In the 1974 Stafford 200, while driving the Garbarino Mystic Missile #4, Ed had a huge crash. When it came to rest, the car was on its roof, which was crushed flat. After being helped out of the destroyed car, Ed went to the pits where he climbed into the Armstrong #1 Pinto, in which he intended to return to the race. Before he had got the car out of the pits, however, Ed felt sufficient pain in his back that he realized that he should get medical attention rather than immediately resume racing. Ed went to the hospital later that night, where he was told that he had broken his back in a way that usually resulted in the victim’s being paralyzed for life.
This was as close as Ed ever came to racing the Armstrong Pintos, which enjoyed a very big budget and, in Hop Harrington, one of the finest chief mechanics in the sport. One has to believe that if Ed, rather than Geoff Bodine and Ray Hendrick, had been the regular driver of the Armstrong Pintos, the combination would have been devastating. In this photo, from Racingthroughtime.com, Gene Bergin is at the wheel.
Category: Other cars driven by Ed at least once
10 coupe
Ed is well known for driving Bill Thornton’s Manchester Sand & Gravel #10 Pintos from 1975 through 1978, but he drove the #10 coupe at least once, in summer 1974 at Stafford where he finished 4th in a heat race. He then drove the 2x Pinto in the feature. Thanks to Carl Oberg for the information. In this image, Ron Wyckoff is behind the wheel. Photo from Racingremembrances.com.
10 coupe
Ernie Caruso is the driver here. Image from Speedwaylinereport.com.
9
Bob Simons informs us that on at least one occasion Ed drove one of the Simons Brothers “Excavator Special” #9 cars. We have no record of which of the many Simons cars Ed drove, but I have chosen this photo because it includes both car owner Bill Simons (R) and Ed’s long-time friend and crew member Clyde MacLeod (L). Photo from Speedwaylinereport.com.
12
The Sherri-Cup #12 Vega was owned by Billy Corazzo, who had owned the #9x Corvair that Ed drove at Langhorne in 1970. Although Ed is not in the car in this image, he drove the Sherri-Cup #12 for Billy at Seekonk. (Driver in this picture is Ken Bouchard, at the 1978 Stafford Spring Sizzler.) Photo by Steve Kennedy. Thanks to Susan Brown Anderson for the information.
12
99
Although this photo was taken in 1980 at Trenton with Geoff Bodine driving, on July 22, 1979 Ed tried to qualify the Lee Allard #99 at Monadnock. Water tainting the fuel forced him to retire.
99
1979 – Oswego. Photo by Rich Young.
4
This photo shows Gino Spada with his car at Danbury Fair Racearena. Ed drove Gino’s Pinto at Danbury Fair Racearena in order to help Gino to get his car set up properly. Thanks to Bill ‘Moose’ Boulay for the information.
