August 7 is the 90th anniversary of the first Gold and Glory Sweepstakes, held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds by the Colored Speedway Association. There were 12,000 paid attendees, making it the largest attended black sporting event up to that time. The first 100 mile event was won by Malcolm Hannon in the Barber-Warnock Ford Special at an average speed of 63 miles an hour. This race became to black race car drivers what the Indy 500 was to white drivers. The race was run annually from 1924 to 1936. It was noted that in the first years of the race, such star drivers as Wilber Shaw, Louie Meyer, and Ralph DePalma were in attendance at the race. Indianapolis-born Charles “Charley” Wiggins won the race four times including three time in a row to become the “Negro King” to the black race car drivers and his racing exploits became legend. He was also an expert racing mechanic and was on the crew of a number of teams competing in the Indy 500. Unfortunately, the hard times of the Great Depression caught up with the Sweepstakes. The last two events were shortened due to lack of sponsors and the promoters not being able to attract enough paying spectators to watch the race. In the last race, a 13 car pileup occurred in which several drivers, including Charley Wiggins, were critically injured. They had no insurance on the race so it was financially disastrous for the Colored Speedway Association. The last year the race was held was in 1936.
Wiggins was born in Evansville in 1897and became the first black auto mechanic in the city. He came to Indianapolis in 1922 and opened his own car repair garage. He started racing at that time and built his own race cars and was admired for his mechanical skills. He tried to enter the Indianapolis 500 as a driver on two occasions but was refused because of his race. He did work as a mechanic for some white race teams. He lost his leg in the ‘36 crash. Wiggins made his own artificial wooden leg and continued working as a mechanic although he never raced again. He became a noted trainer of race drivers and mechanics. Charlie Wiggins died in 1979 at the age of 82.
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