Wendell Scott was no angel.

At age 20, he had his first encounter with the law.

The so called "Jackie Robinson" of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), despite the odds, succeeded using his street smarts to win at the racing game.

It didn't hurt that Scott perfected the art of running moonshine in fast cars in the back roads of south - central Virginia prior to breaking the stock car color line in 1952.

Hard Driving: the Wendell Scott Story, the American Odyssey of NASCAR'S first black driver is a dramatic profile of an inspired achiever who wouldn't give up while pursuing his dream.

The roadblocks were many, back in the Brown vs. the Board of Education days, as the modern civil rights struggle was kicking off in the 1950s.

Hard Driving gives a blow by blow description of Scott's emergence as an African American community celebrity across the South at race tracks where his presence was ridiculed by the racists of the day.

I enjoyed reading Scott's perspective on exactly what happened during the early years of his career.

As a black history month project, the Wendell Scott story deserves your attention.