NASCAR gives Wendell Scott’s family his 1963 race trophy

DAYTONA Beach, Fla. — Wendell Scott’s grandson stood on his tippy toes, leaned around and kissed the trophy that was almost sixty yrs in the producing.

NASCAR offered Scott’s loved ones a custom trophy commemorating his historic 1963 victory prior to Saturday’s Cup Collection race at Daytona Intercontinental Speedway. Scott was the initial and remains the only Black driver to win a race at NASCAR’s best amount.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps gave Scott’s son, Frank Scott, the trophy on stage following a pre-race concert and just before driver introductions. Driver Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone full-time Black driver, joined a number of of Scott’s loved ones members on stage for the ceremony.

As they commenced to go away the dais, Warrick Scott got his chance to pose with the trophy. As an alternative of holding or hoisting it, he made a decision to kiss it. It was maybe the most telling scene of what this meant to the loved ones.

Wendell Scott handed Richard Petty with 25 laps remaining at Speedway Park in Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 1963, in the Jacksonville two hundred. But Buck Baker, who truly completed second, was declared the winner and acquired the trophy in victory lane.

Race officials discovered several hours afterwards that Scott was the real winner and experienced lapped the full subject two times. But he was not credited with the victory for another two yrs, and his loved ones has extensive pushed for a good celebration.

“It matters simply because my father earned it and it was something he experienced to labor on,” Frank Scott mentioned. “He always desired to get his trophy and he predicted that he would get his trophy just one working day. He mentioned, ‘I may not be here with you all, but just one working day I’ll get my trophy.’”

Scott retired simply because of injuries endured in a 1973 crash at Talladega Superspeedway, and the Danville, Virginia, native died in 1990 of spinal most cancers.

He was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, two yrs after the town of Danville awarded Scott a historical marker. The assertion on the marker praises Scott for “persevering around prejudice and discrimination, Scott broke racial limitations in NASCAR.” In a thirteen-year career, Scott notched 20 best-5 finishes.

NASCAR picked the regular-period finale for the presentation simply because of its proximity to Jacksonville and simply because it comes just one working day before what would have been Scott’s 100th birthday.

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