black history month and early lakes racing

With it being black history month I was curious if there were people of color involved with early lakes racing or early hot rod and custom origins. Were there some but because of the times were not showcased? or what? any opinions or anyone with pics? Thanks
-Eric

 

The Trotters of Columbus Ohio were well known '50's racers, won Best Appearing Crew at the nationals, and they're still active I believe. They were a black club. And of course S.W.C. was well known in the gas ranks.
The Trotters had a B/Dragster, and a custom hauler. This is from Hot Rod Magazine Aug. '60


Mutt
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Stone 'Woods and Cooke were my g***er heroes when I was a kid. I never saw photos of the persona involved (just the cars) until years later. At first I was surprised and then I laughed at myself and said "Why not?"

 

I saw a picture of the guys not that long ago, I was surprised as well, but I agree why not?

 

Through my personal research the earliest racing history was 'The Colored Speedway ***ociation' which ran from 1924 to 1936. Primarly in the midwest. But searching through photo records I can not find a single person involved in lakes racing. Stone Cook and Wood had the nicest Willys on the strip.

 

thats a bad *** rail Mutt, thanks for the pics

 

Don't forget Wendell Scott, not a lakes racer, but just as cool!

 

So Fred Stone,Tim Woods and Doug Cook were black?

 

No, Cookie wasn't black.

 

Wendall Scotts only NASCAR win was in Jacksonville Fla in 63 but officals gave the win to anouther driver due to 'incorrect' lap calcuations but was later givin the money for the win after the error was relized, but he missed out on the whoopla.

 

from the 1930s thru the mid fiftys a man called Rajo Jack or Jack Desoto raced primarly in more liberal calif. he raced roadsters, lakes and big cars. He was known as the best black racer of all time in the book Roaring Roasters by Don Radbrush. another black owner and mech out of Dayton Oh was Charles Black. he owned Blacks Garage was very sucessful as a owner in the roasters. Another out of new jersey in a photo man by the name of Ace Lane sr. he is dead but his son Ace Jr is still in the photo game. a Newyorker who was killed while racing a open modified was Cyclone Ross a stuck gas linkage was the cause of the crash.I dont know any of the names but their was a black circle track orig in the 40 to mid 50s in Ga. the same thing in Haliea Fla.This is the only history I can think of right now but will post more when I can get my thoughts together.. Bobby..

 

Speed costs money.........and most folks of color did not have money.

Poor education
Lack of opportunties
Lack of Capitol funding

And other social issues eliminated a lot of people from the money list......

Add to the fact that Black people were less than 20 per cent of the population ( and a lot of that in the South.......no salt lakes to race on ).......not a lot of racers......

Wendell Scott was a moonshine runner..........and just evolved into a Nascar racer.......like a bunch of white guys did........Stones and woods were in the construction business...and were way above the average black in money making.........

 

I just found this:

http://www.pbs.org/forgoldandglory/about/synopsis.html

Didn't Richard Pryor race stock cars?




...I know...I'm an idiot

 

Hey, great topic, guys!

I wish I could remember the name right off, but the first treasurer of the SCTA was a black man; he is in a group shot with some other club officers and sponsors just inside the front cover of Veda Orr's Dry Lakes Pictorial, from around 1947.

I don't know, of course, but I always was under the impression that the post-war dry lakes, hot rod and custom scene in SoCal was a little more racially open than that of much of the country at that time. The inclusion in magazine coverage about people such as Yam Oka, Larry Shinoda, the Bean Bandits, Floyd Lippincot Jr., and Bob Hirohata brings this to mind.


Later, my brothers, *****6

 

In 1946 Mel Leighton was treasurer of SCTA, his photo is on the first page of Veda Orr's Lakes Pictorial.I've got to figure out how to post photos on the "New" HAMB. I've got a lot of info on Rajo Jack, his restored sprinter is still in California.

 

great find Mike Im gonna try and order that.

 

That rail that the Trotters had was a Lyndwood, built by Pat Bilbow in Wilks-Barre, Pa. the first m*** produced dragster.

