Race Matters: 7 Trailblazing African American Racecar Drivers
- On Saturday, May 14, D.C. native Bill Lester broke boundaries by becoming the first African American driver to win a Grand-Am Road Racing event (teaming with Jordan Taylor for the victory). Almost poetically, Lester, who graced the April 2004 cover of Black Enterprise, achieved this milestone victory at the famed Virginia Motorsports Park, which is located in the hometown of Wendell Scott, the first and only Black winner of a NASCAR Cup Series race back in 1963.
- In a sport that’s traditionally White and Southern, Black racecar drivers are still seen by some as an anomaly—although history has proven otherwise. Dating back as far as the early 1900s, people of color have been making considerable contributions to the sport. In celebration of Lester’s recent triumph, BlackEnterprise.com highlights a few other trailblazing African Americans on the racetrack.