August 29 …

Stock car racing driver Wendell Oliver Scott was the first African American ever to compete in NASCAR, and the first African American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level.

Born in Danville, VA on August 29, 1921, Scott began learning to be an auto mechanic from his father, who worked as a drive and mechanic for two white families. As a teen he raced bicycles against white children and dropped out of high school to become a taxi driver.

Scott served in the segregated U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, returning to his home town to run an auto repair shop. He also ran moonshine whiskey as a sideline and was caught by police in 1949, which resulted in him serving three years probation, but he continued making his late-night whiskey runs.

There are several literary and film works associated with Scott…

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

The Ballad of Wendell Scott was written by a fellow Danville native.

The book The World’s Number One, Flat-Out, All-Time Great Stock Car Racing Book prominently features Scott.

A fictionalized version of Scott is portrayed loosely as a car named “River Scott” in the Pixar film “Cars 3.”

Wendell Scott, who died on December 23, 1990, was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.