In the annals of NASCAR’s rich history, Vicki Wood is an obscure figure. Vicki competed in an era in which women weren’t even allowed in the pits. Yes, it was a different time, when men with a Lucky Strike cigarette hanging in their mouths recklessly hurled two-ton Detroit weapons of steel, cast iron and chrome around rudimentary race courses in which a retention device was a bale of hay. NASCAR may have held the attention of automakers in the mid-1950s, but the infant sport was lude, crude and rude. If you were a woman driver looking to swap paint with the established “good ‘ole boys,” you could expect a less than warm welcome. But that didn’t deter a housewife from Detroit from climbing into a 1955 Chrysler C-300, mashing the gas, and making that HEMI® engine V8 howl in anger.
Born into a family in which she was the only girl among seven children, Vicki worked a variety of jobs. Married during WWII, Vicki’s first husband was killed overseas during the conflict. By 1947, she met Clarence “Skeeter” Wood, and the two were married. Living in Detroit during the post-war years offered many opportunities to Vicki and Clarence. It was at a “Powder Puff” race in 1953 at the old Motor City Speedway in Detroit that Vicki quipped to Clarence, “If I couldn’t drive any better than that, I’d quit!” Realizing Vicki’s tenacity about driving, Clarence borrowed a friend’s 1937 Dodge Coupe and headed over to Mount Clemens Raceway north of Detroit where Vicki won her first race. Vicki’s success at these tracks around the Motor City caught the attention of Chrysler’s Public Relations execs, who were ready to launch the new Chrysler C-300 in 1955. Over at Jefferson Assembly, where Chrysler’s marketing and public relations departments had their offices, the PR folks knew what a great promotional opportunity it would be to have Vicki Wood race the 300 on the sands of Daytona Beach while setting new speed records. After some meetings with Chrysler, Vicki and Clarence secured a deal to take Chrysler’s latest “Luxury Hot Rod” off to Daytona and make history and mix it up at Daytona Beach with the top NASCAR drivers of the day. Because of the timing of NASCAR Speed Week, Chrysler sent VIN 001 C-300 down to San Juan Motors in Daytona Beach for Vicki to drive. Now armed with Chrysler’s hottest car making 300 horsepower with its 331-cubic-inch HEMI V8 engine, Vicki set out to rewrite the U.S. Stock Production Class Passenger Class 4 record. On the beach at Daytona, she wrestled her mighty Chrysler C-300 to an average speed of 125.83 miles per hour in 1955. Vicki recorded the third fastest time in the class against both men and women and was a close second behind Carl Kiekhaefer’s Chrysler C-300, which happened to be VIN 002 and driven by Tom Flock. Vicki went on to win NASCAR’s Women’s Division and finished third in the men’s class. Quite an achievement for a “housewife” from Detroit!
This prompted NASCAR officials to issue a news release calling Vicki a “Lady Speedster.” The Detroit Free Press picked up the release and ran a story about Vicki. The Free Press headline read “The fastest ‘Lady Speedster’ who slipped into stock cars for a kick while raising her stepchildren in Detroit.” Throughout the remainder of the late 1950s and into 1960, Vicki set many more records driving a variety of different automobiles from various corporations. Since racing on the sand ended in 1959 with the opening of Daytona International Speedway, Vicki Wood will always retain her well-earned title of “The Fastest Woman on the Beach.” Years later, Vicki commented on her experience in Daytona, “We went to Daytona, and I had never been there. Never dreamed you could drive on the sand. They had a Chrysler 300 ordered for me for the time trials. I had never been in a Chrysler and had never driven on the sand. I was thinking, ‘How in the world can you drive on sand?’ There were at least one hundred cars on the beach for the trials. I drove Brewster Shaw’s car. He got first place. I got second.” Quite an achievement in an era when women weren’t even allowed in the pits, let alone taken seriously as competitive drivers.
After her NASCAR exploits down in Daytona driving some of Detroit’s hottest machinery, Vicki settled into a normal day-to-day life raising her kids. She passed away on June 6, 2020, at the age of 101, but her pioneering racing achievements came to light to a new generation of racers and fans with the unearthing of her famous 1955 Chrysler C-300. Mike McCandless, son of famous Mopar® Drag Racing Legend Herb McCandless, knew the whereabouts of this famous car. Mike, with his love of Chrysler’s “Forward Look” 1950s and early ’60s automobiles, knew of Vicki Wood’s infamous 1955 Chrysler C-300 racer. He decided that this iconic car would be an excellent addition to the McCandless Collection, a non-profit museum that displays historical vintage Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth vehicles. “I saw a pic of the car online and knew about the historical significance of this car being VIN 001, but also its racing pedigree. Josh Ackerman, a collector from Rancho Cucamonga, California, had the C-300 and left it in its original condition. Josh had done a tremendous amount of research prior to my ownership and continued the research once I took ownership. Josh also did a minor mechanical restoration so when I got the car, it’d still run, stop and function, but there was rust on the floorboards and other issues. I bought the car in November of 2018 and because of the car’s rich history, it was deserving of a complete nut and bolt restoration. I reached out to Whitehall Auto Restorations in Massachusetts and after three years, the results were amazing. When we debuted the car at the 2022 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) in Chicago, the fans just loved the C-300 and they learned the story of Vicki Wood,” said Mike.
Vicki Wood’s accomplishments are forever written in NASCAR’s record books, and her memory lives when guests walk into the McCandless Collection and see her pristine 1955 Chrysler C-300 that broke barriers on the sands of Daytona Beach not only for Vicki, but for female racers everywhere!
Here are some rare artifacts and old newspaper clippings from Vicki Wood’s racing achievements along with pictures of her restored 1955 Chrysler C-300.
Great story unbelievable restoration.