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Posts Tagged ‘ Bill France Sr ’

Jan 22
Friday

Miller Racing Reveals the Inside Story in a New Book, Racing While Black: How an African-American Stock Car Team Made it’s Mark on NASCAR

Filed under ARCA, Indy Racing League, Other Series, Sprint Cup Series

“Miller throws the restrictor plate away for this race.  He takes you to the red line.”—Bobby Gerhart, five-time winner of the ARCA Daytona 200

Leonard T. Miller recalls the uphill battle, institutional racism and glass ceiling encountered in high-tier racing in his new book, Racing While Black: How an African-American Stock Car Team Made Its Mark on NASCAR (Seven Stories Press; February 17, 2010) written with sportswriter Andrew Simon.

The 2010 NASCAR season, the 62nd year of professional stock car racing, is underway. You’ve heard the familiar team names of Penske, Waltrip, Petty and Gibbs. Now meet the Miller Racing Group: a successful African-American auto racing team.

This father/son racing combo crashed through the cultural, racial and class barriers of motorsports. In 2005, Leonard T. Miller and his father, Leonard W. Miller (author of Silent Thunder) were the first African-Americans to win a track championship in NASCAR history.

What’s revealed in Racing While Black:

  • · What it was like to be the first black-owned team to enter the Indy 500 in 1972.
  • · Why corporations were unwilling to sponsor black racers.
  • · How the Miller team navigated around hostile officials and promoters and bigoted competitors to become an enduring presence in NASCAR racing.
  • · Why breaking the NASCAR color barrier is a little-known chapter in our country’s racial history.

“You don’t have to have motor oil running through your veins to savor the rich slice of contemporary Americana that Miller and Simon serve up – an unlikely team’s journey through the grimy garages and cool corporate offices where one of the nation’s fastest-growing spectator sport actually gets played. And if you are a racing freak, this is a book that tells secrets, names names and exposes the divisions that still constrict the sport.”

Amy Argetsinger, The Washington Post

“For decades, black racing drivers have struggled against an unwelcoming environment in NASCAR. Fifty-five years ago NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., told the group’s first black racer, Wendell Scott, that the sport would treat him without prejudice. That promise proved false. Scott’s career hopes were undermined by hostile officials and promoters, bigoted competitors who wrecked him deliberately, and corporations unwilling to sponsor a black driver. The engrossing narrative in Racing While Black documents for the first time how African-American drivers seeking NASCAR careers in the modern era have endured the same problems as Scott. As a racing team executive, co-author Leonard T. Miller brings an insider’s knowledge to the story. This book will help readers understand why NASCAR, unlike other major sports, remains all-white at its top level. Racing While Black is an illuminating, action-packed journey through a little-known chapter in our country’s racial history”.—Brian Donovan, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Hard Driving: The American Odyssey of NASCAR’s First Black Driver

Leonard T. Miller and Andrew Simon will be making appearances in New York, DC, Philadelphia at the Free Library of Philadelphia on February 4th, and Charlotte, NC. Please contact Ruth Weiner at ruth@sevenstories. com for more information.

Leonard T. Miller is a second-generation African-American auto racing team owner, the president of Miller Racing Group, Inc, and a twenty-one-year veteran commercial airline pilot. His dad, Leonard W. Miller, entered a team in the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and is in the Black Athletes Hall of Fame.

- Seven Stories Press, Press Release


All entries filed under this archive


Johnson AP Award Validates Bill France Sr. Belief That Drivers Are Athletes
Comments - Posted 12.28.09
Four-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Joins Distinguished List Of World-Class Athletes DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 28, 2009) – When Jimmie Johnson was named Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press last week, he joined a distinguished list of world-class athletes that had been recognized during the previous 78 years ...more»
Hall of Fame spotlight: Bill France (Sr.)
Comments - Posted 10.16.09
William "Big Bill" Henry Getty France had a dream. A dream to unify those sometimes rough and rowdy guys who were challenging others to challenges to find out who had the fastest car. This dream led France to Daytona Beach, Fla., and in 1948, NASCAR was born. France first caught the ...more»
Dale Earnhardt Named to First Class of NASCAR Hall of Fame
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
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All Five NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees Boast Strong Ties To Daytona International Speedway
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The first five members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame were elected and announced on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., and all boast strong ties to Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR’s most prestigious track and home to the Daytona 500. Included in the inaugural class are: · ...more»
Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey Statement On Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Class
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
“What a befitting inaugural class for induction to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The men chosen were titans of our sport. It’s their personalities and actions on the track that carried NASCAR from its grassroots to the pinnacle of American sports. “Without the actions and leadership of Bill France ...more»
Michigan International Speedway’s Statement from Roger Curtis on the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
NASCAR on Wednesday announced the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame: Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Richard Petty. Statement from Roger Curtis, president, Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., on the inaugural class: “These gentlemen make up an amazing ...more»
Darlington Raceway’s Chris Browning Statement on Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Class
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
***Inaugural class has 13 combined wins at Darlington*** “This is certainly a historic day for NASCAR with Bill France, Sr; Richard Petty, Bill France, Jr; Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Junior Johnson being voted into the inaugural class of inductees at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “Bill ...more»
Inaugural NASCAR Hall Of Fame Class Announced
Comments - Posted 10.14.09
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 14, 2009) – The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) announced the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame today that includes: Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Richard Petty. The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, consisting of members ...more»


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