NASCAR Presents Wendell Scott Family With Trophy Celebrating His Historic Cup Series Win

Credit: NASCAR Media

Almost fifty-eight years later, the family of Wendell Scott was presented a custom-built trophy for his sole NASCAR Grand National Series victory. It was given to the family prior to Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

 On December 1, 1963, he won the Cup race at Jacksonville Speedway Park; however, 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Buck Baker was announced as the winner by race officials. Unfortunately, this was a result of the track promoters not wanting a black driver to be photographed with a white trophy girl during that time in the Jim Crow era.

 “It’s quite an honor and a privilege to be here this weekend for this historic moment in time,” Frank Scott said. “I grew up at Daytona as a young teenager and a child and came here throughout my father’s racing career. It’s good to be back in this historic place.”

 Prior to Scott beginning his racing career in 1947, he served for three years in the United States Army during World War II. His mechanical skills were sharpened while working in the motor pool. During the next decade, after winning over 100 races at local tracks, he made his NASCAR premier series debut on March 4, 1961, at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

 In 495 Cup series starts, the talented, history making driver earned one win, one pole, 20 top-fives and 147 top-10 finishes.

 Wendell Scott was posthumously inducted into the 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame and honored by having a section of highway named after him near his Danville, Virginia home. His legacy continues to live on through the work being done by the Wendell Scott Foundation founded by his grandson Warrick Scott.

“Wendell Scott’s legacy as a man is rooted in community and outreach,” Warrick Scott said. “The work that we’ve been doing for so many years, this moment crystallizes it. All things are possible. At this moment in time I think diversity is a really big topic, and Wendell Scott built a bridge for diversity, in the minds and ideologies for many people. We are blessed to be here in this moment.”