Fonty Flock

Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock (March 21, 1920 – July 15, 1972) of Fort Payne, Alabama was an American stock car racer.

Fonty Flock
BornTruman Fontell Flock
(1920-03-21)March 21, 1920
Fort Payne, Alabama, U.S.
DiedJuly 15, 1972(1972-07-15) (aged 52)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Achievements1947 National Championship Stock Car Circuit Champion

1949 NASCAR National Modified Champion

1952 Southern 500 Winner
AwardsGeorgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame Association (2004)
Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame (2004)
NASCAR Cup Series career
154 races run over 9 years
Best finish2nd (1951)
First race1949 Race No. 1 (Charlotte)
Last race1957 Southern 500 (Darlington)
First win1950 (Langhorne)
Last win1956 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
19 83 33
NASCAR Convertible Division career
3 races run over 1 year
Best finish37th (1956)
First race1956 Race #5 (Peach Bowl)
Last race1956 Race #14 (Columbia)
First win1956 Race #5 (Peach Bowl)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 2 0

Flock family

He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley. The four raced at the July 10, 1949 race at the Daytona Beach Road Course, which was the first event to feature a brother and a sister, and the only NASCAR event to feature four siblings. Ethel beat Fonty and Bob by finishing in eleventh.

Racing career

Moonshine

Like many early NASCAR drivers, Flock's career began by delivering illegal moonshine. He started delivering on his bicycle as a teenager. He used his car to deliver moonshine as he got older. "I used to deliberately seek out the sheriff and get him to chase me," he later recalled. "It was fun, and besides we could send to California to get special parts to modify our cars, and the sheriff couldn't afford to do that." [1]

Early career

Flock won a 100-mile race at Lakewood Speedway Park in Atlanta, Georgia in 1940. He raced on dirt tracks in Georgia.

He qualified in the pole position for the July 27, 1941 race at the Daytona Beach Road Course beside Roy Hall. Flock took the early lead, before he and Hall got together in the south turn. Flock rolled and landed upside down in bushes. The seatbelt broke during the rolling, and Flock was tossed around. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, having suffered a crushed chest, broken pelvis, head and back injuries, and severe shock.

World War II

Flock was in the United States Army Air Corps for four years during World War II.[2]

NASCAR career

His brother convinced car owner Ed Schenck to put Flock in his car at the first race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 5, 1947. Flock won the pole and his heat race. He won the 30-lap feature after not racing in 4½ years. He took over his brother Bob's ride later in the season after Bob broke his back. He won seven of 47 races that season, and beat Ed Samples and Red Byron to win the National Championship Stock Car Circuit championship.

He won eleven features and won the NASCAR National Modified championship in 1949. He raced in six of eight Strictly Stock (later Grand National Series) events, and finished fifth in the points.

He raced his first full-time season in the Grand National series in 1951. He had eight wins, 22 Top-10s, and 13 poles to finish second in the points. He won the 100-mile Grand National Stock Car race at Bainbridge Speedway, Solon, Ohio, on July 9, 1951.[3]

He had two wins, 17 Top-10s, and seven poles in 1952. He finished fourth in the points.

He was leading by more than a minute at the 1953 Daytona Beach Road Course race, but ran out of gas taking the white flag at the start of the final lap. Flock's teammate pushed his car into the pits. Bill Blair passed to win the race in a 1953 Oldsmobile. Flock finished second by 26 seconds. He had four wins, 17 Top-10 finishes, and three poles to finish fourth in the final points.

He opened an insurance agency in 1954, racing part-time after that.

Flock raced 31 of 45 events in 1955. He had three wins, 14 Top-10s, and six poles. He finished eleventh in the points.

He had his final win in 1956 at the Charlotte Speedway.

In 1957, he raced at the Daytona Beach Road Course. Herb Thomas had been gravely injured in a 1956 race held at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Shelby, North Carolina so he asked Flock to drive the car in the 1957 Southern 500. Flock accepted. He spun and was smashed by Bobby Myers and Paul Goldsmith on lap 27, injuring all, Myers fatally. From the hospital bed, Flock announced his retirement.[4] He died on July 15, 1972 after a lengthy illness.[5]

Awards
  • Flock was inducted in the Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame in 2004.
  • He was inducted in the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame Association in 2004.
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References
  1. Hickok, Ralph (February 18, 2009). "Flock, "Fonty" (Truman Fontell)". hickoksports.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  2. Freedman, Lew (2013). Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing. ABC-CLIO. p. 225. ISBN 9780313387104.
  3. Motor Sports World, Vol.1, No.4, Los Angeles, California, July 13, 1951, Page 1.
  4. "Fonty Flock quits racing after a brush with death". The News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. Associated Press. September 3, 1957.
  5. "Fonty Flock dies in Atlanta". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. July 16, 1972.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Ed Samples		 National Championship Stock Car Circuit Champion
1947		 Succeeded by
Red Byron
(NASCAR)
Preceded by
Red Byron		 NASCAR Modified Division Champion
1949		 Succeeded by
Charles Dyer
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