Ed Flemke from Connecticut bested Carolinians at Bowman Gray Stadium on December 30, 1961 to win the Tobacco Bowl race. From Spartanburg Herald .
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Ed Flemke from Connecticut bested Carolinians at Bowman Gray Stadium on December 30, 1961 to win the Tobacco Bowl race. From Spartanburg Herald .
Ed "Steady Eddie" Flemke was the original "Eastern Bandit" who came south from Connecticut, later joined by Rene Charland, Red Foote and Dennis Zimmerman to make mincemeat of the southern NASCAR modified drivers in Winston-Salem and Richmond in the early 60s until Eddie gave away the secret of their lightweight chassis. Eddie's son, Ed Flemke, Jr. would later drive and turn wrenches on the Winston Modified Tour. Ed Sr. was still very competitive years after this Bowman-Gray event. Just yesterday I posted the photo below of Ed and Ray Hendrick on the front row at Martinsville 11 years after the story above, in 1972!
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:
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.
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.
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.
L to R - Pete Hamilton , Denny Zimmerman & Ed Flemke, Jr. with racing radio host Greg Danko in May 2013. Tom Ormsby photo
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.
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."
Wild Bill Slater, Ed Flemke and Pete Hamilton with a street Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird . Photo from SpeedwayLine Reports.
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 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.
The Clarence's Steakhouse #26 modified coach, driven by Paul Radford, was one of the best looking modified race cars, ever.
Posted at Randy Ayers site
Posted at pitstoppitbull.com
Posted at jalopyJournal
Nice, thanks Dave, I knew you'd come through!
Jack, thanks so much for posting the complete finish order of the December 30, 1961 Tobacco Bowl at Winston-Salem's Bowman-Gray Stadium.
Very interesting to also note that New England Modified racing legend, Ernie Gahan of Dover, New Hampshire was also in the field in his car #M-8. We always looked forward to having Ernie in the field at Martinsville for all the big modified shows.
Gahan, who passed in 2009, is best remembered by fans outside of New England for two things in his career.
* Gahan had just come through the tunnel at Daytona in 1963 with Bill Wimble when Marvin Panch had his serious crash. He jumped a fence and ran to Panch's flaming car trying to turn the car over. That feat was accomplished by Gahan and several others when Tiny Lund arrived at the crash to help. Gahan, Lund and the others involved were awarded the Carnegie Medal of Heroism for saving the life of Marvin Panch while placing their own in extreme danger.
* In 1966 Gahan arrived at the Atlanta International Raceway superspeedway for the final NASCAR modified race of 1966. He borrowed a car and finished ahead of Ray Hendrick who crashed out, thus winning the 1966 NASCAR Modified National Championship.
Upon Gahan's death, the News-Democrat of Foster, New Hampshire published the story below:
Gahan was a NASCAR pioneer
| By MIKE WHALEY mwhaley@fosters.com |
|
DOVER Colorful Dover auto racing legend Ernest "Ernie" Gahan was laid to rest Wednesday, one week after he died at the age of 83 in Berwick, Maine.
Colorful and legendary were apt descriptions of the former Dover man who was an early NASCAR racing pioneer and one of the greatest racecar drivers to come out of New England. He highlighted his 29-year racing career in 1966 by winning the NASCAR Modified Circuit National Championship and received the Carnegie Medal of Heroism for his role in saving fellow racer Marvin Panch from a fiery crash before the 1963 Daytona 500.
"He really made a big impact on racing," said his daughter, Jean Gahan. "He'd work on his car all night, no sleep, all by himself. He did it his way. Those were the old days. He helped to build racing to become what it is today."
A veteran of World War II, Gahan started racing at old Dover Speedway in 1947. Equally adept on dirt and asphalt, Gahan particularly liked the old dirt tracks, dominating at Dover and the Cheshire Fairgrounds, Stafford Springs, Conn.; and Fonda and Utica-Rome speedways in New York state. He became well known up and down the East Coast driving Car No. 50 with Stoney's Diner prominently displayed on the side. He built and operated Gahan's Garage of Madbury, and later in life after retiring from racing, he operated a construction business out of his Berwick, Maine, home. He has been inducted into four hall of fames, including the inaugural New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame.
| Click image to enlarge Courtesy photo Ernie Gahan, left, poses with his son Bobby Gahan and granddaugher Holly Beth after a Bobby Gahan win in 1991. |
"It wasn't as easy as it looked," Gahan said in 2007 about those early years. "It took me two years to win my first race; in the meantime I did a lot of crashing as I learned what would eventually become my trade."
Unlike today with all the big money and glitz and pit crews and sponsors, Gahan was for the most part a one-man team, particularly in the early years. He drove, fixed and transported the car, which was the way of the racing world in the 1950s and even into the 1960s.
"He was always down to earth," said Jean Gahan. "He never let it go to his head."
Gahan was that "hearty breed" of racecar driver having rolled over a concrete wall and out through the fence of the speedway in Middletown, N.Y. He stayed the night in a local hospital with three broken vertebrae in his neck. "I raced two nights later in Fonda with a neck brace and a new car," he said in 2008.
Gahan moved on to NASCAR in 1957 and raced there through the mid 1960s, making 11 starts from 1960 to 1966 in what is now know as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
"He went onto the big time," said Gilles Auger of Sanford, Maine, who raced briefly at the old Sanford Speedway in the early 1950s and had the chance to race and finish behind Gahan. "We locals faded away. I wasn't that good and didn't win any races. I went to the University of Maine and made a living."
Gahan's final career race came on June 6, 1976, at Star Speedway in Epping, not far from Dover where it had all begun some 29 years earlier. Running in the race, in which he was credited with a fourth-place finish, was Gahan's son, Bobby. Afterward, the two Gahans loaded up. For Ernie Gahan it was the last time. By the time he drove his last race he had amassed more than 300 career victories.
And the stories, my, Jean Gahan said she could talk all night. Like the time Gahan beat Richard Petty "somewhere in New Jersey" and waved to Petty as he passed him. Or when Petty saw Gahan predictably slaving over his car by himself in the pits and Petty said to his dad, "Go over and help Gahan."
Jean recounted a story when the Gahans were traveling back from a race late at night and the car was inching along toward a railway crossing. Ernie was dozing, his head was on the wheel as the car approached the crossing with a train coming and a wide-awake Jean looking on paralyzed in fear. "Finally I reached over and gently nudged dad and he sat up and said, 'Oh Jesus Christ I saw that,' 15 feet from the red light," she laughed. "I must have peed my pants. He raced the race and then drove all night to the next track."
Jean recalled one of her dad's biggest competitor's Bill Wimble, who she described as a farmer with the same attitude as her dad, which was "I'm in it to win, not to place, to win."
During the 1960s, however, a single incident seemed to define Ernie's career and left a lasting impression on those who knew him.
It was 1963, and Gahan returned to Daytona, according to an online story written by Scott Pacich for thevintageracer.com. As he and Bill Wimble made their way into the track through the tunnel turn and into the infield there was a horrendous accident. Marvin Panch (the 1961 Daytona 500 winner) had hit the wall, and his car barrel-rolled for what must have seemed like a mile. The car caught fire as it came to rest. Ernie knew that going over the fence and on to the track was against the rules, but he also knew that if he didn't get to Panch quickly he would probably die. Fighting the heat on his hands and face from the fire, Gahan pried the door open about a foot, but was having difficulty getting Panch through. Tiny Lund then arrived on the scene with two others in a fire truck and that combination of people, the modified driver from the north, the Grand National driver and 'some guy from Firestone' were able to pull Panch from the burning car. As they pulled Panch clear, and ran away from the burning car it exploded.
Ernie, of course, recounted Pacich, was worried that he was not going to be allowed to race, because after all he had some pretty bad burns on his hands. But he did race, and achieved first place Sportsman honors in the Permatex race. Later, the heroes who saved Panch from almost certain death were awarded the Carnegie Medal to recognize their efforts.
| Click image to enlarge Courtesy photo Dover racing legend Ernie Gahan is pictured here at the wheel of Car No. 50 in the 1950s, sponsored by Stoney's Diner. Gahan died last week at the age of 83. |
That same year, Gahan pulled fellow racer Wimble from a burning wreck during a race in Syracuse, N.Y. Wimble said in 2008, "Now I rely on other testimony. I'm told that my head and upper body appeared through the side window, then fell back out of sight, then appeared again. Then I made it out onto the side of the car, jumped or fell off, and made it a few feet away, then falling completely into unconsciousness. Ernie Gahan got out of his car and pulled me away from the fire, quite an act of heroism on his part."
In 1966, his championship season, Gahan drove a 1936 Chevrolet Coupe to 15 wins in 71 races, but only led Ray Hendrick by 48 points heading into the finale in Atlanta, Ga. According to Jean, Gahan showed up for that race, the biggest one of the year, without a car, and had to borrow one, and an inferior one at that. Hendrick, however, got caught up in an early accident and Gahan, despite his inferior ride, crossed the finish line in 10th to take the crown.
"I remember those races," Jean Gahan said. "They'd go out there four abreast and put a show on for the crowd. They raced centimeters from each other and stay like that for 10 laps. Those crowds used to stand on their toes screaming. He was out to race and win and that was it. It was such a wonderful time."
| Click image to enlarge Courtesy photo Ernie Gahan, center, is pictured in 2007 at a Fitchburg, Mass., auto dealership, a gathering for racing car buffs. Gahan died last week and was laid to rest Wednesday. |
