO spare "phony" race cars to prank people with at a NASCAR event.. You don't get to drive another team's car UNLESS there's a last minute or day problem with the driver..
You go read his book and tell me WHAT race, WHAT year and I'll prove it...
NASCARās darkest chapter is its racism
Published Thursday, January 15, 2009
by Brian Donovan, Special To The Post
As we move toward Martin Luther King Day, Barack Obamaās inauguration and the Daytona 500, itās an appropriate moment to consider the unusual life of another remarkable racial pioneer: NASCARās first black driver, the late Wendell Scott.
A talented racer, Scott began banging fenders with roughneck competitors on Dixie dirt tracks in 1952, during an era when he couldnāt use a white restroom or drinking fountain. The story of his frustrating struggle, little known outside of the racing world, offers a reminder of how much our country has changed ā but also of how NASCARās progress toward diversity still seems stuck in the past.
Scottās dream of becoming a competitive national-level racer depended on support from NASCARās celebrated founder and czar, the late Bill France Sr. At first, Scottās prospects looked promising. Early on, France assured him heād always be treated without prejudice. In the minor leagues Scott won dozens of races and a Virginia state championship.
Like Obama, Scott, who lived in Danville, Va., and often raced in Charlotte, developed surprising numbers of admirers among ordinary white folks in the South. He became one of NASCARās most popular drivers, even as an underdog without the corporate sponsorship for a competitive racecar. His passionate determination inspired fans to reconsider racial stereotypes. Unfortunately, his support in the grandstands wasnāt matched in NASCARās executive suites.
As the growing civil rights struggle in the ā60s inflamed racial tensions, France reneged on his promise, and a pattern of unfair treatment by NASCAR followed. France denied Scott the rookie-of-the-year award for his first major-league season, even though Scott was the top rookie in the standings. When Scott won his only national race, NASCAR officials, fearing heād kiss the white trophy queen, declared another driver the victor.
Long after the crowd and the queen had left, NASCAR grudgingly admitted that Scott had won.
For years South Carolinaās major track, Darlington Raceway, banned Scott because he was black. This cost him any chance for sponsorship. France addressed the problem with inaction and silence. When Scott finally asked for help, he said France told him that Darlington was important to NASCARās success and Scott should just be patient.
When senior NASCAR officials and major promoters mistreated Scott, France continued his hands-off neutrality. One official abused his authority and excluded Scott from an important race at Charlotte. Others did the same thing at the speedways in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Martinsville, Va. ā facilities in which France owned major financial interests. Repeatedly, officials harassed Scott over trivial issues: his sonās beards, minor blemishes in his carās paint.
At one prestigious NASCAR event, Scott was exploited in a bogus promotional scheme. A record crowd packed Charlotteās speedway after the promoter announced heād give Scott his first chance to drive a competitive car. But the car was a phony; its weak performance embarrassed Scott in front of 81,000 spectators.
France helped other drivers obtain sponsorship for competitive cars, but not Scott. The pattern of unfairness persisted, insiders say, largely because France and other influential executives in the NASCAR world believed that a competitive black driver would be bad for business. At the time France was cultivating alliances with leading segregationist politicians such as Alabama Governor George Wallace, and those relationships helped NASCAR to grow into todayās multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
Many of the biased actions toward Scott took place as France was negotiating successfully with Wallace for millions of dollars in state subsidies for a huge new speedway at Talladega. Wallace never would have approved that money if NASCARās lone black driver had any chance of winning.
Today, more than 35 years after Scottās last race, Americaās racial situation has improved drastically. But NASCAR remains the countryās least diverse major sport, despite a diversity program launched eight years ago. Every regular driver in NASCARās three national series is still a white male.
Some of Scottās admirers feel that some official recognition for him from NASCAR is long overdue ā perhaps at the new hall of fame NASCAR is opening this year, perhaps even a public apology for the bigotry he suffered. Others believe an apology would be quite unlikely, since NASCAR, still owned by the France family, says it knows nothing about any unfair treatment of Scott.
BRIAN DONOVAN, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, is the author of āHard Driving: The American Odyssey of NASCARās First Black Driver.ā
NASCARĀs darkest chapter is its racism
You got a problem? Argue with him about it.
So I tell you this guy doesn't know jack shit about NASCAR and you just REPOST the article?? Holy shit..
You highlighted the evidence.. He wrote ONE BOOK about ONE Black NASCAR driver... That does not make him "a NASCAR historian"... In fact -- it was his ONLY book and he had ZERO background in motor sports of any kind...
This is why you FLOCK to tales of woes that you can add to that treasure trove of racism that you deny you create and fling onto this forum weekly... You DO collect a lot of stuff that is marginally truthful or even vetted.. Like the white people who AGREE with you that Hallmark Cards, and Princess Hair and Dance Team make-up are examples of racism....
From the Wiki on Brian Donovan --
Career[edit]
He first worked for three years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and was then hired by Newsday in 1967. He retired from Newsday in 2002 to focus on a book, "Hard Driving" about Wendell Scott.[4]
One of the SHORTEST bios I've ever read on a "Pulitzer Prize winning journalist"...