December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
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Stock Car Racing History
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
Steady Eddie must have really liked that Winston-Salem Bowman-Gray Stadium Tobacco Bowl money. He returned from Connecticut (along with fellow Eastern Bandits Rene Charland who finished third in his sportsman car against the southern modifieds and Red Foote in 5th) to claim the 2nd edition of the event, again eating the southerners' lunch as chronicled by the Wilmington Star-News U.P.I. account:
NOTE : "Kirk" Brown of Spray, NC is actually PERK Brown and "Hall" Radford of Ferrum, VA is PAUL Radford.
AND : 9th place finisher, Clarence Pickurel of Ridgeway, VA is the same CLARENCE hundreds of thousands of fans and racers have known through the years as the proprietor of the famed CLARENCE'S STEAK HOUSE, almost directly acosss the highway from Martinsville as well as the owner and sponsor of top modified cars through the decades.
Clarences Steak House
Clarences is a family restaurant located about a mile south of the track. Driver Ricky Craven wrote last year in his Yahoo Sports blog:
I seldom drive through Martinsville without stopping at Clarences Steak House and capturing that quality that exists in the people who make up this town. It was the late Dale Earnhardt who led me to Clarences, after stopping by our motor home in 1996 as we were celebrating our first pole position. He said, Congratulations on your pole position, but you dont stand a chance of winning Sunday if you have not eaten at Clarences.
Breakfast starts at 6:00 a.m. and good home-cooked food is available all day long. Owner Clarence Pickurel has been a long-time sponsor of local racers throughout Virginia and North Carolina.
Address: 6636 Greensboro Rd. (220), Ridgeway, Va.
Phone: (276) 956-3400
Note: Clarence Pickerel, is the owner, has sponsored local racers in the area for many, many years.
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
Wild Bill Slater, Ed Flemke and Pete Hamilton with a street Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird . Photo from SpeedwayLine Reports.
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
An excerpt from the posthumous induction writeup of Ed Flemke, Sr. to his hometown New Brittain, Connecticut Hall of Fame:
"He was also known for his willingness to help young drivers and when Pete Hamilton won the 1970 Daytona 500, he invited Flemke up to the press box and told the assembled reporters that he owed the victory to his mentor."
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
Only known video footage of an interview with the late, great Eddie Flemke, Sr. - inventor of the Flemke Front End and winner of hundreds of NASCAR National Championship Modified races, including consecutive Tobacco Bowl wins at Winston-Salem's Bowman-Gray Stadium in the early 60s. This was in 1982, two years before Flemke's death in 1984.
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
L to R - Pete Hamilton , Denny Zimmerman & Ed Flemke, Jr. with racing radio host Greg Danko in May 2013. Tom Ormsby photo
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
From National Speed Sport News:
Eastern Bandits Went South, Took The Money And Ran
by NSSN Staff
By Pete Zanardi
Ending up on his roof was, racing-wise, the best thing that happened to Dennis Zimmerman. A tangle at Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass., with New England Modified legend Eddie Flemke actually resulted in Zimmerman going to the hospital.
It was not Eddies fault, but for some reason he felt he owed me, says Zimmerman, who spent four or five years with Flemke, including the Eastern Bandit days. Although brief, it was a major chapter for New England racing in general and for Zimmerman, the 1971 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year.
The Eastern Bandits Flemke and Zimmerman were later joined by Rene Charland and Red Foote preyed on Southern competition for three years. They had big motors but, thanks to Eddie, we had lighter cars with superior handling, recalls Zimmerman.
NASCAR coming to Norwood, Mass., in 1960 brought New England into the national scene and Flemke, with Zimmerman in tow, took advantage. There was more money in the South, always a motivator for Flemke.
It all came together, Zimmerman recalls, on a weekend in 1961 when Flemke won back-to-back 100 lappers at Islip Speedway on New Yorks Long Island and at New Jerseys Old Bridge Stadium. Somebody from Southside Speedway in Richmond, Va., was there and Eddie got a deal from them, Zimmerman continues. He took me along.
Working out of a garage owned by open-cockpit standout Bert Brooks in New Britain, Conn., Flemke and Zimmerman settled into a Thursday through Sunday routine Fort Dix, N.J.; Southside; Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Va.; Marlboro, Md.; and Old Bridge, the latter two Sunday afternoon and evening, respectively.
It was, Zimmerman points out, a perfect situation for Flemke. First of all, thats where the money was, he says. And they were short tracks where Eddie, a genius when it came to set up, excelled.
Right from the start the Bandits, especially Flemke, settled in at Southside. Flemke was scoring everywhere, including Fredericksburg (Va.) Fairgrounds. Flemke won back-to-back Tobacco Bowls (New Years Eve or Day events) at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. In 1962, he had 17 wins at Manassas alone. Eleven came in succession. He won the Fort Dix title in 1963, capturing seven features.
