Published: Oct. 31, 2013
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
Charlie Weddle waited for a chance to let his driving earn
him respect from other drivers. Unfortunately for him, respect may have been
harder to get.
Weddle is an African-American and competed during the 1960s,
the heart of the civil rights movement.
“It was a long, uphill climb to where I was recognized,”
Weddle said.
Weddle will be inducted into the Southeastern Wisconsin
Short Track Hall of Fame on Saturday during a ceremony at the Wisconsin Auto
Museum in Hartford.
Weddle will be inducted with Hartford’s Robert Ratajczyk,
plus Conrad Morgan, Frank Heimerl, Jack Aschenbrenner, Darrell Dodd, Tom and
Jerry Mueller, George Scheffler, Gary Laack and Joe Shear.
“I think it’s awesome to be honored,” Weddle said. “It’s
magnificent.”
Weddle will be the museum’s first African-American inductee.
“I felt so sorry for him because he was a black man in a
white man’s sport,” Heimerl said. “I always hoped he would win. I was happy
when Charlie would win because it’s mostly a white man’s sport. Plus, he’s a
happy go-lucky guy.”
Weddle’s Hall of Fame résumé doesn’t stack up against most
of the other inductees as far as track or national championships won. He never
won a track championship during his career.
He was savvy behind the wheel, though, and withstood every
bit of criticism that came his way, whether it was from a driver’s mouth or
from a driver rubbing their fender on Weddle’s car, even if they didn’t need
to. He would also be called names.
“I just smiled and walked away,” Weddle said. “I did what I
had to do.”
Weddle, who became known as “The Black Fox,” wasn’t wanted
at race tracks, simply because he was black.
In his first race in 1962 at Cedarburg, he didn’t help his
cause. In an eight-lap heat race, he was lapped four times.
At the time, Weddle was working at Braeger Chevrolet on
Milwaukee’s south side. The next night after the race, a driver they called
“Crazy Jim” saw him at the dealership as he bought a lot of cars at the
dealership and told him to stay away. He was only going to get in the way.
“You’ll never be a race car driver,” Weddle recalled being
told by Crazy Jim.
He just smiled at him.
“You can’t let people tell you what you can and can’t do,”
he added.
For most of his career, Weddle was on his own. He drove the
car to the track, raced, was his pit crew and drove back. It took a couple
years before anybody would even talk to him, at least cordially.
“I ran a clean race record,” he said. “I didn’t try to run
into people to win a race. I just outdrove them.
“They’d hit me sometimes, but I never said anything about
it. When I got good, they couldn’t catch me and hit me anymore.”
By 1965, he was slowly gaining respect. He climbed to fifth
in the Milwaukee area Sportsman Stock Car point standings, racing at Slinger,
Cedarburg, Hales Corners and Wisconsin State Fair Park. He also won the
mid-season championship race at Beaver Dam, setting a track record and winning
the heat race before winning the feature.
By 1970, he finished third in the championship points
standings at Wilmot.
“He was in the sport during hard times,” Heimerl said. “I
don’t know if anybody would’ve helped him out. I always had a soft spot for
him.”
Weddle grew up in Milan, Tenn., about two hours east of
Memphis. He moved to Wisconsin when he was 20 years old.
Times were tough in Tennessee. His wife’s uncle told him if
he moved to Wisconsin, a job would be waiting for him. He began to work for Bob
Braeger and his dealership on 18th and Forest Home. He worked there for 13
years.
“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today,”
Weddle said. “They gave me everything I needed to build a decent car.”
He got into racing after watching a friend at a dealership
next door to Braeger do it in 1961.
In 1962, he built a 1957 Ford Sportsman at the age of 30.
“I always kept myself humble,” he said.
In the years after his racing career, he has become a
motivational speaker for children.
“It’s never too late to achieve what you want to achieve,”
he said.
Eventually, Weddle developed a large fan base and
friendships that would last a lifetime.
“It was a blessing,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment