Ed Flemke

Ed "Steady Eddie" Flemke (August 27, 1930 – March 30, 1984) was active as an American race car driver and builder from 1948 until his death in 1984. Although best known as a driver, he also built many race cars for himself and others, was a technical innovator, and was renowned as a mentor to his competitors. His specialty was modified stock car racing, which became immensely popular in the U.S. in the decades following World War II. Flemke has been described as "likely New England's most legendary stock car racer." He may have had more overall impact on Modified racing in the U.S. than any other individual, being "a pioneer, innovator, teacher, fierce competitor, and living legend all rolled into one."

Early life From a young age, Flemke was exposed to cars and racing. His father, Jake, owned and operated a garage in New Britain, CT, and his older brother, George, drove midget racing cars for many years. In 1948, at the age of 17, Flemke was helping a friend at a race when he spontaneously decided to try driving the race car himself. On a whim, he drove out onto the track and began competing. He fell in love with racing and made it the focus of his life from that moment on.

Flemke's mentors included his brother George, along with Bert Brooks and Mike Nazaruk, all of whom were midget car drivers. While Flemke preferred driving midgets over other types of racing, the prize money in Modified racing was greater, so he focused his efforts on the latter.

United Racing Club years When Flemke began racing Modified cars, dozens of tracks along the East Coast held weekly Modified races. Each track operated either independently or as part of a sanctioning organization, the largest of which were the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the United Stock Car Racing Club. NASCAR tracks were primarily located in the Southeast, while United tracks were concentrated in the Northeast. Independent tracks were geographically dispersed but were most commonly found in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Based in Connecticut, Flemke joined United and regularly raced at tracks like Riverside Park (MA), Plainville (CT), New London-Waterford (CT), Savin Rock/West Haven (CT), Candlelite Stadium (Bridgeport, CT), and the Springfield Exposition Fairgrounds (MA). All of these were paved asphalt tracks, which Flemke preferred over the dirt tracks that were also common in Modified racing.

In mid-1952, Flemke was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was stationed at various times at Fort Jackson, SC, Fort Devens, MA, Fort Dix, NJ, and Fort Knox, KY. While at each base, he raced whenever he was granted leave—and occasionally even when he wasn't—but records of his performance in those races are scarce. He remained in the Army until late 1954. In 1955, he became the regular driver of the #28 and #14 cars owned and managed by Richie and Ray Garuti, continuing with the Garutis through the 1958 season. In 1959, Flemke built his own car again, the metallic blue and gold #61.

Flemke remained with United through the 1959 season. The biggest event on the United calendar was the annual Riverside 500. Based on available documentation, Flemke competed in the Riverside 500 seven times, finishing first three times, second three times, and third once. During his 11 years racing with United, he won track championships at West Haven and Riverside Park and is known to have won at least 25 feature races at Riverside. Very few records are available for the 1950s results at Plainville, New London-Waterford, Candlelite, and West Haven. Throughout the remainder of the 1960 season, he competed strongly at several Northeastern tracks, including Islip (NY), Plainville (CT), Empire (Menands, NY), Norwood (MA), and Westboro (MA).

In 1961, Flemke expanded his regular racing circuit to include Westhampton (NY) and Old Bridge, Wall, and Vineland (all in NJ). While racing at Islip, he was noticed by the promoter of Southside Speedway in Richmond, VA, who offered him guaranteed money to race there. Flemke accepted, made the trip to Richmond, and won the Southside 400. This marked the beginning of his trips from his home in New Britain, CT, down to Virginia and Maryland. Later in 1961, he won the Fredericksburg (VA) 250 and the Bowman Gray (NC) Tobacco Bowl 150. That same year, he was the track champion at both Old Bridge and Empire.

In 1962, Flemke established a regular weekly racing circuit. He raced at Islip on Wednesdays, Fort Dix (NJ) on Thursdays, Southside (VA) on Fridays, Old Dominion (Manassas, VA) on Saturdays, Marlboro (MD) on Sunday afternoons, and Old Bridge (NJ) on Sunday evenings, before returning home to Connecticut to work on his car and rest. Two other New England drivers, Rene Charland and Red Foote, heard of their success and also began traveling south to race. The nickname "Eastern Bandits" was eventually applied to all four drivers, although Flemke and Zimmerman were the originals.

Flemke chose which races to compete in based on the prize money offered rather than the NASCAR championship points available.

Although Flemke won numerous races and substantial (relative to the era) prize money in 1962, he concluded after the season that the expenses associated with fuel, motels, restaurant meals, wear-and-tear on car transport vehicles, and other costs, along with the effort required for extensive travel and the inconvenience of maintaining racing cars on the road, made it unjustifiable to continue the "Eastern Bandits" circuit every week. As a result, in 1963 he and Zimmerman focused more on racing at Northeastern tracks and ventured south of New Jersey only for the longer, big-money races. From 1963 to 1966, driving mostly cars he had built himself, such as the ¢, %, 21x, and 2, he won many races along the East Coast, including at Bowman Gray, Fort Dix, Old Bridge, Utica-Rome (NY), Norwood, Islip, Plainville, Southside, Albany-Saratoga (NY), Catamount (Milton, VT), Airborne (Plattsburg, NY), and Thompson (CT). During those years, he won track championships at Fort Dix, Utica-Rome, and Albany-Saratoga.

In 1969, Flemke began driving the 2x less frequently and more often drove the #79, owned and operated by Greg Mills and Dave Welch. Although the #79 appeared to be inherently slower than some of its competitors, Flemke regularly won or placed highly at Stafford, Norwood, and Thompson. He was comfortably leading the Thompson 500—the longest-distance race ever held for Modifieds—until near the end of the race, when a valve broke in the #79's engine.

In 1970, Flemke split his time between driving the #61, owned by Richie Evans for New York races, and the #14, owned by Richie and Ray Garuti and Jack Arute for New England races. In the #14, he was very successful at Stafford and Thompson (Norwood no longer held Modified races). Driving the #61, he also performed well, including a legendary performance in the Utica-Rome "New Yorker 400," the biggest race in New York. Due to a dispute between Evans and NASCAR, the sanctioning body refused to allow the #61 to use the pits, even though Flemke was the driver, not Evans. Flemke and his crew were forced to use the public parking lot instead of the pit area, but despite this handicap, Flemke won the race. Despite running strongly in almost every race, persistent issues with defective crankshafts led to many retirements. Nonetheless, Flemke won other races at Stafford, Albany-Saratoga, and Autodrome de Quebec Val-Belair (Quebec), and achieved high placings at Seekonk (MA), Lancaster (NY), and Islip.

In June 1972, Flemke switched to driving a new Pinto Modified, the 2x, owned and built by Bob Judkins. He continued with the 2x Pinto as his regular ride until mid-1974. With the 2x Pinto, he won or achieved high placings in races at Monadnock (NH), Stafford, Islip, Thompson, Trenton (NJ), Albany-Saratoga, Seekonk, Lancaster, Oswego (NY), Martinsville, Pocono (PA), and Riverside. In 1973, he finished 4th in NASCAR National Modified points, despite his usual practice of choosing races based on prize money rather than points available (drivers who finished high in the point standings typically prioritized points over prize money). Although Flemke initially thought he was uninjured and climbed into another car to resume racing, he soon realized something was wrong and climbed out again. Later that day, he went to the hospital for an evaluation. The orthopedic specialist who examined him indicated that, given the nature of his broken vertebrae, he had expected Flemke to be paralyzed, potentially for life. Flemke was able to recover, although he could not return to racing until the spring of 1975.

Almost exactly a year after he broke his back, Flemke was involved in another serious crash, this time at Star Speedway (Epping, NH), in which he reinjured his vertebrae. He was forced to take seven weeks off from racing. At the time of the crash, he was leading the championship points at Thompson and was expected to win the track championship if he had not been injured.

In 1979, Bill Thornton decided to discontinue his involvement in racing and transferred his racing cars and equipment to Flemke. That season, as an unsponsored, 49-year-old independent, Flemke experienced less success than usual, although he still won or achieved high placings in races at Riverside, Stafford, Catamount, and Monadnock.

In 1983, the last full year of his life, Flemke served as Chief Steward at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Under his stewardship, there were many fewer incidents and race stoppages than previously, which was attributed to Flemke's keen ability to anticipate potential problems and direct drivers away from trouble. After Flemke's death, the position of Chief Steward was not filled again, as it was believed that he could not be replaced.

Influence on the sport In addition to his driving and car-building accomplishments, Flemke was notable for his willingness to help his competitors. During his Eastern Bandits days, he shared his knowledge with southern drivers, which not only made them more competitive against him but also endeared him to them. Many years after Flemke's death, motorsport author Mark "Bones" Bourcier recalled a conversation with the highly experienced Junie Donlavey of Virginia, who had been involved in auto racing for more than 50 years. Donlavey, with tears in his eyes, remarked about Flemke, "When I get talking about him like this, it's like he just walked into this office yesterday and sat down right in this chair. And it's like that for a lot of us around here when it comes to Eddie. We never got over him." As 1981 Talladega 500 winner Ron Bouchard put it, "He was a great gentleman and a great person... Even if Eddie thought you could beat him, he'd still come over to offer you help... He was a master of teaching... He got real enjoyment out of helping people... Eddie would help everybody."

Another Flemke protégé, Daytona 500 and Talladega 500 winner Pete Hamilton, said, "Eddie Flemke was my teacher and my hero. He changed everything for me."

Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Denny Zimmerman said that the early 1960s "was a great time for me, just a kid back then, learning all I could about driving race cars and being mentored by the great Eddie Flemke... he taught me so much." Wilbur Jones, a close friend of nine-time NASCAR Modified champion Richie Evans, remembered that "Richie looked up to a lot of guys, and Eddie Flemke was number one. Why? Because Eddie was the master."

Journalist Pete Zanardi said that "Eddie was the guy so many other racers talked of as their guru" whom they "put on a pedestal," and described Flemke as "a Babe Ruth-like figure" in racing. Auto racing journalist and historian Bruce Cohen summarized Flemke's impact on racing: "He transcended his sport and the arena in which he competed. Lots of guys win races, but there was only one Eddie Flemke."

In the early hours of March 30, 1984, Flemke drove the snowplow he had been operating back to his home and parked it in front of his house. When he did not emerge from the truck, his wife Carolyn went out to check on him. At the age of 53, Flemke had suffered a fatal heart attack. After his death, a section of the Stafford Motor Speedway grandstand was named in his honor.

Major race wins Some race wins: New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame Eastern Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame Riverside Park Speedway Hall of Fame New Britain Sports Hall of Fame National Auto Racing Hall of Fame

Member of State of Connecticut Advisory Committee on Stock Car Racing