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Tim Flock: Not The Usual Monkey Business.
By Michael Smith
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It’s safe to say that Tim Flock is the only NASCAR driver who
ever lost a race because of a monkey. The episode happened during
the 1950’s and the monkey was a passenger in Flock’s car, but
we’re getting ahead of the story.
Tim Flock along with his three older brothers Carl, Bob and
Fonty, grew up in Fort Payne, Alabama during the tough years
of the Great Depression. Tim’s father passed away in 1925 on
the eve of the national economic collapse and the family struggled
to make ends meet. To supplement the family income, the three
older Flock brothers assisted their uncle Peachtree Williams
in his moonshine business, making two runs a day to Dahlonega,
Georgia. It wasn’t long before the youngest Flock boy was riding
along on the delivery excursions as well.
Naturally, as is the case whenever youngsters gather with fast
cars, the Flocks eventually got around to running their car
against other ‘shine runners to see whose cars were fastest
on a given day. As with the day-to-day running of moonshine,
young Tim Flock tagged along when the racing competitions were
held, too. Bob and Fonty got the jump on younger Tim, though
Tim would rise to greater prominence in what came to be NASCAR.
Bob and Fonty participated in some of the earliest stock car
showdowns in the 1930s, running primarily at Dawsonville, Georgia.
Tim jumped into the fray a bit later, in 1947 to be exact and
later that year he claimed his first win at Lakewood Speedway
in Atlanta.
When Big Bill France ran an experimental NASCAR event in February
of 1949 it was Bob Flock who claimed the checkered flag and
within months, France held the first “Strictly Stock” (what
is today known as Winston Cup) race at Charlotte, North Carolina
and the three Flock brothers were in the field when the green
flag dropped. At the end of the day Fonty finished second behind
the wheel of a ’49 Hudson, young Tim finished fifth driving
an Olds 88 and Bob, who started from the pole, finished thirty-second
due to an engine failure in his ’46 Hudson.
Tim’s first NASCAR victory came the following year when he bested
his own brother Bob to win the second Grand National event at
Charlotte. Of the three racing Flock brothers, Tim would go
on to have the best career as a driver, despite the fact that
his career was cut short by forces outside his control.
Tim captured his first national championship in 1952 driving
Hudson Hornet’s for Ted Chester, an Atlanta car dealer. With
a flat head straight-six engine, the Hornet would seem an unlikely
candidate for stockcar racing dominance. Even when fitted with
a specially designed racing carburetor, the Hornet produced
only in the neighborhood of 170 horsepower. The secret to the
Hudson Hornet’s success was the fact that in NASCAR’s formative
years, many races were still run on dirt and the Hornet’s low
revving torque made it a killer on dirt tracks.
On the way to the 1952 championship, Tim Flock won 8 times and
finished in the top five no less than 14 times. The next two
years Flock’s on-track performance tapered off a great deal
and he posted just a single victory in 1953 and no victories
in 1954. It should be pointed out that Flock ran only five races
in 1954, after quitting in disgust after having the Daytona
victory taken away from him by Big Bill France. A post race
inspection found polished ports in the carburetor and the victory
was taken away. Flock vowed never to race in NASCAR again.
Tim Flock opened a Pure Oil station in Atlanta and seemed content
to live out his life as an entrepreneur, were it not for a fortuitous
twist of fate. When the 1955 Daytona race rolled around, Flock
had no intention of attending the event even as a spectator
much less as a competitor until a group of his buddies showed
up and convinced him to travel to Florida to take in race festivities.
Once there, Flock and his buddies stood watching the time trials
one day during Speedweeks as a Chrysler 300 roared by on the
wide flat beach. Out loud Flock said if he had a car like that
under him, he could win the race. Well, unbeknownst to Flock
a local Mercury Outboard Motors dealer overheard the remark
and recognized Flock as the previous year’s disqualified winner.
The dealer introduced Flock to the owner of the Chrysler 300
team, Carl Kiekhaefer who was NASCAR’s first big time multi-car
team owner and as luck would have it, Kiekhaefer was looking
for another driver.
Flock stepped into one of Kiekhaefer’s Chrysler’s and took the
pole for the Daytona beach race, then finished second behind
Fireball Roberts on race day. Ironically, the following day,
while eating breakfast, Flock and Kiekhaefer were informed that
Roberts’ car had been disqualified for having illegal engine
components, so the victory was given to Flock.
