Elias Bowie

Elias Abraham Bowie Jr. 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.

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.