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NPS Form 10 -goo -a OMB Approval No. 1024 -0018 (8.86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation She,et Occoneechee Speedway Orange County, N.C. Section number 8 Page 14 competitively in 1949. She won NASCAR's Woman Driver of the Year award and finished thirteenth in the national points standing. In the first Strictly Stock race in Charlotte, she finished fourteenth. Louise Smith was also an accomplished driver with a reputation for drinking, cursing and fighting with the men. At Langhorne, Pennsylvania, Christian finished sixth, Smith sixteenth and Mobley forty -fourth in a 200 -mile race on September 11, 1949.26 Women were banned from NASCAR pits, including Occoneechee, in the early 1950s, as NASCAR, like southern society, was becoming more organized and thus, more restrictive. The initial common sight of a female driver was reduced to an unusual spectacle as women were generally relegated to the role of race queen. African American drivers were part of racing's early days as well. In 1956, Charlie Scott became the first African American to compete in a NASCAR race. 27 Wendell Scott (no known relation to Charlie Scott) was NASCAR's only full -time, African American driver and of the African American drivers, he was the most successful. Like his white counterparts, Wendell Scott was a tripper well known by the area police. When a local racetrack owner went to the Danville, Virginia police station in search of an African American driver to use as a promotional gimmick, they recommended Scott, a Danville native. 28 Scott raced on dirt tracks throughout the South, including Occoneechee Speedway and moved to Grand National racing in the 1960s. He was never able to secure a major sponsor, but he finished as high as twelfth in the points in 1964. Other African American racecar drivers existed, but their lives and careers have not been documented.29 Bill France was concerned about his drivers and their safety, but in practice he was most concerned about business, regardless of the human toll and he created an atmosphere in which complaints were subverted with paternalism. 30 Although France did improve conditions for NASCAR drivers in the early 1950s by ensuring that prize money was paid, requiring roll bars and locking seats that would not slide on impact and partnering with Pure Oil Company to develop the first tires made especially for stock car racing, drivers still had complaints. 3' Prize money had hardly risen through the years and NASCAR gave no assistance to the families of 16Ibid., 104. 27 Chengelis. 28 Wilkinson, 115; Daniel, 104 -107; and Golenbock, 17. 29 Daniel, 104 -107 and 117. 30 Pierce, 12 -14. 31 Ibid., 13.