NASCAR 75: One of a series of 75 stories that helped define the first three quarters of a century of NASCAR.
- At the time of his 1963 win at Jacksonville Raceway Park, Scott was the only Black driver at NASCAR’s top level.
- As evidence would clearly show, there was no doubt Scott had won the race.
- At first, though, officials gave the victory to Pontiac driver Buck Baker, a popular star and two-time series champion.
It was a bittersweet moment, that Sunday evening in December of 1963 when Virginia native Wendell Scott got his first and only NASCAR Cup Series victory.
It was sweet because Scott, a 42-year-old former Army mechanic and fiercely determined Black family man, had devoted much of his life to overcoming racial prejudices and becoming a successful racer.
It was bitter because it seemed everyone at Jacksonville Raceway Park wanted to deny Scott his well-earned victory, much less that he’d lapped the field twice in so doing.
At the time, Scott was the only Black driver at NASCAR’s top level. (Only several others, including current driver Bubba Wallace, have followed his path). For years he maintained and drove underfunded No. 34 Chevrolets and Fords against stock car racing royalty. After runaway leader Richard Petty slowed and was lapped toward the end that night in Jacksonville, second-running Scott led the final 26 laps on the bumpy, rutty, poorly-lit half-mile dirt track.
As evidence would clearly show, there was no doubt Scott had won the race. At first, though, officials gave the victory to Pontiac driver Buck Baker, a popular star and two-time series champion. To his credit, Scott didn’t hesitate to plead his case with timing and scoring. After a long scoring recheck, officials agreed Scott had won for the first time in 114 starts. In fact, he had won by two laps after officials told the flagstand to withhold the checkered flag long enough for Baker to appear the winner.
Scott and his crew felt insulted by what appeared to be a racially fueled snub… but were delighted with the winner’s $1,000 that would help get them back to Virginia. Baker had gone to victory lane, posed with the white trophy queen, done his post-race media obligations, and taken the winner’s trophy when he left, thinking it was his. By the time NASCAR certified Scott’s victory deep in the night, the trophy was gone, never to reappear in his lifetime.
Four-plus decades later, in 2010, NASCAR fans at Golden Isles Speedway near the Florida-Georgia line presented Scott’s children a replica of the missing 1963 trophy. In August of 2021, about 31 years after Scott died from spinal cancer, NASCAR officials gave his family a close-to-identical replica of the Jacksonville trophy.
To be sure, better late than never.
Wendell Scott (34) and his Chevrolet in action in 1966
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