Joie Ray - Motorsports Pioneer

Joie Ray was born in Louisville, Kentucky on September 29, 1923. His father Joseph Reynolds Ray, Sr. was an Eisenhower appointee at the Housing and Home Finance Agency (now called HUD) in the 1950s in Washington, DC. Before that, the senior Ray worked in Bloomfield, Kentucky as a teacher; in Louisville as a bank teller who was eventually promoted to  president of the First Standard Bank (Brick by Brick, pp 34-36).  He then became a partner in the Ray & Hawes real estate agency and, after the passing of Mr. Hawes, Ray & Henderson real estate agency.

As a realtor, Mr. Ray, Sr. had interest in obtaining property to build new and better homes for Negroes in Louisville.   A group of whites tried to prevent this effort without success.  In a Kentucky Court of Appeals decision on October 29, 1943, Mr. Ray, Sr. was part of a group  (Standard Realty Corporation) that was allowed to purchase land for building such homes. That property is known as Westover Subdivision II in western Louisville. The homes are directly across the street from Chickasaw Park, which had been used as a park exclusively for Negroes during the segregation time period.  The plot contained 111 lots, with 27 facing Southwestern Parkway. 

Joie Ray’s mother, Ella Hughes Ray was a schoolteacher whose family inherited 300 acres of farmland in Maud, KY that was rented to white sharecroppers. 

In 1946, Joie and his wife Susie visited Winchester Speedway in Indiana, a track he had frequently heard about, to see a AAA Sprint car race. That experience sparked his interest in auto racing. Joie returned to Louisville and began working as a crew member for race car owner Carl Ott. While reading the classifieds in a racing paper, Joie found a Dodge four-cylinder Sprint car for sale for $450.00. He decided to take a chance and play the local numbers game, betting a single dollar on number 450. Who would believe that such a small wager would win him enough money to purchase his very first race car, and change his life forever. He won $500 on the number and used his prize money to buy his first race car in 1946, the #7 Joe’s Special.

Joie in his Sprint car

 On Easter Sunday, April 6, 1947, in Mitchell, IN, Joie Ray made history by becoming the first African American driver to participate with white drivers in a sanctioned Sprint car race with the Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association (MDTRA), just days before Jackie Robinson’s debut in major league baseball.  Shortly thereafter, Joie competed with the Central States Racing Association (CSRA), and the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA).  He was the first African American to race with them as well.

Although Joie was successful running at the fairs in the Midwest, like many other race drivers, he had a strong desire to run in the Indianapolis 500. In order to do that, a driver had to be a member of the American Automobile Association (AAA), the major league organization of its time.  According to records of noted racing historian Crocky Wright, Joie drove his first AAA race on June 26, 1949 in a Sprint car at Salem Speedway, IN. Joie qualified 13th in a car labeled RW; timed in at 24.158 seconds on the 1/2 mile high-banked oval, 13th out of 25 cars; finished 5th in the 3rd heat, 2nd in Consolation race, and 8th in the Feature.  

Joie nearly had an Indy Car ride, but the sponsorship deal fell through. Moreover, he was the first African American licensed with AAA’s successor, the United States Auto Club (USAC).   

Joie continued to race until 1963, accumulating wins in often-inferior equipment, and accumulating a multitude of top-5 and top-10 finishes with high-caliber drivers such as Bill Cantrell, Cliff Griffith, and Chick Smith. When Joie was denied food service and a place to sleep, because of racism, he felt supported by his fellow drivers.