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American racing driver (1924–1998)

Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two time NASCAR series champion. His brothers Bob and Fonty Flock also raced in NASCAR, as did his sister Ethel Mobley (who was NASCAR's second female driver).

Tim Flock finished 5th in NASCAR's inaugural Strictly Stock race at Charlotte, North Carolina in 1949; he drove an Oldsmobile 88 that he borrowed from his newlywed neighbors. NASCAR's first official season ended with Flock in eighth, his brother Fonty Flock in fifth, and his other brother Bob Flock in third in the overall points standings. Flock won his first official NASCAR race in 1950 at Charlotte. He ran 12 of 19 races and finished 16th in the final standings. In 1951, Flock won seven races. 1952 brought eight wins and four poles. At the end of the 1952 NASCAR season, Flock had 106 more points than Herb Thomas, earning Flock his first NASCAR Grand National Championship title, despite flipping in the final race at West Palm Beach. Flock later joked, "I was the only driver to ever win a championship upside down." In 1954, Flock was disqualified despite winning at the Daytona Beach and Road Course for illegally screwed carburetor screws. Flock had a rhesus monkey co driver named "Jocko Flocko" with him in his May 16, 1953, Grand National win at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jocko Flocko became the only winning monkey ever. The monkey was retired two weeks later at Raleigh, where the monkey pulled the device to allow the driver to observe the right front tire and was hit by a pebble. At the time, drivers used a device to lift the wheel well to observe tire wear in case of a tire failure. Flock had to do a pit stop to remove the monkey, and he finished third (he would have won without the problem). 1955 was a record setting year for Flock as well as NASCAR. On the way to Flock's second Grand National Championship title, Flock had 19 poles and 18 victories in 45 races. The 18 victories stood as a record until broken by "The King", Richard Petty, in 1967. The 19 poles are still the highest number in a NASCAR season. The 1956 season saw Flock win the International Stock Car Road Race, the first NASCAR Cup event ever held at Road America. Flock followed points leader and pole sitter Buck Baker for much of the start until many of the leaders began exiting for various problems, allowing Flock to lead the final ten laps. No other stock car events of any type were held at the track until the 1990s, and in 2010 the NASCAR Nationwide Series began racing there. Despite the win, however, the year was filled with off track frustration for Flock, particularly with team owner Carl Kiekhaefer. Despite their combined on track success, Flock left Kiekhaefer's team immediately after his victory in the April 8 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, citing stomach ulcers. Upon departing from the Kiekhaefer camp, he had compiled 21 triumphs out of his 46 starts with Kiekhaefer.

In his final race before "retiring" Flock was disqualified and banned from NASCAR as a result of "having too much solder on his carburetor screw" which was illegal. This was widely known by the public to be retaliation by NASCAR management for Flock's support of a NASCAR driver's union. Like Curtis Turner, he faced a life ban from NASCAR. Flock continued to race under other sanctioning bodies, including the Midwest Association for Race Cars, competing in the 100 mile (161 km) event on the dirt at Lakewood Speedway, Georgia, in October 1961, where he finished second. He also raced at a United States Auto Club event in Concord, North Carolina, in 1963. He was reinstated to NASCAR competition in 1966. Flock was employed by the Ford Motor Company to entertain customers at track events.

In 1959, he was hired by Charlotte Motor Speedway to work in various roles, including public relations and ticket sales. His last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Pete Hamilton, and Donnie Allison. The winner was Elmo Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about 3 feet (1 m) on the last lap. He finished 10th out of 22 drivers.

