Sunday, August 29, 2010

August 29 Birthday: Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott, stock car racer
August 29, 1921-December 23, 1990

Racing Against the Odds: The Story of Wendell Scott, Stock Car Racing’s African-American Champion by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric A. Velasquez (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2009)

Scott’s foot was on the pedal of his family’s car well before he was old enough to get a license. At 14 he bought his first car. He began racing in 1947 and in 1963 was the first and only African-American to win a NASCAR race.

Legends of Nascar.com offers several articles about Scott along with a list of some of his awards.