Driver, pioneer

Scott was a winner, then a pioneer. The Danville, VA native was the first African-American driver to campaign stock cars on a full-time basis successfully. In his first race in 1947, he finished third in a borrowed car, won $50 and was hooked. In the next few years, he won 128 hobby, amateur and modified races on the old Dixie Circuit and outlaw tracks. In 1959, he enjoyed his best season, winning 22 races, the Richmond track championship and Virginia State Sportsman title. Moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 1961, Scott ran 495 times before hanging up his helmet in 1973. For six consecutive years, he finished in the top 12 in points, despite never having a major sponsor, including a career-best 6^th in 1966. His lone Cup win came at Jacksonville in 1964. Scott’s life was the subject of the 1977 film Greased Lightning. He received the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America’s Bob Russo Heritage Award in 2007 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.