ESPN FILMS: WENDELL SCOTT: A RACE STORY (TV)
Summary
One in this series of documentary films profiling notable athletes and events in sports history. This program, which focuses on NASCAR driver Wendell Scott, features interviews with Scott's relatives and associates interspersed with fictionalized reenactment scenes. On December 1, 1963, Scott was the sole black driver in the Grand National Series race at Jacksonville Speedway Park. His sons Frank and Wendell Jr. describe the racial challenges of participating in the sport during the tense Civil Rights era, recalling an earlier incident in which he was not provided with the usual "tow money" given to drivers after a vehicle breakdown, leaving Scott stranded in the rain with his sons. Scott learned about tools and car repair from his father and attended a racially-integrated school, and when he became interested in racing as a young man, he joined the Dixie Circuit, a competitor of NASCAR's which felt that a black driver would be a useful "gimmick." His developed his driving talents by evading the police as he moved bootleg whiskey around the South, though despite his skill he frequently came into conflict with white drivers who resented his presence, particularly one Jack Smith.
Wendell Jr. emotionally recalls an incident from his youth in which his father rescued him from some aggressive "rednecks," nothing that he was always brave in the face of discrimination. Scott's other children recall his unfailingly determined nature and his commitment to family, including his close, supportive relationship with his wife Mary. Despite his talents, he struggled to make money through racing and was forced to use secondhand parts in his substandard car and perform his own pit-stop repairs, unlike his more affluent white rivals. Even in an inferior vehicle, Scott pulled into the lead in the 1963 race and won, but he was instead declared the third-place winner, with Buck Baker taking the top prize. Everyone present, including Baker's own wife, was aware that Scott had truly won, but the judges were concerned about the public reaction to his kissing the white "beauty queen" at the finish line and adjusted their call accordingly. Later, they claimed that there had been a numerical error and informed Scott that he had won, though he was not given the trophy or the public attention that he deserved.
Ten years later, Scott plunged himself into debt by purchasing a high-quality car and participated in a race at the prestigious Talladega Superspeedway, where he was forced to shake the hand of the infamously racist Governor George Wallace. He suffered injuries in a multi-car pileup crash, however, and was finally forced to leave the sport for good. He stated in a 1986 interview that it took him nine years to pay off the car, and he passed away in 1990 from spinal cancer. Scott's children comment on his generosity and kindness as a father, and in 2010 he was posthumously awarded the trophy for the 1963 race as well as a spot in the Jacksonville Motorsports Hall of Fame. Several young black racecar drivers, including Michael Cherry, Marc Davis and Darrell Wallace Jr., comment on Scott's impact on the sport and their admiration for his role as a pioneer, and the program closes by explaining that Scott placed in the top ten in 147 races during his thirteen-year NASCAR career. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:04
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 121935
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Sports; Biography; Automobile racing drivers
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV, 2011
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Keith Clinkscales … Executive Producer
- John Dahl … Executive Producer
- Jim Jorden … Executive Producer
- Joan Lynch … Executive Producer
- Connor Schell … Executive Producer
- Jay Abraham … Executive Producer
- Max Siegel … Executive Producer
- Marcus Jadotte … Executive Producer
- Arunima Dhar … Producer
- Terrell Riley … Producer
- Wayne Riley … Producer
- Rob Harvell … Co-Producer
- Angel Hodge … Associate Producer
- Kenan Harris-Holley … Director
- Rory Karpf … Director, Writer
- H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler … Interviewee
- Brian Donovan … Interviewee
- Wendell Scott Jr. … Interviewee
- Frank Scott … Interviewee
- Sybil Scott … Interviewee
- Cheryl Scott … Interviewee
- Mary Scott … Interviewee
- Ronald Rohn … Interviewee
- Max Siegel … Interviewee
- Michael Cherry … Interviewee
- Marc Davis … Interviewee
- Darrell Wallace Jr. … Interviewee
- Charles F. Porter … Cast, Wendell Scott
- Quan Harris-Holley … Cast, Frankie (kid)
- Nathan Garner … Cast, Junior (kid)
- McKinley Faustin … Cast, Junior (teenager)
- Donald Wilson … Cast, Frankie (teenager)
- Ashley Williams … Cast, Mary Scott
- Anika Garner … Cast, Daughter
- Johnny Millwater … Cast, Promoter
- Patrick J. Keenan … Cast, Official
- Colin Shalo … Cast, Friendly Driver
- Kevin Alderman … Cast, Victory Lane Driver
- William Boyer … Cast, Hostile Driver
- Courtney Craven … Cast, Beauty Queen
- Debbie Millwater … Cast, Victory Lane Wife
- Orion Millwater … Cast, Victory Lane Baby
- Scott Hunter … Cast, Photographer
- Nick Kern … Cast, Lead Redneck
- Zayd Harris-Holley … Cast, Wendell Scott (kid)
- Lucus Francesco … Cast, Kid #1
- Jeffrey Lotierzo … Cast, Kid #2
- Elliot Francesco … Cast, Kid #3
- Buck Baker
- Wendell Scott
- Jack Smith
- George Wallace