(
March 21 ,
1920 -
July 15 ,
1972 ) of
Fort Payne, Alabama was an early
NASCAR driver.
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.
Like many early NASCAR drivers, Fonty'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."
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He won a 100 mile race Lakewood 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 Flock 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. Fonty suffered a crushed chest, broken pelvis, head and back injuries, and severe shock.
He was in the
United States Army Air Corps for four years during
World War II .
He sat out the 1945 and 1946 seasons because of his injuries.
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 4 1/2 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 6 of 8 Strictly Stock (later Grand National, now
NEXTEL Cup events, and finished fifth in the points.
He raced his first full-time season in the Grand National series in 1951. He had 8 wins, 22 Top-10s, and 13 poles to finish second in the points.
He had two wins, 17 Top-10s, and 7 poles in 1952. He finished fourth in the points.
He held over a one minute lead 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 4 wins, 17 Top-10 finishes, and 3 poles to finish fourth in the final points.
He opened an insurance agency in 1954, and he raced part-time after that.
He raced 31 of 45 events in 1955. He had 3 wins, 14 Top-10s, and 6 poles. He finished eleventh in the points.
He had his final win in 1956 at the
Charlotte Speedway (not
Lowe's Motor Speedway ).
In 1957 he raced at the
Daytona Beach Road Course .
Herb Thomas was injured while practicing for the
Southern 500 at the
Darlington Raceway . Thomas was injured in a practice crash. The car was in bad shape, and a tire blew on the sixth lap. He walked away unhurt, but he decided to walk away for good.