Flock died of liver and throat cancer on March 31, 1998, at age 73, during NASCAR's 50th anniversary season. Darrell Waltrip honored him in a special paint scheme named "Tim Flock Special" at Darlington Raceway weeks before Flock died. Flock was without medical insurance, and Waltrip wanted to help raise money for Flock and his family. A month before his death, Flock was honored as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. He has been inducted in numerous halls of fame, including the: International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1991), Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1999), National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (1972), State of Georgia Hall of Fame (1972), and Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends (1994). He was inducted in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in May 2006. On May 22, 2013, Flock was named a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame for 2014, to be inducted during Acceleration Weekend in January.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Pts Ref 1949 Buddy Elliott 90 Olds CLT5 DAB2 HBO7 LAN31 HAM MAR HEI NWS19 8th 421 1950 Cadillac DAB6 16th 437.5 Harold Kite 21 Lincoln CLT1* LAN4 Buddy Elliott 90 Lincoln MAR20 CAN9 VER DSP MCF CLT9 HBO DSP HAM 9 Olds DAR11 LAN19 VER4 MAR12 WIN Frank Christian 75 Olds NWS24 Hubert Westmoreland 98 Plymouth HBO4 1951 Ted Chester 91 Lincoln DAB2* 3rd 3722.5 Olds CLT33 NMO1* GAR HBO4 ASF3 NWS2 MAR3 CAN2 CLS1 CLB7 DSP3 GAR GRS4 BAI20 HEI37 AWS11 MCF ALS MSF17 FMS1 MOR1* ABS2 DAR11 CLB1* CCS22 LAN5 CLT11 DSP WIL HBO TPN7 PGS1** MAR OAK NWS4 HMS JSP13 Hudson ATL1 GAR NMO2 1952 PBS1* DAB55 JSP4 NWS21 MAR11* CLB18 ATL15* CCS9 LAN2 DAR2 DSP3 CAN4 HAY FMS1* HBO1 CLT2 MSF1* NIF13 OSW1 MON1 MOR2 PPS1* MCF1* AWS2 DAR33 CCS3* LAN4 DSP6 WIL7 HBO4 MAR4 NWS4 ATL4 PBS12 1st 6858.5 1953 PBS3 DAB5 HAR7 NWS23* CLT4* RCH CCS6 LAN5 CLB2 HCY1 MAR32 PMS22 RSP3 LOU4 FIF5 LAN7 TCS22 WIL7 MCF4 PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO16 AWS10 PAS HCY7 DAR10 CCS5 LAN39 BLF WIL NWS13 MAR ATL20 6th 5011 1954 Ernest Woods 88 Olds PBS DAB62 JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LND HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR 35th 860 Buck Baker Racing 89 Olds CCS2* CLT9 Elmer Brooks 44 Olds LAN8 71 Hudson MAS22 MAR NWS 1955 Carl Kiekhaefer 300 Chrysler TCS PBS JSP DAB1** OSP CLB5* HBO17 NWS13 MGY1* LAN1** CLT2 HCY2* MAR1* RCH1* NCF25 FOR20 LIN2 MCF1** FON2 PIF1** CLB3 AWS1** MOR1* NYF1** SAN1 CLT5 MAS3 RSP2 MGY1** LAN1* RSP3 GPS1** MAS4 CLB1 MAR24 LVP NWS5 1st 9596 301 ASF1** TUS CLT1** ALS11 FOR7 HBO1** Hubert Westmoreland 2 Chevy AIR3 Carl Kiekhaefer 16 Chrysler DAR3 1956 301 HCY1* 9th 5062 300 CLT2 WSS PBS ASF3 300A DAB1* ATL18* NWS1 501 Dodge PBS7 300B Chrysler WIL3 Smokey Yunick 3 Chevy LAN3 Mauri Rose Engineering 49 Chevy RCH24 1R CLB15 Jim Stephens 285 Pontiac CON4 GPS HCY HBO Mauri Rose Engineering 11 Chevy MAR30 LIN CLT POR EUR NYF MER MAS4 CLT7 MCF POR AWS RSP5 PIF10 CSF CHI CCF MGY OKL Bill Stroppe 15 Mercury ROA1 OBS SAN NOR PIF MYB POR John Foster Motors 86 Ford DAR12 CSH18 CLT LAN POR CLB16 HBO NWP20 CLT CCF MAR HCY WIL 1957 Beau Morgan 15 Mercury WSS CON TIC DAB12 CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS POR HCY NOR LCS GLN KPC LIN OBS MYB DAR NYF AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF NA 1958 FAY DAB46 CON FAY WIL HBO FAY CLB PIF ATL18 CLT MAR ODS OBS GPS GBF STR NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS REF LIN HCY AWS RSP MCC SLS TOR BUF MCF BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL26 NA 1959 Ford FAY DAY24 DAY9 HBO CON ATL WIL BGS CLB NWS REF HCY MAR TRN CLT NSV ASP PIF GPS ATL CLB WIL RCH BGS AWS DAY HEI CLT MBS CLT NSV AWS BGS GPS CLB DAR HCY RCH CSF HBO MAR AWS NWS CON 31st 1464 1960 CLT CLB DAY DAY DAY CLT NWS PHO CLB MAR HCY WIL BGS GPS AWS DAR9 PIF HBO RCH HMS CLT BGS 63rd 890 18 Plymouth DAY34 HEI MAB MBS Ratus Walters 10 Buick ATLDNQ BIR NSV AWS PIF CLB SBO BGS DAR HCY CSF GSP HBO MAR NWS CLT RCH ATL 1961 Jack Meeks 83 Ford CLT JSP DAY DAY DAY24 PIF AWS HMS NA Beau Morgan 15 Ford ATL39 GPS HBO BGS MAR9 NWSDNQ CLB HCY RCH MAR7 DAR30 CLT CLT6 RSD ASP CLT37 PIF BIR GPS BGS NOR HAS STR DAY ATL CLB MBS BRI NSV BGS AWS RCH SBO DAR HCY RCH CSF ATL MAR NWS CLT BRI GPS HBO