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Elias Abraham Bowie Jr. (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 Racetrack.

Racing career

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

Personal life

Although his date of birth is sometimes noted as 1909 or 1914, Bowie was born in 1910 in San Antonio, Texas, to a laundress and a hotel porter. He was a transportation entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay, California area.

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

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. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
5. "Elias Bowie - 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

External links

• Elias Bowie driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1910 births
• 2005 deaths
• African-American racing drivers
• NASCAR drivers
• Racing drivers from San Antonio
• Racing drivers from California
• 20th-century African-American sportsmen
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen