4/6/2023 0 Comments Fonty flock winsHere are some more interesting facts about Tim and the rest of the Flock clan:įeb. I really need to see a photo of Jocko and Tim in that car together! Have you ever seen one, HS? I suspect this mission is hopeless. It didn't matter what it was - Bermuda shorts or whatever, Fonty just wanted to stand out more than the rest." "Indy had a tradition, and that was Darlington's. But, it was just Darlington, the South, the battle flag and that's how it was done then. "Maybe it started accidently, I really don't know for sure. "It was just part of the tradition they got going down there," Latford said. Flock parked his car on the frontstretch after the race, got out of the car and then stood on the hood.įlock then led the reported crowd of 32,400 in the singing of "Dixie." The race got really interesting after the checkered flag came out on the 1.25-mile track. "I'd say it didn't hurt his chances that year." So, he wore his Bermuda shorts that day, to be cooler in the car. He just decided it was too hot on Labor Day at Darlington. "His career was really already established before that win, but he was the flamboyant one of the Flocks. "He had been a Late Model champion," said Latford. It turned out to be his only Southern 500 win. He never relinquished the helm again as he coasted the rest of the way for his first win of the season. "It was unusual to see a driver in Bermuda shorts, but I think everybody expected that out of Fonty."įlock started the race from the pole in his 1952 Oldsmobile and reclaimed the lead on lap 185. "Really, seeing Fonty get out of the car with his Bermuda shorts on, that was just the way he was back then. "They didn't have fire suits back then, so everybody basically wore regular shoes, pants and work shirts," said Tom Kirkland, a former photographer with the Morning News who covered the race from 1950-'67. He'd become known for wearing enlarged sunglasses, just to have fun around the race track. Thus Flock earned the nickname "Flamboyant," and became well-known for his entertaining ways on and off the track. "He was a showman, as well as a good racer." "That was just another flamboyant illustration of Flamboyant Fonty. "Most of the guys just drove in T-shirts and white work pants back then," NASCAR historian Bob Latford said, who was attending his second Southern 500 in 1952. When he got out of his car, he raised the checkered flag on the hood of his car, still in his white summer outfit. He not only started the race, but won it, wearing the shorts and a pullover collared shirt. Since there were no fire suits for drivers to wear in the early days, most elected to dress in work uniforms and regular shoes. However, what Flock was noted for in the 1952 Southern 500 was his fashion sense. "I heard he even had a monkey he'd put in his car, I guess for good luck, from track to track." "I wasn't around at the time, but I've been told about some of the stuff he would do at the track. "Fonty was an interesting character," former Darlington Raceway President Jim Hunter said, now the Vice President of Corporate Communications for NASCAR. After claiming the flag, Flock accepted his prize in a pair of Bermuda shorts. Nothing illustrated it more than in the winner's circle of Flock's 1952 Southern 500 victory at Darlington, in just the third running of the historic race. However, it was Fonty that was the weird one - the one that always made himself stand out from the rest. The three brothers, Fonty, Tim and Frank, ruled the foundation days of NASCAR. It wasn't uncommon to see a Flock visiting the designated victory lane in the early days of NASCAR.
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