The Flagman and the President

On 20 March 1977, new President Jimmy Carter was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.  The President was Grand Marshal and Honorary Starter for the NASCAR Atlanta 500 Cup Series race.   The President was to wave the green flag to start the race.  Prior to race time, the President and his two secret service agents met with Harold Kinder, NASCAR’s Chief Flagman.  Harold showed them the flag stand and ladder, told them about the noise and the vibration of the stand as the cars go by.  He showed the President how to hold and wave the flag.  He warned about dropping the flag and how easy it was to do given the turbulent air as the cars went by at speed.

When race time approached, President Carter followed by a secret service agent and then Harold assented the ladder to the stand.  The second secret service agent stood at the foot of the ladder or one or two steps up.  The stand was narrow such that two could not stand side-by-side.  The stand was cantilevered out over the race track.  As a result, there was a lot of up and down motion when cars passed under.  During the parade lap, the cars passed under the flag stand. The noise was deafening. Disturbed air blew hard and the end of the flag stand with the President jumped up and down. 

As the last of the cars got into turn one and it got quiet, Harold said to the secret service agent in a distressed and loud voice: “Oh my Gosh!  Did you get your OSHA jocks?”  The agent responded: “No.”  The President turned around and asked “What’s going on?”  Harold said: “You just saw what it is like at parade speed; it will be a hundred times worse at race speed.  For goodness’ sake! Keep your legs close together!  The aerodynamics and the eddy currents off the cars could pull your manhood off.”  The leaders were coming out of turn four; there was no time for discussion.  Harold had a person on the walkway take a picture of the flag stand at the race start.  The picture shows the President with knees bent, legs as close together as possible and waving the flag with both hands.  The secret service agent has his right hand on the President’s shoulder, his left hand cupped over his groin and his legs as close together as possible.  Harold is standing up straight with a big grin in his face.

When the President got on the ladder to get off the flag stand, he told Harold: “I know when I’ve been had.”  Sometime later Harold received a card from the White House thanking him for the NASCAR racing experience.  The President signed it, Jimmy Carter. Below his signature he wrote: “Harold I am sure that you will be happy to know that I have suffered no long-term ill effects from the aerodynamics or the eddy currents.” When Bill France heard about it, he told Harold that if he ever did it again, he would not even be able to watch a NASCAR race on TV.

Harold told me this story in 1978.  Over the years I have told and heard others tell this story many, many times.  It is reasonable to assume that some details have been left out and others have been added.  However, the heart of the story is as Harold told it.  Jim Bockhoven told me that Harold had tested the stunt on Bert Reynolds and that it had worked great.

Don Wolfe, 12/18/2024