Elias Bowie

Elias Bowie (May 10, 1910 – January 26, 2005) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He is credited as being the first African-American to start a top-level NASCAR race, doing so in 1955 at Bay Meadows Speedway.

Elias Bowie
Born(1910-05-10)May 10, 1910[1]
San Antonio, Texas
DiedJanuary 26, 2005(2005-01-26) (aged 94)
San Francisco, California
AchievementsFirst African-American to start a top-level NASCAR race
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
First race1955 Race No. 30 (Bay Meadows)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Racing career

Bowie made his lone NASCAR Grand National Series start on July 31, 1955. Driving at Bay Meadows Speedway, a mile-long dirt track, Bowie completed 172 of 252 laps and finished 28th of 34 cars.[2] He was noted for having the largest pit crew of all the drivers in the race.[3]

Personal life

Although sometimes denoted as 1909 or 1914, Bowie was born in 1910 in San Antonio, Texas, to a laundress and a hotel porter.[1] He was a transportation entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay, California area.[4]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Strictly Stock/Grand National Series
NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 NGNC Pts Ref
1955 Elias Bowie 60 Cadillac TCS PBS JSP DAB OSP CLB HBO NWS MGY LAN CLT HCY ASF TUS MAR RCH NCF FOR LIN MCF FON AIR CLT PIF CLB AWS MOR ALS NYF SAN
28		 CLT FOR MAS RSP DAR MGY LAN RSP GPS MAS CLB MAR LVP NWS HBO 223rd N/A [5]

References
  1. Barnhill, John Herschel. "Bowie, Elias". Oxford African American Studies Center. Oxford University. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  2. Pennell, Jay W. (2015). Start Your Engines: Famous Firsts in the History of NASCAR. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-61321-844-0. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  3. Myrie, Donovan. "Meet the influential African-American drivers in NASCAR's Cup Series". Click Orlando. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  4. "Elias Bowie". Legends of NASCAR. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  5. "Elias Bowie - 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
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