Tim Flock remained with the Kiekhaefer team for the remainder
of the 1955 season and enjoyed phenomenal success, winning a
record 18 races in 39 starts. Life as a Kiekhaefer team driver
had its bonuses and its drawbacks. As the inventor of the Mercury
outboard motor, Carl Kiekhaefer was interested primarily in
gaining publicity for his team and his product. To Kiekhaefer,
already a wealthy man, the prize money was secondary at best.
Flock received a monthly salary of $2,500 and he was allowed
to keep all the prize money from his races. Additionally, Kiekhaefer
occasionally paid a bonus for races won during the season. But
the benefits did not come without sacrifice. Kiekhaefer ruled
the team with an iron fist, insisting on a strict curfew and
rigid sleeping arrangements while on the road, even for the
married drivers. During test runs and qualifying, drivers were
required to monitor engine gauges and were debriefed afterwards,
much like military pilots following missions. The strict regimentation
grated on the free spirited Flock and, when Kiekhaefer began
choosing which driver would win certain races, ordering the
others to pit during green flag laps, Flock had had enough.
Flock resigned from the team in early 1956 but not before claiming
his second championship with a stellar run in 1955. His single
season win record of 18 victories would stand until Richard
Petty’s outstanding 1967 season.
Flock ran fourteen more races during the 1956 season, his final
victory coming in Bill Stroppe’s M335 Mercury at Elkhart Lake.
He continued to race on into the 1961 season but the past success
was never matched and that year he ran afoul of Big Bill France
when he, along with Curtis Turner, attempted to organize NASCAR
drivers into a union. Turner had gotten into financial trouble
in his efforts to build Charlotte Motor Speedway. In an effort
to raise money Turner approached teamster’s boss Jimmy Hoffa
who offered to help monetarily in exchange for Turner’s promise
to organize NASCAR’s drivers. Tim Flock, who had butted heads
with Big Bill France many times in the past, joined Turner in
his effort and, when the whole organizing plan fell apart, both
Turner and Flock received lifetime bans from NASCAR racing.
In 1966, with the manufacturers pulling out of the sport, Big
Bill France was forced to lift the ban in order to get the former
big name drivers back into the fold. Turner accepted the offer
but years of battling Big Bill France had left Tim Flock justifiably
tired and bitter and he adamantly refused to return to racing
cars. Flock did continue to work in the ranks of NASCAR, primarily
as program director at Charlotte Motor Speedway until retiring
in the Charlotte area.
During the 1998 celebration of NASCAR’s 50th Anniversary, Tim
Flock received some measure of the recognition he deserved.
Numerous media outlets interviewed Flock and Darrell Waltrip
ran a special all-white paint scheme with Flock’s trademark
number 300 during qualifying for one race. (NASCAR got the last
word in, however, by refusing the number 300 to run during the
race due to the potential for scoring problems with a 3-digit
number on the car. Waltrip ran the paint scheme with his customary
number 17 instead. To some, it represented NASCAR’s final swipe
at a once great driver.) Sadly, while at the height of the sport’s
celebration, Tim Flock was diagnosed with cancer and did not
live out the season, though he departed the worldly ranks of
racing full in the knowledge that he was well respected and
recognized for his contribution to American stockcar racing.
But what about the monkey you ask? In 1953, during Tim Flock’s
tenure with the Ted Chester racing team, Mr. Chester decided
it would be a neat gimmick to have a rhesus monkey ride along
with Flock in the car during races. A small raised seat was
constructed on the passenger side of the racecar and little
“Jocko Flocko” as he came to be called, was outfitted with a
miniature driving suit. The setup was a success and fans apparently
delighted in seeing the little monkey whizzing past during races,
but on May 30, 1953 things got out of hand. During a race Jocko
got loose from his seat and proceeded to climb around inside
the racecar. In those days, many of the cars in NASCAR racing
were equipped with a trap door on the passenger side floorboard.
During races a driver could lift open the trapdoor to check
the wear on his right front tire. Well, Jocko was evidently
an observant little fellow and, having seen Tim lift the trapdoor
numerous times during previous races, he decided to lift the
door and have a look for himself.
What happened next is unclear; either Jocko got too close to
the spinning tire and skinned himself, or a rock flew up and
hit him. Whatever the cause, the result is undisputed; Jocko
went berserk and began tearing around inside the car. Tim found
himself forced to restrain his “co-driver” with one hand while
steering for the pits with the other. Thus, a first place finish
turned into a third place finish, and all because of a monkey.
copyright 2000. Michael Smith
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