Walter McKenzie

Life in White Springs has been wet! We had 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, followed by two more days of steady rain. The ground was so saturated that I couldn’t mow. At least I got out of one chore for a few days, but it will just be higher and harder to mow when I get around to it. The Suwannee rose 20 feet in three days in White Springs and will be right at flood stage on the 14th when it is expected to level off. Life by the river is sometimes thrilling and tumultuous. Other than that, there has not been much to report so we look outward to get our news and inspiration. I have been following the news about national and global demonstrations for racial reform. So let’s talk about Stock Car Racing!

In 1961, Lee Petty nearly lost his life in a qualifying race at Daytona. I saw the iconic photo of his race car sailing through the air after it crashed through the flimsy guard rail. Being young and oblivious to the terrible injuries that Petty suffered as a result of that crash, I just thought that it was a really cool photo of a flying race car and I became an instant Petty fan.

I went to my first Daytona 500 the following year, my first of several trips to see the Daytona 500 and the spectacle of a budding NASCAR culture. They used to have sanctioned drag races on the back stretch of the track at night. I remember seeing “The Green Monster”, a jet powered dragster go all the way around the 2 1/2 mile track after breaking its drag chutes. We, all of us, smoked back then and we never had to buy any cigarettes during the race, the “Winston Girls” were everywhere, passing out free samples, trying to get us hooked. It worked.

I saw the birth of “The King” Richard Petty. I followed his career in the early 60’s and in the 1964 Daytona 500, I saw Richard Petty behind the wheel of his iconic No. 43 Plymouth dominate his first Daytona 500 win. He led for 184 of the 200 laps, which is a Daytona 500 record that still stands to this day. Over the next 17 years he went on to win seven Daytona 500’s. Nobody can touch that!

I lived in Jacksonville at the time that I became a Petty race fan. Imagine my excitement when I heard that King Richard Petty was coming to Speedway Park, a half mile dirt track in Jacksonville. I, and my racing fan friends, got tickets and pit passes, and we were all rooting for our hero, Richard Petty. Due to heavy rain the track was in terrible shape. Petty’s car was damaged and ailing and, much to my disappointment, Petty didn’t win. Some guy named Wendell Scott passed Petty with 25 laps to go, and went on to win the race. I witnessed the first African-American to beat King Richard and to win a NASCAR Grand National Series race! I saw history being made! The shame of it was that I didn’t know that I had witnessed history at the time because Scott was not announced as the winner of the race. Buck Baker, the second-place driver, was initially declared the winner, but race officials discovered two hours later that Scott had not only won, but was two laps in front of the rest of the field. NASCAR awarded Scott the win TWO YEARS later, but his family never actually received the trophy he had earned until 2010 — 47 years after the race, and 20 years after Scott had died. Perhaps better late than never, but this was way, way too late!

The 1977 film “Greased Lightning,” starring Richard Pryor as Scott, was loosely based on Scott’s biography.

Scott died in 1990. In January 2013, Scott was awarded his own historical marker in Danville, Virginia. The marker’s statement is “Persevering over prejudice and discrimination, Scott broke racial barriers in NASCAR, with a 13-year career that included 20 top five and 147 top ten finishes.” Wendell Scott was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Jan. 30, 2015, 25 years after he died.

Over time I lost interest in NASCAR. Petty’s car, No. 43, was not winning races anymore and though I still liked some of the drivers, I increasingly didn’t like certain aspects of the culture and as a result of that I was no longer a big fan. NASCAR and a lot of racing fans went their way and I went mine. But now, perhaps, just perhaps, change is coming. Thanks to current events, tremendous sacrifices, and some people in NASCAR continuing to push for change and others finally finding their way to accepting reform, I may soon be able to watch the races and root for No. 43 again! The Petty race team and their African American driver, Bubba Watson, are racing their No. 43 Black Lives Matter car, sporting a hood that features a black hand and white hand gripping in solidarity with the message “Compassion, Love, Understanding.” On the side of the car … a Peace symbol! I can root for this team! And the NASCAR fans I love are still flying the flag, the one that stands for freedom and, also, I hope, for compassion, love and understanding …. The American flag! So let’s go racing!

Once again, I’ve said enough. But you haven’t! Let me hear from you. Tell me how you’re coping with all this. I am hopeful that we can depend on each other to do the right thing, and I hope that we can continue to feel proud of who we are and where we’re headed, and that we all appreciate how White Springs and its surrounding region is a very special place, to be honored and protected. Be safe, be helpful, and enjoy your life in White Springs!

Walter McKenzie

386-303-1394

lifeinwhitesprings@gmail.com