Wendell Scott

Wendell Oliver Scott Sr. (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was the first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level.

Scott began his racing career in local circuits in the late 1940s and obtained his NASCAR license in 1953, making him the first African-American ever to compete in NASCAR. He debuted in the Grand National Series (NASCAR highest level) 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 and team owner to win at NASCAR's premier level. Scott's career was repeatedly affected by racial prejudice including being poisoned (Dover) and death threats (Spartanburg, Darlington, Talladega, Jacksonville, and Daytona). Despite these challenges he continued to compete and was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame & NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.

Early life Scott was born in Danville, Virginia, a town dominated by cotton mills and tobacco-processing plants. Scott vowed as a youth to avoid such labor, and began learning auto mechanics from his father, who worked as a driver and mechanic for two well-to-do white families. Scott also raced bicycles against white children in the neighborhood. As a teen he dropped out of high school, became a taxi driver, and served as a mechanic in the segregated army in Europe during World War II. He married Mary Coles in 1943; they had seven children.

After the war, he ran an auto-repair shop. As a sideline, he took up the dangerous and illegal pursuit of running moonshine whiskey. The police caught Scott once, in 1949. Sentenced to three years probation, he continued making his late-night whiskey runs.

Racing career In 1951, the officials at the Dixie Circuit, a regional racing organization, decided to recruit a Black driver as a marketing gimmick. Scott was recruited for this purpose and participated in his first race at the Danville Speedway.

In search of more opportunities, Scott repaired his car with the help of a black mechanic, Hiram Kincaid, and towed it to a NASCAR-sanctioned event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Upon arrival, NASCAR officials refused to let him compete due to his race. A few days later he went to another NASCAR event in High Point, North Carolina, and received the same result. Scott decided to avoid NASCAR for the time being and race with the Dixie Circuit and at other non-NASCAR speedways. He won his first race at Lynchburg, Virginia, only 12 days into his racing career.

Scott ran as many as five events a week, mostly at Virginia tracks. Some prejudiced drivers would wreck him deliberately though his expertise also won him white fans, even among his fellow drivers. These other drivers would serve as his bodyguards at events with racist fans.

Scott began the 1953 season on the Northern Virginia circuit after winning a feature race in Staunton, Virginia. He subsequently tied the Waynesboro, Virginia, qualifying record and won the Waynesboro feature race. The Waynesboro News Virginian reported that Scott had become "recognized as one of the most popular drivers to appear here". The Staunton News Leader wrote he "has been among the top drivers in every race here".

In 1954, Scott towed his racecar to a local NASCAR event at the Richmond Speedway and asked the steward, Mike Poston, to grant him a NASCAR license. Poston, a part-timer, was not a powerful figure in NASCAR's hierarchy, but he did have the authority to issue licenses. Scott's license was approved and he became the first Black driver in NASCAR.

Scott won dozens of races during his nine years in regional-level competition. In 1959 he won two championships. NASCAR awarded him the championship title for drivers of sportsman-class stock cars in the state of Virginia, and he also won the track championship in the sportsman class at Richmond's Southside Speedway.

In 1961, he moved up to the Grand National Series. He achieved the most points for a debutant in 1961. NASCAR awarded Scott the win afterwards, but his family never received the trophy he had earned until 2021 – nearly 58 years after the race, and 31 years after Scott had died.

He continued to be a competitive driver despite his low-budget operation through the rest of the 1960s. Despite his successes, he never received commercial sponsorship.

Scott was forced to retire due to injuries from a racing accident at Talladega, Alabama, in 1973, although he did make one more start at the 1973 National 500 in which he finished 12th place. He achieved one win and 147 top ten finishes in 495 career Grand National starts.

Scott died on December 23, 1990, in Danville, Virginia, having suffered from spinal cancer.

Personal life Scott's wife, Mary, drove the truck that transported his car, and the pair and their seven children attended races. His daughter, Sybil, went on to become a consultant for NASCAR's Drive for Diversity campaign (in 2025, NASCAR changed the name of the program to the "Driver Development Program") which attempts to increase the number of women and minorities in the sport, both on the track and in the stands. His son, Wendell Jr., died in 2022.

