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Kenneth W. Wright was born in 1940 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and was a race car driver and mechanic for, among other teams, Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR), the first African American auto racing team to acquire national sponsorship in the United States. == Early years == Wright's friendship with the Miller brothers - Dexter G. and Leonard W. - began at age five. His love of hot rods and race cars began in earnest at age 13, when Leonard W. Miller would visit his community in a 1940 Ford hot rod convertible. Riding in the car, and watching the advanced modifications made to the motor, sparked Wright's interest in becoming a full-time automotive technician after graduating from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. He took every auto class offered in the school. In 1956, Wright co-founded the Black Hawk Auto Club, with Horace “Buddy” Sparrow and other African American youth living in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Wayne, Pennsylvania. In 1957, a trip with the club to the York Dragway in York, Pennsylvania piqued his interest in becoming a drag racer. After high school, he began his apprenticeship training at Sharpless Auto Body in Devon, Pennsylvania, where he learned all aspects of automotive collision repair. After learning the basics, he attended the Spring Garden Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, along with Dexter Miller. He graduated in 1962. After graduation he was employed at Horsiey’s Automotive Service Center in Narberth, Pennsylvania. In the midst of the Civil Rights era and the Vietnam War, Wright’s skills were extremely rare among African Americans. He was one of only a few to hold jobs in the auto body trade at a mainstream facility in one of the wealthiest regions of America. Citizens in the community, including African Americans, would note Wright’s capacity at every pass. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ken Wright (auto racing mechanic)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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