Amanda Vincent: Scott a trailblazer in black NASCAR history

February is Black History Month here in the US, so its a more than fitting time to remember one of NASCAR’s pioneers—Wendell Scott. Scott was the first, and to this day is, the only black driver to claim a race win in the series that now carries the moniker, NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

After embarking on a racing career in 1947, the Danvilla, Va., native made the move to the NASCAR Grand National division, the division now commonly known as the Sprint Cup Series, after buying a car from fellow-competitor Buck Baker in 1961.

On Dec 1, 1963, Scott claimed his one Cup win at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Fla., which at the time was a one-mile dirt track. The second-place finisher was none other than Baker the driver that Scott purchased that first Grand National car from.

Race wins typically result in trips to victory lane, but not for Scott. Baker, instead, was declared the winner. A couple of hourse later, though, race officials announced that Scott not only won the race, he also lapped the field two times over.

Despite being a race winner, Scott never got his hands on the trophy from that race. His family did finally receive the race trophy in 2010, 37 years after Scott won the race. It was too late for the racer to enjoy it, though. He died of cancer 20 years prior to the trophy presentation.

Scott may have only won one race at NASCAR’s top level, but he was a successful NASCAR driver throughout the 1960s. He finished 12 in points, despite missing a number of races, in 1964. He later went on to post top-10 season finishes in four-consecutive years, finishing out a career-best sixth in points in 1966, 10th in 1967 and ninth in 1968 and 1969.

Scott’s NASCAR career ended in 1973 when an accident at Talladega Superspeedway forced his retirement. In 495-career starts at NASCAR’s top level, Scott’s win was among 147 top-10 race finishes.

A handful of black drivers have made appearances in what is now the Sprint Cup Series since the days of Wendell Scott—Elias Bowie, Charlie Scott, George Wiltshire, Randy Bethea, Willy T. Ribbs and Bill Lester. Those six drivers made a total of nine races starts in the series, the last coming from Lester at Michigan International Speedway in 2006.

Athough yet to be named as a nominee for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Scott was, indeed, a trailblazer.

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