Charland, who was collecting national sportsman titles, Foote, especially apt in distance races, and Zimmerman were winning as well.
Truth is it was a short-lived thing. Zimmerman, who actually remained in Virginia for a couple of years, leaves no doubt why.
I really should be mad at Eddie because he gave it all away, Zimmerman says. Considering the caliber of the competition, they would have caught up soon enough, but Eddie actually helped them.
The Bandits era over, Flemke moved to a new chapter, winning in New England and New York State and becoming a mentor to 1970 Daytona 500 winner Pete Hamilton and nine-time national modified champion Richie Evans.
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
The hand of his mentor, Ed Flemke rests on the shoulder of his protege Pete Hamilton following the first paved race at Stafford Springs, Connecticut in 1967. Flemke won and Hamilton finished second to his idol, Flemke. Photo from Vintage Modifieds illustrating a Phil Smith "Looking Back" column.
December 30, 1961: Yankee wins over Rebels in Tobacco Bowl
Stock Car Racing History
Pete Hamilton personally thanked Ed Flemke for his assistance as a young driver in victory lane of the 1970 Daytona 500 when he drove his #40 Petty Enterprises Plymouth to victory.
Ed Flemke's Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame writeup:
Ed Flemke, Sr.
Known as Steady Eddie, Ed Flemke Sr. (August 27, 1930 March 30, 1984) of New Britain, Connecticut, was the leader of 1960s East Coast Bandits that raced and won everywhere. Plus, the extremely talented and dedicated professional Modified stock-car driver was an innovator who did much to advance the Modified chassis technology of his era.
Flemke began racing in 1948 after his brother George a Midget racer of some note used to let him make warm-up laps in his Midget and then helped him learn the ins and outs of racing and how to handle the intricacies of traffic driving that he would face as a rookie.
He also got some good advice from Midget standouts Mike Nazaruk and Bert Brooks and the first race of what would turn out to be Eds long and successful career took place in a Jalopy coupe at the old West Springfield (Mass.) Speedway, a one-fifth-mile paved oval that in its former dirt configuration had been a dog-racing layout.
After some seasoning in his No. 439 flathead-powered early-1930s five-window coupe, Ed raced a Sportsman at the old quarter-mile asphalt Plainville (Conn.) Stadium and a Modified at the old quarter-mile asphalt Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Massachusetts, where he won 22 races and the 1956 and 1958 Modified titles. The driver of the Numbers. 61, 14 and 1 1937 Ford coupes was also a Riverside Midget racer on Tuesday nights in 1951.
But as the 1960s unfolded Ed and his No. 21x were racing and winning all over the East Coast. He won two consecutive New Years Day races on the quarter-mile track inside Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina the only Yankee to ever do that and his success in other such touring situations was such that it encouraged Denny Zimmerman, Red Foote and Rene Charland to travel with him, and thus was created the Eastern Bandits.
However, when it proved no longer economically feasible to race all over, Ed who was a money driver and once drove cars with $-sign and -sign identification spent several seasons at the then-quarter-mile asphalt Utica-Rome (N.Y.) Speedway. In all, the 1970 Utica-Rome Champion won 24 races including seven 100s, two 200s and the season-ending New Yorker 400 on September 6, 1970, in the Garuti Brothers extremely fast white No. 14 coupe.
But when Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, was paved in 1967 that brought him back to New England and he won Staffords first asphalt race in the Bob Judkins-owned red No. 2x 1936 Chevrolet coupe. The inventor of the split-spring Flemke front end and winner of 23 races at Stafford includes in his victory there 1973s Spring Sizzler and the Stafford 200 that he claimed in Judkins red No. 2x Pinto.
Then, as his career wound down, Ed who also won several races in the orange No. 61 1936 Chevy coupe of fellow EMPA Hall of Famer Richie Evans drove the maroon and white No. 10 Manchester Sand & Gravel Pinto.
During his 30 years as a race-car driver Flemke is estimated to have had over 500 wins, including the 1977 300-lapper at the five-eights-mile asphalt Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Flemke retired as a driver in 1978 after running his last race at Stafford Speedway.
But Flemkes career was not just focused on winning races as he took it upon himself to help young drivers coming along and talented New England product Pete Hamilton thought enough of what his mentor did to recognize him by name during a press conference after he won the 1970 Daytona 500 in the Petty Enterprises No. 40 Plymouth Superbird.
Yet with all of the things that Ed Flemke Sr. accomplished, he always said that his proudest day at a race track was when he stood in the infield and watched his son Eddie Jr. who was an outstanding Modified driver as well take his first laps at Riverside Park.