Legacy

The film Greased Lightning, starring Richard Pryor as Scott, was based loosely on Scott's biography.

Mojo Nixon, a fellow Danville native, wrote a tribute song titled "The Ballad of Wendell Scott", which appears on Nixon and Skid Roper's 1986 album, Frenzy.

Scott was inducted as a member of the 2000 class of The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum located in Portsmouth, VA. He also has a street named after him in his hometown of Danville.

Only seven other African-American drivers are known to have started at least one race in what is now the Cup Series: Elias Bowie, Charlie Scott, George Wiltshire, Randy Bethea, Willy T. Ribbs, Bill Lester, and most recently Bubba Wallace.

As reported in The Washington Post, filmmaker John W. Warner began directing a documentary about Scott, titled The Wendell Scott Story, which was to be released in 2003 with narration by the filmmaker's father, former U.S. Senator John Warner but instead Warner created a four-set DVD entitled American Stock: The Golden Era of NASCAR: 1936-to-1971 which documents many racers including Scott. The film included interviews with fellow race-car drivers, including Richard Petty.

Scott is prominently featured in the 1975 book The World's Number One, Flat-Out, All-Time Great Stock Car Racing Book, written by Jerry Bledsoe.

A biography about Scott's life, titled Hard Driving: The Wendell Scott Story, was written by journalist Brian Donovan. It was released in 2008.

In April 2012, Scott was nominated for inclusion in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and was selected for induction in the 2015 class, in May 2014. In January 2013, Scott was awarded a historical marker in Danville, Virginia. The marker's statement is "Persevering over prejudice and discrimination, Scott broke racial barriers in NASCAR, with a 13-year career that included 20 top five and 147 top ten finishes". Scott was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 30, 2015.

Loosely based on him, a fictionalized version of Scott was given a minor role in the 2017 Pixar film Cars 3. He is portrayed by Isiah Whitlock Jr. in the form of an anthropomorphized car, with his name changed to River Scott.

