Joseph Reynolds "Joie" Ray Jr. (September 29, 1923 – April 13, 2007) was an American open-wheel and stock-car racer. Ray was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. In 1947, Ray was the first African American licensed by the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

. Ray raced primarily in the Midwest and raced in AAA, USAC, CSRA and other organizations, but despite many sources to the contrary, was not the first African-American to race in NASCAR's top series. The Joie Ray who started 25th in the 1952 Daytona race in a Henry J was white, from Portland, Oregon and little is known about him. They were two different men. Ray died in Louisville of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on April 13, 2007, at age 83. Ray was posthumously inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2023.

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* * http://www.racerhub.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11418.html 1923 births 2007 deaths African-American racing drivers Deaths from pneumonia in Kentucky Racing drivers from Louisville, Kentucky African-American IndyCar Series drivers 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen {{IndyCar-bio-stub