 

Great post Eric. Look at The Birth of Hot Rodding by Dean Batchelor and there are some African Americans to be seen at the Salt Flats and dragstrips.
I wish someone would chronicle these men, I'm sure they existed. In the early days it wasn't money that made you fast, it was ingenuity, and there's no evidence that one race has more of that over another.
You'll notice there were a lot of Japanese (Yam Oka) and Mexican (Bean Bandits) racers too.

It's sad that when I go out to the dragraces that more people of color aren't involved, but I tell you what, they have embraced imports, and as far as I'm concerned that's roots racing in the true tradition of hot rodding.

If ever there was a minority, I'm one, I feel utterly alienated from my race, they simply don't inderstand the appeal of what I do, I'm a freak, an anaomaly, but it makes me persevere even harder.

God bless everyone who's ever had a need to go fast, regardless of the color of their skin.

Great ****ing post Eric, your pal eternally.

 

there are a TON of folks involved in what's known as "Black Sunday", an annual event here at Gateway Int'l Raceway. it's so big, 'sunday' now means all weekend! it draws from all over the midwest, and while it's put on by folks of color, everbody's welcome. i'll try to find the website, U.B.D.R.A. i think.

i recently watched the Jack Johnson (boxing great) do***entary by Ken Burns, and it touched on his love of fast cars. it had some cool pics of him in some 'specials', goggles, gloves and all...

from the pbs site...
The automobile, which became Johnson's great p***ion and the most celebrated piece of technology connected with popular culture, was part of the brave new world of the early 1900s, replacing the bicycle. And, along with this came the rise of spectator sports, which changed how Americans spent their leisure time: baseball was a long-standing craze, college football was growing in popularity, basketball had been invented. There was also track and field, the modern return of the Olympic Games, golf, tennis, bicycle racing, race walking, horse racing, and probably the most popular of all sports at the time, professional boxing or, as it was commonly called, prizefighting.

 

yep, here it is...http://ubdra.org/

click on the link there to read the story from The American, a local paper...

 

very kool post.i am learning alot.i grew up in the 70`s and always liked "The Snake" at the drags in top fuel.
I agree with Nads very good post.

 

Al Drake's book "Flat Out" has several pictures of Mel Leighton at the dry lakes in the 30's.
Ted H

 

Don't forget 'Big Willie'and his street racers he and his wife Tomika used to run some EEEEVIIL Dodge Daytonas,Willie ended up dipping his one too many times in acid to further lighten the body and it ended up folding in on itself,if you ever seen the very beginning of Two Lane Blacktop you'll see 'Big Willie' flagging race cars.bakc in the the day Willie offered his'kill stickers' in the car mags.They were done up like what ws on the WW2 fighter planes xept they showed the bowtie,ford logo or mopar ect.Big Willie still sanctions races i believe.

 

on the cover of Denat and Cox's "the birth of hotrodding: the dry lakes era" there is an older african american fella to the right of the race car, talking to the driver. couldn't find any info on him in the book, but it was cool to see his presence. often wondered about it myself.

 

There is a gentleman of color that is making hot rod history right now. His name is Carroll Carter out of Manasas Virginia. He manufactures and tunes some big ole' blown alcohol Boss 429 derivitives. Check his stuff out at www.candcmotorsports.com

 

You can see a fair number of people who are clearly Black in the 1938 "When the hotrods ran" book, "Birth of hot rodding", and so on, as well as Japanese. With many of the people wandering through backgrounds of pictures, though, you can't tell--B&W film, half an inch of lakes dust on face, etc.
In that period in the sixties when g***ers were the most publicized drag cars and occupied large chunks of HRM coverage, I was unaware the SWC was a black team--did there pics appear in the magazines, were they deliberately not pictured, or was I just oblivious to the people in pictures in my quest for mechanical info? I'll have to dig back to '61 in the archives and see. For a while, the big g***er teams were at least as famous as Garlits...then coverage moved on to SS, funny cars, and FX cars as the late models took over the 1960's...
I lived near Washington, DC in the early sixties, and drag racing at Aquasco, MD. had a substantial Black presence.

 

Stone, Woods and Cook (Cookie in the early days) were not a Black team, they were a race team.
And again, Cook was white.

 

Here's a picture of the Trotters' custom hauler. These guys were a cl*** act, and rightfully proud of their ability.


Mutt