A fictionalized version of Scott early in his career in 1955 was featured heavily on Timeless episode 2, season 2. Portrayed by Joseph Lee Anderson, Scott's history as a smuggler, mechanical and driving ability, perseverance, and past and future injustices due to racial discrimination were major themes of the episode.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Pts Ref 1961 Scott Racing 87 Chevy CLT JSP DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS HMS ATL GPS 32nd 4726 34 HBO BGS MAR NWS CLB HCY RCH MAR DAR CLT CLT RSD ASP CLT PIF BIR GPS BGS NOR HAS STR DAY ATL CLB MBS BRI NSV BGS AWS RCH SBO DAR HCY RCH CSF ATL MAR NWS CLT BRI GPS HBO 1962 CON AWS DAY DAY DAY CON AWS SVH HBO RCH CLB NWS GPS MBS MAR BGS BRI RCH HCY CON DAR PIF CLT ATL BGS AUG RCH SBO DAY CLB ASH GPS AUG SVH MBS BRI CHT NSV HCY RCH DTS AUG MAR NWS CLT ATL 22nd 9906 89 HUN AWS STR BGS PIF VAL DAR 1963 34 BIR GGS THS RSD DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS HBO ATL HCY BRI AUG RCH GPS SBO BGS MAR NWS CLB THS DAR ODS RCH CLT BIR ATL DAY MBS SVH DTS BGS ASH OBS BRR BRI GPS NSV CLB AWS PIF BGS ONA DAR HCY RCH MAR DTS NWS THS CLT SBO HBO RSD 15th 14814 1964 CON AUG JSP SVH RSD DAY DAY DAY RCH BRI GPS BGS ATL AWS HBO PIF CLB NWS MAR SVH DAR 12th 19574 Ford LGY HCY SBO CLT GPS ASH ATL CON NSV CHT BIR VAL PIF DAY ODS OBS BRR ISP GLN LIN BRI NSV MBS AWS ONA CLB BGS STR DAR HCY RCH ODS HBO MAR SVH NWS CLT HAR AUG JAC 55 Chevy DTS 1965 34 Ford RSD DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS RCH HBO ATL GPS NWS MAR CLB BRI DAR LGY BGS HCY CCF ASH HAR NSV BIR ATL GPS MBS VAL DAY ODS OBS ISP GLN BRI NSV CCF AWS SMR PIF AUG CLB DTS BLV BGS DAR HCY LIN ODS RCH MAR NWS CLT HBO CAR DTS 11th 19902 Fred Goad 70 Ford CLT Clay Eastridge 57 Ford DAR 1966 Scott Racing 34 Ford AUG RSD DAY DAY DAY CAR BRI ATL HCY CLB GPS BGS NWS MAR DAR LGY MGR MON RCH CLT DTS ASH PIF SMR AWS BLV GPS DAY ODS BRR OXF FON ISP BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB AWS BLV BGS DAR HCY RCH HBO MAR NWS CLT 6th 21702 25 DAR Pistone Racing 59 Ford CAR 1967 Scott Racing 34 Ford AUG RSD DAY DAY DAY AWS BRI GPS BGS ATL CLB HCY NWS MAR SVH RCH DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS MGY DAY TRN OXF FDA ISP SMR NSV ATL BGS CLB SVH DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS CAR AWS 10th 20700 Ron Stotten 94 Chevy BRI GC Spencer Racing 49 Plymouth CLT 1968 Scott Racing 34 Ford MGR MGY RSD DAY RCH ATL HCY GPS CLB NWS MAR AUG AWS BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS DAY ISP OXF FDA TRN BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB BGS AWS SBO LGY DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS AUG CLT CAR JFC 9th 2685 GC Spencer Racing 50 Plymouth BRI Roy Tyner 09 Chevy DAR Gray Racing 19 Ford ATL 1969 Scott Racing 34 Ford MGR MGY RSD DAY DAY DAY CAR AUG BRI CLB HCY GPS RCH NWS MAR AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT MGR SMR MCH KPT GPS NCF DOV TPN TRN BLV BRI NSV SMR ATL MCH SBO BGS AWS DAR HCY RCH TALWth CLB MAR NWS SVH AUG CAR JFC MGR TWS 9th 3015 Dennis Holt 23 Ford ATL Robertson Racing DAY GC Spencer Racing 8 Plymouth CLT 1970 Scott Racing 34 Ford RSD DAY DAY DAY RCH CAR SVH ATL BRI TAL NWS CLB DAR BLV LGY CLT SMR MAR MCH HCY KPT GPS DAY AST TPN HCY DOV NCF NWS CLT MAR MGR CAR LGY 14th 2425 George Wiltshire Dodge RSD Brooks Racing 26 Ford TRN 34 BRI Robertson Racing Plymouth SMR NSV ATL CLB ONA MCH TAL BGS SBO DAR RCH 1971 Scott Racing 34 Ford RSD DAY DAY DAY ONT RCH CAR HCY BRI ATL CLB GPS SMR NWS MAR DAR SBO TAL ASH KPT CLT DOV MCH RSD HOU GPS DAY BRI AST ISP TRN NSV ATL BGS ONA MCH TAL CLB HCY DAR MAR DOV CAR MGR RCH TWS 19th 2180 Garn Racing 96 Chevy TAL Eddie Yarboro 13 Plymouth MAR Cunningham-Kelley 07 Chevy CLT Scott Racing 26 Ford NWS

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Pts Ref 1972 Scott Racing 34 Ford RSD DAY RCH ONT CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV MCH RSD TWS DAY BRI TRN ATL TAL MCH NSV DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR TWS 40th 1317.5 Howard & Egerton Racing Chevy CLT 1973 Scott Racing Ford RSD DAY RCH CAR BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR 61st – Mercury TAL55 NSV CLT DOV TWS RSD MCH DAY BRI ATL TAL NSV DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR Faustina Racing 5 Dodge CLT CAR

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1963 Scott Racing Chevrolet 41 26 1964 40 38 1965 Ford 14 20 1966 28 13 1967 38 15 1968 42 17 1969 49 29 1971 Scott Racing Ford DNQ 1972 DNQ