Tim Flock

Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. His brothers Bob and Fonty Flock also raced in NASCAR, as did his sister Ethel Mobley, NASCAR's second female driver.

NASCAR career

Flock finished fifth in NASCAR's inaugural Strictly Stock race at Charlotte, North Carolina in 1949; he drove an Oldsmobile 88 that he borrowed from his newlywed neighbors. NASCAR's first official season ended with Flock in eighth, his brother Fonty Flock in fifth, and his other brother Bob Flock in third in the overall points standings.

Flock won his first official NASCAR race in 1950 at Charlotte. He ran 12 of 19 races and finished 16th in the final standings. In 1951, Flock won seven races. 1952 brought eight wins and four poles. At the end of the 1952 NASCAR season, Flock had 106 more points than Herb Thomas, earning Flock his first NASCAR Grand National Championship title, despite flipping in the final race at West Palm Beach. Flock later joked, "I was the only driver to ever win a championship upside-down." In 1954, Flock was disqualified despite winning at the Daytona Beach and Road Course for illegally screwed carburetor screws.

Flock had a rhesus monkey co-driver named "Jocko Flocko" with him in his May 16, 1953, Grand National win at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jocko Flocko became the only winning monkey ever. The monkey was retired two weeks later at Raleigh, where the monkey pulled the device to allow the driver to observe the right front tire and was hit by a pebble. At the time, drivers used a device to lift the wheel well to observe tire wear in case of a tire failure. Flock had to do a pit stop to remove the monkey, and he finished third (he would have won without the problem).

1955 was a record-setting year for Flock as well as NASCAR. On the way to Flock's second Grand National Championship title, Flock had 19 poles and 18 victories in 45 races. The 18 victories stood as a record until broken by "The King", Richard Petty, in 1967. The 19 poles are still the highest number in a NASCAR season.

The 1956 season saw Flock win the International Stock Car Road Race, the first NASCAR Cup event ever held at Road America. Flock followed points leader and pole-sitter Buck Baker for much of the start until many of the leaders began exiting for various problems, allowing Flock to lead the final ten laps. No other stock car events of any type were held at the track until the 1990s, and in 2010 the NASCAR Nationwide Series began racing there. Despite the win, however, the year was filled with off-track frustration for Flock, particularly with team owner Carl Kiekhaefer. Despite their combined on-track success, Flock left Kiekhaefer's team immediately after his victory in the April 8 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, citing stomach ulcers. Upon departing from the Kiekhaefer camp, he had compiled 21 triumphs out of his 46 starts with Kiekhaefer.

Labor union In his final race before "retiring", Flock was disqualified and banned from NASCAR as a result of "having too much solder on his carburetor screw" which was illegal. This was widely known by the public to be retaliation by NASCAR management for Flock's support of a NASCAR driver's union. Like Curtis Turner, he faced a life ban from NASCAR. Flock continued to race under other sanctioning bodies, including the Midwest Association for Race Cars,Augusta Chronicle, October 25, 1961, p. 8. competing in the event on the dirt at Lakewood Speedway, Georgia, in October 1961, where he finished second.Augusta Chronicle, October 23, 1961, p. 7. He also raced at a United States Auto Club event in Concord, North Carolina, in 1963.Oregonian, March 4, 1963, p. 34. He was reinstated to NASCAR competition in 1966.Competition Press and Autoweek, March 5, 1966, p. 1.

Flock was employed by the Ford Motor Company to entertain customers at track events.Trenton Evening Times, November 19, 1963, p. 31.

Later years In 1959, Flock was hired by Charlotte Motor Speedway to work in various roles, including public relations and ticket sales.

Flock's last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Pete Hamilton, and Donnie Allison. The winner was Elmo Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about on the last lap. He finished 10th out of 22 drivers.

Death Flock died of liver and throat cancer on March 31, 1998, at age 73, during NASCAR's 50th anniversary season. Darrell Waltrip honored him in a special paint scheme named "Tim Flock Special" at Darlington Raceway weeks before Flock died. Flock was without medical insurance, and Waltrip wanted to help raise money for Flock and his family.

A month before his death, Flock was honored as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. He has been inducted in numerous halls of fame, including the: International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1991), Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaTim Flock at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1999), National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (1972), State of Georgia Hall of Fame (1972), and Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends (1994). He was inducted in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in May 2006. On May 22, 2013, Flock was named a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame for 2014, to be inducted during Acceleration Weekend in January.

