Black American Racers Association

The Black American Racers Association (BARA) was founded in August 1972 in Trenton, New Jersey by Leonard W. Miller, Ron Hines, Eugene Gadson, and Charles Singleton.

Those noted in the association's yearbook included Hollywood Sam's in Detroit and Trio Auto Supply in Trenton, New Jersey.

Sumner "Red" Oliver, a black racing pioneer from Indianapolis, was honored at BARA's first convention in Trenton, New Jersey in 1974, for his success as a driver from the 1920s through the 1950s and as a mechanic on the United States Auto Club (USAC) championship circuit.

The 1975 BARA–Schaefer Brewing Company awards were presented to the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company for its historic pioneering sponsorship of Black American Racers Inc., a Formula Super Vee Gold Cup and Formula 5000 road racing team with driver Benny Scott, and to Wendell Scott for his pioneering efforts in NASCAR.

Thompson won the Northeast Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula Super Vee Championship in 1977 - the first black to accomplish such a feat.

At this convention - prior to his first professional fight - BARA awarded Sugar Ray Leonard a lifetime membership for inspiring youth in the Baltimore area and around the country to achieve in sports.

This race included many of drag racing's African American stars of the time, including Rufus "Brooklyn Heavy" Boyd, "Strip Blazer" Malcolm Durham, Bill "Tuff Rabbit" White, "Wicked" Will Smallwood, Sam Carroll, and Joe Fisher, driving Ronald Lyle's Hemi Colt.

He is the author of Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports (2004), a chronicle of his life in auto racing.

Miller and Ron Hines, who was BARA's first secretary, enter their classic cars and street rods at auto shows in the Northeast.