Today in Labor History April 12, 1924: Curtis Turner was born on this day in Floyd, Va. Turner, along with Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock, tried to organize the NASCAR drivers into a union in 1961 (the Federation of Professional Athletes). Their goals were bigger purses, a share in broadcasting rights, and retirement benefits for the drivers. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr banned all the union drivers. Eventually, every union driver except for Turner and Flock, quit the union so they could race again. Turner sued to be reinstated, but lost his lawsuit. The court said he was an individual contractor, not an employee of NASCAR or any track. But he was reinstated four years later.
As a racer, he won 360 races, including 22 in the NASCAR Convertible Division in 1956, alone, as well as 17 in the NASCAR Grand National Series. He got his start in driving as a bootlegger for the illegal whiskey his dad made. He never got caught running booze. However, he almost got caught with a 500 lb bag of stolen sugar (for making alcohol) in the days after WWII when sugar was still being rationed. However, after fighting a gun battle with the law, he managed to successfully evade a dragnet, as he drove 300 miles on backroads to get back home, where the cops were waiting for him. Then, during his trial, he convinced the jury that the sugar was for making apple butter. The judge sentenced him to $1,000 and a 2-year suspended sentence.
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