“After training, I got my wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1942.”
Shelby is second from the left. I have been unable to identify the others.
“I trained in AT-11s flying over Texas.”
“On December 18, 1944, I married my high-school sweetheart, Jeanne Fields, while I was still in the Air Corps.”
“After flying B-18 bombers, I graduated to B-25s, B-26s, and finally B-29s.”
It was the practice of the Air Corps during World War II to keep the very best pilots in the United States to train others. So Shelby, although he requested it, never went into combat.
Carroll and Jeanne’s first offspring was Sharon Ann, born on September 27, 1944.
Shelby is at the far right. Again, I was unable to identify the others.
“My last assignment was flying B-29s out of Lowry Air Corps Base near Denver, Colorado. After the war ended in 1945, I was mustered out, still a second lieutenant.”
Shelby remembered, “All during 1948 and part of 1949 I worked in the oil fields, putting in a lot of hard labor and getting little pay in return.”
In the meantime, he and Jeanne had their first son, Michael Hall, in 1946.
This snapshot, from Sharon’s collection, is of his chicken ranch.
When Shelby quit the oil business, he went into the chicken business. At first, he did well and made a lot of money. As he remembered, “I started raising 20,000 at a time and really worked at it. But, my second batch suddenly caught a fatal disease (limberneck) and all died within a few days. Overnight, there I was, completely bankrupt and in debt up to my ears.”
1952
According to Shelby, “The first race I entered was held at a small airport near Caddo Mills, Texas. Quite a crowd turned out because it was one of the early Sports Car Club of America races. The course was laid out close to this little town about 40 miles from Dallas. It was a one-day affair on May 3, 1952. As far as Ed Wilkins’ MG TC was concerned, it was really as stock as the day it left the factory. I can’t remember much about the race except that I won.”
His first time out, Shelby won the MG Race and the Production Race at Caddo Mills in Ed Wilkins’ TC on May 3, 1952.
“The next race I entered was in August 1952 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. That time, I drove an XK-120 and beat a bunch of other Jaguars to win without too much trouble.”
Shelby drove Roy Cherryhomes’ Cadillac-Allard J2X at Eagle Mountain, Texas, on October 26, 1952.
Jeanne Shelby is standing next to Carroll.
Shelby was in two races at Turner Air Force Base in which he finished 4th and 12th.
Shelby is wondering just how he came in 1st in Charles Brown’s Cad-Allard at Caddo Mills, Texas, in November 1952.
Shelby remembered the Caddo Mills event, “It happened to be the very first race that Masten Gregory ever drove in. And, I must say, he had an awful lot of guts, cutting his teeth as a race driver in a Cadillac-powered Allard.” Gregory went on to become a leading driver of the 1950s.
1953
Shelby remembered, “I won the first race I ran for Roy Cherryhomes. It was at Eagle Mountain, Texas, on October 26, 1952. The understanding I had with him was that I would drive strictly for expenses, but even so, I was pretty much thrilled. In the Southwest, good rides were mighty hard to come by in the sports car field, especially then. Suddenly, there I was with the latest equipment, a car I knew well, and a competent mechanic. Another reason I got a big charge out of the ride was that, by then, Masten Gregory was winning just about everything in our part of the country. Well, I thought, maybe we can put a stop to that, always in a friendly way, of course.”
“I raced my friend Tom Graip’s MG TC at Bergstrom Air Force Base near Austin, Texas, on April 12, 1953.”
Shelby won at Offutt Air Force Base on July 5, 1953. “That same weekend, there was a long-distance event that required a driver change. Jack McAfee had come to Nebraska with a Ferrari 340 Mexico in pursuit of the SCCA National Championship. As chance would have it, Jack’s co-driver didn’t show up and he needed a teammate. Since I had won the preliminary event, Jack asked me to join him. We ended up 2nd overall.”
At the Eagle Mountain event on August 23, 1953, Shelby remembered, “It was very hot that Saturday morning and I had been working on the farm. I was wearing my striped farm coveralls. Eventually I realized that if I were going to get in any practice, I’d have to hurry up. So I took off just the way I was. When I got in the Allard, I realized how much cooler the coveralls were than the regular driver outfits. Well, seems like everyone got a big laugh out of that and my picture appeared in the papers. I got more publicity because of those doggone coveralls than I did for winning the race.”
Shelby raced Roy Cherryhomes’ Allard five times in 1953, taking four 1sts and one 2nd. Jeanne gave him a kiss.
Riddell Gregory had this to say about Carroll Shelby (recorded on July 24, 2006): “The only time I was ever able to beat