Quartermaster Drag Racing Team, Legends Award presented to Leonard W. Miller
date: label: date made
content: 1999
name: label: user
content: Miller, Leonard W.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Quartermaster Drag Racing Team, Legends Award presented to Leonard W. Miller in 1999 for his contribution to drag racing. QDRT with its hundreds of members, recognized Miller's African American racing efforts in the golden era of drag racing in the 1960s through the early 1970s.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Miller Brothers Racing was founded by Miller, his brother, Dexter, and driver Kenny Wright. Wright piloted Miller Bros. 1955 Chevrolet station wagon to numerous wins, including the New jersey State Championship on August 19, 1970. Wright became an integral member of Miller's Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) as a mechanic competing in professional road racing across North America. QDRT identified Miller as an African American legend, advancing from drag racing to team principal of a Formula 5000 Grand Prix auto racing team on the world stage under the BAR banner in less than a decade.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In 1969, Len Miller and his brother Dexter for Miller Racing to race hot rods on the drag racing circuit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Northeast. With success on the racetrack he formed Vanguard Racing in 1972 and was the first African American to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500. He then went on to found the Black American Racers Association in 1973. The goal of the organization was to “unify African-American drivers in all types of racing – stock car, open wheel, and drag racing -- pave the way for greater success and introduce race fans to African-American’s history in motorsports.”
label: Description (Brief)
content: Later that same year the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) was formed with Benny Scott as their second generation African-American driver. Also in 1973, BAR became the first team to have an African American driver compete in England. In 1975, BAR driver Benny Scott would break the color barrier at the Long Beach Grand Prix, when the team entered a Formula 5000 car in the inaugural race. Len and Benny Scott were inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame for their achievements in motorsports in 1976. In 1978, BAR experienced a setback when their driver Tommy Thompson was killed in an accident at the Trenton Speedway. Many of the team members took a break after this tragedy and in the 1980s the team turned toward stock car racing.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: name of sport
content: auto racing
label: level of sport
content: Professional
label: web subject
content: African American
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Sports & Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Leonard W. Miller
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2016.0359.22
label: accession number
content: 2016.0359
label: catalog number
content: 2016.0359.22
objectType: label: Object Name
content: auto racing plaque
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 10 in x 1/2 in; 30.48 cm x 25.4 cm x 1.27 cm