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. ** – All laps led.) Grand National Series NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Pts Ref 1949 Buddy Elliott 90 Olds CLT DAB HBO LAN HAM MAR HEI NWS 8th 421 1950 Cadillac DAB 16th 437.5 Harold Kite 21 Lincoln CLT LAN Buddy Elliott 90 Lincoln MAR CAN VER DSP MCF CLT HBO DSP HAM 9 Olds DAR LAN VER MAR WIN Frank Christian 75 Olds NWS Hubert Westmoreland 98 Plymouth HBO 1951 Ted Chester 91 Lincoln DAB 3rd 3722.5 Olds CLT NMO GAR HBO ASF NWS MAR CAN CLS CLB DSP GAR GRS BAI HEI AWS MCF ALS MSF FMS MOR ABS DAR CLB CCS LAN CLT DSP WIL HBO TPN PGS MAR OAK NWS HMS JSP Hudson ATL GAR NMO 1952 PBS DAB JSP NWS MAR CLB ATL CCS LAN DAR DSP CAN HAY FMS HBO CLT MSF NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS DAR CCS LAN DSP WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS 1st 6858.5 1953 PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FIF LAN TCS WIL MCF PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 6th 5011 1954 Ernest Woods 88 Olds PBS DAB JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LND HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR 35th 860 Buck Baker Racing 89 Olds CCS CLT Elmer Brooks 44 Olds LAN 71 Hudson MAS MAR NWS 1955 Carl Kiekhaefer 300 Chrysler TCS PBS JSP DAB OSP CLB HBO NWS MGY LAN CLT HCY MAR RCH NCF FOR LIN MCF FON PIF CLB AWS MOR NYF SAN CLT MAS RSP MGY LAN RSP GPS MAS CLB MAR LVP NWS 1st 9596 301 ASF TUS CLT ALS FOR HBO Hubert Westmoreland 2 Chevy AIR Carl Kiekhaefer 16 Chrysler DAR 1956 301 HCY 9th 5062 300 CLT WSS PBS ASF 300A DAB ATL NWS 501 Dodge PBS 300B Chrysler WIL Smokey Yunick 3 Chevy LAN Mauri Rose Engineering 49 Chevy RCH 1R CLB Jim Stephens 285 Pontiac CON GPS HCY HBO Mauri Rose Engineering 11 Chevy MAR LIN CLT POR EUR NYF MER MAS CLT MCF POR AWS RSP PIF CSF CHI CCF MGY OKL Bill Stroppe 15 Mercury ROA OBS SAN NOR PIF MYB POR John Foster Motors 86 Ford DAR CSH CLT LAN POR CLB HBO NWP CLT CCF MAR HCY WIL 1957 Beau Morgan 15 Mercury WSS CON TIC DAB CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS POR HCY NOR LCS GLN KPC LIN OBS MYB DAR NYF AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF NA - 1958 FAY DAB CON FAY WIL HBO FAY CLB PIF ATL CLT MAR ODS OBS GPS GBF STR NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS REF LIN HCY AWS RSP MCC SLS TOR BUF MCF BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL NA - 1959 Ford FAY DAY DAY HBO CON ATL WIL BGS CLB NWS REF HCY MAR TRN CLT NSV ASP PIF GPS ATL CLB WIL RCH BGS AWS DAY HEI CLT MBS CLT NSV AWS BGS GPS CLB DAR HCY RCH CSF HBO MAR AWS NWS CON 31st 1464 1960 CLT CLB DAY DAY DAY CLT NWS PHO CLB MAR HCY WIL BGS GPS AWS DAR PIF HBO RCH HMS CLT BGS 63rd 890 18 Plymouth DAY HEI MAB MBS Ratus Walters 10 Buick ATL BIR NSV AWS PIF CLB SBO BGS DAR HCY CSF GSP HBO MAR NWS CLT RCH ATL 1961 Jack Meeks 83 Ford CLT JSP DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS HMS NA - Beau Morgan 15 Ford ATL GPS HBO BGS MAR NWS CLB HCY RCH MAR DAR CLT CLT RSD ASP CLT PIF BIR GPS BGS NOR HAS STR DAY ATL CLB MBS BRI NSV BGS AWS RCH SBO DAR HCY RCH CSF ATL MAR NWS CLT BRI GPS HBO

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1959 Beau Morgan Ford 42 9 1961 Jack Meeks Ford 31 24

Tim Flock

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