Association for Minorities in Motorsports trailblazer award given to Leonard W. Miller, 2002

Association for Minorities in Motorsports trailblazer award given to Leonard W. Miller, 2002. Miller was presented this Trailblazer Award in Greensboro, NC on January 12, 2002. He was acknowledged for blazing the way for minorities in motorsports. This organization was one of many minority groups advocating African American teams and drivers competing in NASCAR as a result of insufficient corporate sponsorship in the 1990s and 2000s. Ironically, many of these advocate organizations are now defunct due to lack of corporate sponsorship and interest.

In 1969, Len Miller and his brother Dexter for Miller Racing to race hot rods on the drag racing circuit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Northeast. With success on the racetrack he formed Vanguard Racing in 1972 and was the first African American to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500. He then went on to found the Black American Racers Association in 1973. The goal of the organization was to “unify African-American drivers in all types of racing – stock car, open wheel, and drag racing -- pave the way for greater success and introduce race fans to African-American’s history in motorsports.”

Later that same year the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) was formed with Benny Scott as their second generation African-American driver. Also in 1973, BAR became the first team to have an African American driver compete in England. In 1975, BAR driver Benny Scott would break the color barrier at the Long Beach Grand Prix, when the team entered a Formula 5000 car in the inaugural race. Len and Benny Scott were inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame for their achievements in motorsports in 1976. In 1978, BAR experienced a setback when their driver Tommy Thompson was killed in an accident at the Trenton Speedway. Many of the team members took a break after this tragedy and in the 1980s the team turned toward stock car racing.

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