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NASCAR HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTION CEREMONYJanuary 29, 2014Frances FlockKevin HarvickHumpy WheelerCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA KEVIN HARVICK: Before every race, I sit my son Keelan in the cockpit of my race car, and I call it a good luck charm, but I've got nothing on tonight's next legend. Eight times during the 1953 season he raced with a monkey as his co‑pilot. Whatever works. I'm kind of disappointed they didn't give me a monkey to make this introduction. And for Tim Flock it worked in a historic way. He captured two championships and won race after race during NASCAR's formative years. And tonight Tim Flock is enshrined as a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2014. (Video shown.) Accepting Tim's induction, please welcome his widow, Frances Flock. HUMPY WHEELER: Frances, we can take this ring, melt it down and get Maurice Petty to build one side of the motor and Junior the other. Think of what we could do. I didn't think you'd like that idea. At any rate, congratulations, ma'am. I want to present this to you, everybody says it's the 29th‑‑ it's really not the 28th or the 30th, it is the 29th, and this is a great honor, and I can't think of anybody I'd rather put it on their finger than you. We're now almost married. (Applause). FRANCES FLOCK: Boy, this is like being at the Super Bowl of racing tonight. I bet my darling and all the passed drivers are having one huge race up in heaven tonight. I can almost hear them, telling them stories, especially Tim telling the story about Jocko. Jocko was Tim's co‑pilot. He was a Rhesus monkey that was by Tim's side in all the races, eight races. Everyone loved Jocko. But one day in 1953, at Raleigh, North Carolina, Jocko got loose, and Tim had to pull in the pits to put Jocko out, the monkey out of the car. He came in third that day, and the extra pit stop to remove Jocko from the car cost him a big sum of money that day. His brother finally went on to win the race, and Tim retired from racing in 1961, but he loved racing so much that he went on to work at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He spent the next 37 years doing what he loved, being a part of NASCAR. My darling passed away 16 years ago. He would be so proud and humbled to receive this honor tonight and is still remembered for his racing career. I would like to thank NASCAR, the Hall of Fame, and all the friends and fans who voted for him. I am very flattered that Tim was selected to be a part of NASCAR's legend class. Thank you, and good night. Q. Flock's dad was a tight rope walker, Tim drove with a monkey. Is there anything he couldn't or wouldn't do? HUMPY WHEELER: No, I had to keep telling Tim, come back, we'll bring Jocko. If he's not around, we'll borrow Tony Stewart's monkey. That would have been fun, put him in the car and everything. NASCAR would have done double and triple back flips, but boy, it would have been fun. Q. We were standing back here and the first thing Humpy said to me was I should have brought a monkey. You were serious. HUMPY WHEELER: We should have had a monkey here tonight. Monkeys I think are outlawed in the city center, but we could have made an exception. They wouldn't have put him in jail very long. Bail on monkeys in Charlotte is $92. Q. Talk about how special of a night this is. It's fun and it's special to be a part of history. HUMPY WHEELER: Well, it is. You look at all the great people that have been inducted in tonight. This is kind of an underdog night in a certain way, and that's what makes you feel it. I seen Jack Ingram race probably more than anybody but Richard Petty, and then being inducted by Harry Gant‑‑ they said they got along, I never could figure that one out. They said they never touched each other on the racetrack. That was a different race than I saw, but it was nice to see those guys come back tonight and do that and see The Chief go in and Dale Jarrett in a minute, everybody else, Tim of course, and just a great night. Q. The first hand that Jack shook when he went back to his seat was Handsome Harry Gant. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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