CELEBRATING BLACK AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY | LEONARD MILLER
By Ian Cooper-Smith
With the exception of both the Chicago and Indianapolis Colored Speedway Associations in the 1920s, most black racers struggled to break into the professional racing scene. However, in 1972, after Wendell Scott had broken NASCARS color barrier, racing team owner Leonard Miller formed the Black American Racers Association (BARA) in 1972 with Ron Hines, Wendell Scott, and Malcolm Durham with the intention of honoring and publicizing the achievements of Black drivers and mechanics in the racing industry. At its height it grew to over 5,000 members across 20 states as well as several car clubs. That same year, Leonard would go on to become the first Black owner to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500 under Vanguard Racing. He later founded the Miller Racing Group with his son and became the first African-American team to win a track championship in NASCAR history when they won the stock car-title at the Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia in 2005. He is the author of Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports (2004), a chronicle of his life in auto racing.
Sources:
Miller, Leonard W. (2004) Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports. The Red Sea Press, Inc., Trenton, New Jersey, USA. ISBN 1-56902-176-7.