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Born | December 30, 1919 Linwood, New Jersey |
Died | April 4, 1995 Levittown, Pennsylvania |
Organization | Caroll Motorsports Limited |
Title | Team Owner |
Predecessor | Created |
Successor | None |
Spouse(s) | Lucy Wilson (m. 1941 - his death) |
Children | 4 |
Joseph Whitman Carroll (30 December 1919 - 4 April 1995) was an American businessman. He is primarily known for being part of the investment group that financed the construction of Levittown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. During the early 1950's, he financed his friend Earl Knight (a Bucks County native who served with Carroll in the Air Force) as the latter raced part-time in the National Stock Car Series. This partnership would lead to the formation of Carroll Motorsports Limited, a manufacturing company headquartered near Langhorne which would manufacture components for stock car racing teams.
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Carroll was born in Linwood, New Jersey to Graham and Harriett Carroll. Graham was a wealthy real estate investor and speculator, and involved his son in business dealings as soon as he was able to read and write. The younger Carroll worked with his father throughout much of his early life, including during his time in the U.S. Air Force during early World War II. Their partnership ended after the construction of Levittown, Pennsylvania; a falling out between father and son occurred due to Graham's support of racially segregating the Levittown homes. Their separation would last until shortly before Graham's death in 1968.
Carroll Motorsports Limited[edit | edit source]
Carroll Motorsports Limited was founded in 1953. Carroll, determining that he could likely make more money selling parts to race teams than he would splitting prize money with Knight, formed a manufacturing company to create components for owners to purchase in lieu of buying from the manufacturers or building their own. He began constructing rollbars, and by 1957 it was estimated that 80% of cars at a given race had a rollbar from CML installed. The company would expand its offerings to full roll cages, suspension components, and fuel systems, and by the time the series entered the Tobacco era nearly all teams were utilizing components purchased primarily from CML.
Carroll managed CML until 1990, when he sold the company to John Rose, who merged it with his own Rose Racing Components to form Stock Car Technologies, Inc. SCTI has been the primary supplier for WSCC teams since its formation, and has been the sole chassis supplier since 2010, when the series switched to a standard chassis.