Late Model History

In 1957 and 1958, Mincey drove this factory fuel-injected Chevrolet on the Southern Racing Enterprises circuit.

Late Model racing was not new to Charlie as he drove in the Southern Racing Enterprises circuit in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina back in the mid-fifties.

During that time, Horace Ingram, noted “numbers” man in the Atlanta area, ordered a 1957 Chevrolet with factory fuel injection from the Villa Rica Chevrolet dealer for Charlie to drive.  On one weekend in August, 1958, Charlie won the next to last race ever run at East Park Speedway in Anderson, South Carolina, and then won the next afternoon at Twin Lakes Raceway outside of Elberton, Georgia.

Cliff Rainwater did the work on the car at a shop that Horace owned.

“My dad and I went over to the shop to look at the car and was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Charlie said.  “The police, Federal agents as well as local police, raided the shop as I was on the phone with Smithy’s Radiator Shop.  They thought I was trying to call somebody to warn them about what was going on and hauled me off to jail.  They released us right away when they realized we weren’t in on any numbers.  They had the shop under camera surveillance for some time and knew we were only involved with the racecar.  They kept the car a day or two.”