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Left to right:
Fonty, Tim, Bob, and Carl Flock
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Fonty Flock became one of the central figures in the formative days of NASCAR. But in order to become a cornerstone of the frolicking folklore of the sanctioning body's early years, Fonty had to overcome debilitating injuries.
Flock's career began before the outbreak of World War II and he had a unrelenting need for experiences of the wildest, adventurous sort.
After kicking around the dust bowls of Georgia for a couple of years, Flock began the bi-annual trek to Daytona Beach and the high speed excitement the Beach-Road course offered. Flock was among scores of other hopefuls who were entered in the late model stock car race at Daytona on July 27, 1941.
In his third effort on the unique course that combined the sandy shore line and a narrow two-lane blacktop highway, Flock had become one of the favorites. He was saddled in the pole position alongside rambunctious Roy Hall.
Flock took a narrow lead in the opening lap, but the relentless Hall was nipping at his heel all the way down the long but narrow blacktop backstretch. As the pair wheeled into the South turn, the cars banged together. Flock's Ford darted to the high side of the corner, climbed the outer edge of the track and spiraled end-over-end and side-over-side into a clump of palmetto bushes. The seat belt had snapped in one of the early turnovers and Flock's limp body was flopping around inside the car.
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Fonty in Raymond Parks' No. 14
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The car landed upside down and Fonty somehow was still alive. An ambulance rushed to the scene and transported him to the Medical Center in Daytona Beach. Attending physician Dr. George Green said he believed Flock was suffering from a crushed chest, broken pelvis, head and back injuries and severe shock. Dr. Green wasn't exactly sure what was needed to piece Flock back together. X-rays had to be postponed due to his extraordinary number off injuries. For weeks Fonty would be wrapped in more bandages than Boris Karloff.
