1989 Winners Circle Wendell Scott - I have recieved my #1 Most Wanted card!

Today, I received in the mail my #1 most wanted card. It has never been easy for me to determine what my most wanted card has been- there are simply too many to choose from! (I want them all, honestly...not to sound greedy but it leaves me plenty of options and never a disappointment). But since I found out this one existed, in 2009, it has been atop my list. The set was #1 on my most wanted sets list as well.

Wendell Scott is an inspiration to me. He had to fight harder than anyone else in the sport to succeed, and he did just that. A lot of people will say "He only has one win"...and the answer to that is, it's awfully hard to win races when they won't let you into the track grounds for the sole reason of skin color. I can't even begin to comprehend the terrible things he and his family endured, while he was just trying to chase his dream. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have won many races if he had the same opportunities as the other drivers. And it's not like he only won one race. He only won one Grand National race, but NASCAR is more than just the GN (now Cup) series. When you consider the other series, he won multiple championships...in the 1950s...in the South...against entirely white competition. Think about that for a moment...and what an incredible accomplishment it was, and still is, today. I'm not totally convinced he didn't win more than one GN race, but just didn't get the credit for it.

Unfortunately, his career came to an early end in 1973 due to injuries he suffered in a massive wreck at Talladega. He had passed something like 19 cars in one lap, but somebody wrecked in front of him and the track was blocked by many wrecking cars; he was not able to avoid it, as half the field was taken out, but he suffered series injuries in the wreck, racing less than 10 times after that accident.
He owned an auto mechanic shop for the rest of his life, but he sadly lost his battle with cancer in 1990.

This is the ONLY card issued during his lifetime to show him. He also had a card included in 1989 Maxx which showed his car. He has, by my calculations, 48 cards issued of him or his car, several of which picture him with his family, who were also his crew. Of those, I now have 39 of them in my collection. By far he leads my collection by percentage. I am missing only the 6 card set issued for him in 1991 by TG Racing, the promo issued by K&N Racing for their 1991 set of him, the promo issued by TG Racing for their Masters of Racing Factory Set reissue in 1992, and the 1994 VIP base card, which is the last card ever issued of him. (Press Pass didn't include him in ANY of their Legends releases, in fact the 1994 VIP card is the only one Press Pass ever issued of him). I do have an uncut sheet of the K&N Promo card, but I don't have an actual copy of the card.
These all rank very high on my wantlist, and eventually I will determine a new #1 most wanted- it may well be one of these I mention as not having, or one I don't even know about yet.

The 1989 Winner's Circle set was issued as a promo in schools, I believe. They are not super-rare but they are not common by any means. The set is composed entirely of Legendary drivers, two of which have their only cards issued in this set, Ethel Flock Mobley and Ralph Ligouri. There is a variation on the Lee Petty card which is incredibly rare. I learned of the set's existence in 2009, and it instantly became my #1 most wanted set. Today, December 12th, 2014, I now have not only Wendell Scott's card from this set, I also received Cotton Owens' card as well- both as another RAOK from a NUTS member.

Although this is not card related, it is something I am very proud of. Back in either 2009 or 2010, I discovered that there was not a single page on Facebook to honor Mr. Scott, so I took it upon myself to create one. It has turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I believe we played a large role in his winning the Fan Vote and getting elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, as it brought together his many fans and I made sure that the voting location was very easy to find.

Even more rewarding are the friendships I've made because of the group, including with his children Wendell Scott Jr. and Sibil Scott and his grandson Warrick Scott, as well as several others like myself who are fans of his and all around good people, Britt, Leon, Floyd, Jay and more...thank you!

If you wish to join the group, or even just read the posts, you can find it HERE. As of this writing we have 1,235 members.