| Elias Bowie | |
| Cup Poles: | 0 |
| Cup Top Tens: | 0 |
| Cup Wins: | 0 |
| First Cup Race: | 1955 Race No. 30 (Bay Meadows Racetrack) |
| Total Cup Races: | 1 |
| Years In Cup: | 1 |
| Birth Date: | 10 May 1910[1] |
| Birth Place: | San Antonio, Texas |
| Death Place: | San Francisco, California |
| Achievements: | First African-American to start a top-level NASCAR race |
Elias Abraham Bowie Jr. (May 10, 1910 – January 26, 2005) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He is credited as being the first African-American to start a top-level NASCAR race, doing so in 1955 at Bay Meadows Racetrack.
Bowie made his lone NASCAR Grand National Series start on July 31, 1955. Driving a Cadillac at Bay Meadows Racetrack, a mile-long dirt track, Bowie completed 172 of 252 laps and finished 28th of 34 cars.[2] He was noted for having the largest pit crew of all the drivers in the race.[3]
Although his date of birth is sometimes noted as 1909 or 1914, Bowie was born in 1910 in San Antonio, Texas, to a laundress and a hotel porter. He was a transportation entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay, California area.[4]
(key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)